Tillsonburg Pickleball Club

Happy Holidays

Brantford Charity Tournament

Membership Renewal

Membership renewal time is approaching.  Anyone who became a member before September must renew their membership by December 31 2024 to maintain the benefits of membership. Memberships purchased after September 1st are good until December 31, 2025,

If you renew before December 31, 2024 the fees will be the same as this year.  Starting January 1 2025 the Tillsonburg Pickleball Club portion of the membership will increase to $15 plus admin fees

Membership is required if you are registered in the indoor play sessions at Annandale on Monday and Wednesday evenings

Renew today!

Certified Instruction/Coaching

Congratulations to John and Cindy Bes who have just been certified as Pickleball Instructors/Coaches by
NCCP (National Coaching Certification Program)
NCCP does all sport certifications in Canada.  If you would like more information,text Cindy at (519) 403-8051

Indoor play at Annandale

We have indoor play!

We have booked Annandale School, Tillsonburg   There are 2 sessions:

Monday evening for Recreational Intermediate play

3 courts 18 spaces available

Mondays- Oct 21 to Monday May 5, 6:15-7:45, 24 nights $60.00

Mondays that are not available (no Pickleball) Dec 23, Dec 30, Feb 17, Mar 10, Apr 21

Wednesday evening for Competitive Intermediate/Advanced Play

3 courts 18 spaces available

Wednesdays- Oct 9 to Wednesday May 7 6:15-7:45 27 nights $70.00

Wednesdays that are not available (no Pickleball) Oct 16, Dec 25, Jan 1, Mar 12

Nets and balls are provided by the club. Please wear clean non-marking footwear. Protective eye wear is strongly suggested.  We will be limiting the number of registrants to 18 per night, and right now we will only allow either monday or wednesday to be registered for, not both. We will open that up if we can. We want to allow as many people to participate as possible. If the session is full, you are able to be put on a wait list. If a member can't make a night, they can offer it to another member. We will hold a list of members who would like to sub, but it's up to the member that cancels to contact the sub.

To register you can access through the club website, click the ‘indoor play’ button at top www.pickleballcanada.org/club/tillsonburgpickleballclub

or

Links to Register:

To register for Monday- Recreational Intermediate Play. Click link below and hit ‘register’ button

https://secure.pickleballcanada.org/event/tpcmondayindoor

To register for Wednesday-Competitive Intermediate/Advanced Play. Click the link and hit ‘register’ button https://secure.pickleballcanada.org/event/tpcwednesdayindoor

2nd Annual Town Tournament

Yesterday marked the 2nd Annual Town of Tillsonburg Pickleball Tournament, and the first at our newly opened outdoor courts. A big thank you to all that participated, and congratulations to Kent and Stacey, our 2024 champions! A well run tournament and a fun day for all!

Family Fun Day was a success!

We dodged the rain and had a wonderful day meeting new people and showing them the sport we love!

Intro to Pickleball for everyone

A Chance to learn Pickleball Saturday September 7, 2024 8:00 am to noon

A free introductory clinic for new comers, young people (age 10+) and adults… to the game of pickleball. You will discover the rules and learn how to use the equipment which will introduce you to the fastest growing sport in North America. This is a fun day for the family introducing you to all of the elements in order to play the game, and meet members of the Tillsonburg Pickleball Club.  Children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.  Equipment is provided

To Register, click the 'New to Pickleball Clinic' button above.  Space is limited. Deadline is September 3rd

A message from John and Cindy Bes

John and I would like to thank the club members who signed up for free lessons. We started on May 24 of this year and will have given 67 members lessons who were interested.

We would like to thank Kent Wheeler who always said yes every time we needed help with clinics. Also, thank you to Karen Northgraves for helping Kent. Thank you to Andy and Carl Wilcox for doing a clinic while John was recovering from surgery. Thank you Andy Wilcox for keeping our ever growing lesson list updated whenever we asked. Much appreciated.

We hope that club members benefited from our lessons while meeting new members.

The social aspect of the game is so very important and our executive is making sure this happens. Hats off to them!!! Thank you to Jane and Larry for allowing us to play on their courts as well.

It has been John’s and my pleasure to volunteer to teach others this great game called pickleball.

We will be finishing our clinics with those that are currently on our list.

That being said…….

Remember to “Serve and Stay home”

Sincerely John and Cindy Bes

What a Fun Tournament!

What a FUN morning of pickleball in Tillsonburg!

Our first club tournament is a wrap and was a fabulous success! Thank you to all of our club members who participated. contributed and helped us in anyway.

1st Cindy Harvey    2nd Dale Prouse   3rd Brian Albrecht   4th Loralee Heemskerk   5th Eleanor Sever  6th John Petropanagos

We could have never made it the success it was if it wasn't for our supporters who so generously donated to this fun day for Tillsonburg Pickleball. Thank you to Sobey's Tillsonburg who provided the lunch for all of the participants, Nathan Dawley who provided the very cool trophy awards, The Mill eatery and Inn who provided a very generous gift card for the winner of our skills competition, Boston Pizza who provided a very generous gift card as well, Coyle's Tillsonburg for providing an amazing gift basket and to our Town of Tillsonburg for letting us use the courts exclusively this morning for our tournament.

Finally a huge shout out to the tournament committee: Brian Prendergast, Jo Ann Swain, Jenny Vandooren, Greg Meyers, Terry Matten

Supporting our community will always help everyone.

Support Local and Small Business, they are the thread that
keeps our wonderful community tied together!

Stretch to start things off!

Final Game!

TPC Members Fun Tournament-August 10/24

FUN TOURNAMENT, RANDOM DRAW FOR PRIZES, LUNCH AND TROPHIES

Registration is now open for the inaugural Tillsonburg Pickleball Club Summer Fun Tournament. The Link for Fun Tournament is visible to members of the club

In order to run the tournament, the Town of Tillsonburg has graciously allowed us exclusive use of the NEW pickleball courts, along with the use of the J.L. Scott McLean outdoor recreation pad on the day of the tournament, if needed.

As this is a FUN tournament, the tournament is open to members of ALL SKILL LEVELS. It does not matter whether you are a beginner, intermediate or advanced player. After registering as a single player, a random draw will determine both your playing partner and your opponents for each game. Your partner and opponents will change every game, giving you an opportunity to meet your fellow club members and to have some FUN in the process.

On the day of the tournament please arrive at 7:45 a.m. to sign in, review the schedule and warm up. The tournament will start at 8:30 a.m. and will run until approximately noon when lunch will be served and prizes awarded. The number of games that you will play will depend on the number of tournament entries we have, but you are guaranteed a minimum of five games.

No matter your skill level, all players will be eligible to win a number of excellent prizes that day! There will also be a lunch provided. All of this is available to you for a nominal registration fee of $15.00.

Given the size of our venue, we need to cap the number of players at 56 people, so register as soon as you can, but no later then July 31, 2024.

Tillsonburg Pickleball Courts are Officially Open

And just like that, Tillsonburg's brand new pickleball courts in Optimist Park (across from the Tillsonburg Community Centre) are open! Mayor Deb Gilvesy cut the ribbon this week with help from members of Council, Town staff and some very excited pickleball players.

Pickleball Courts Grand Opening

The courts are ready June 29/24!

Another beautiful Evening

Another beautiful evening and two more groups of excited pickleballers learning how to play the game from the best! A special shout out to our club member Kent Wheeler who has played pickleball for over 10 years and has the magical ability to make the game look so easy and graceful. Kent has stepped in to help with coaching and share his experience and techniques. Thank you Kent, much appreciated!!! And of course Thank You to Cindy Bes and John Bes for your continued contributions to our club!! You guys are awesome!!

FYI we have 76 members to date!

Lessons

A big Thank You to our club pickleball coaches Cindy and John Bes who have been giving their time, knowledge, energy and enthusiasm into every one of the many lessons they have instructed already this spring!Their passion for the game and for helping people learn the game is clearly evident as they are always giving 100 percent and more even on a scorcher of a day like it was today. Everyone please give a hand for these two incredible leaders who are helping our club so much!

AGM

We had a fantastic first Annual General Meeting tonight, June 6 2024. The first board was elected: Diane Peacock, Andy Wilcox, Carla Cameron, Brian Pendergast, Karen Northgraves, Peter Northgraves and Carolijn Verbakel. The board will now meet to delegate positions

There were discussions on player development, future tournaments, indoor play in Tillsonburg as well as hearing from the membership what they wanted to see happen this next year and into the future.

And now we have over 59 members!

If you want to join the club we are offering free lessons. Contact our club. Tillsonburgpickleballclub@gmail.com.

To join click the JOIN-RENEW button at the top of this page

Members, check your email for information on our first social event!

If you are not getting emails from Tillsonburgpickleballclub@gmail.com, check your trash or spam folders and add us to your contacts

June 7 Lessons

Another great clinic! 

Here's the happy group after their lessons! John and Cindy will go through the whole list of interested participants before offering second lessons, so everyone gets a chance.  Thanks again John and Cindy Bes!

Tillsonburg Pickleball Club AGM June 6 2024 6:30 pm

1^st
Annual General Meeting

Thursday June 6,2024 6:30 pm

At The Spot, 2^nd floor, Tillsonburg Town Centre. The same spot as our last information meeting in April

At this meeting we will be forming our official executive board to take us into the future.

Positions available: President, Vice President, Secretary/Treasurer, Administrator, 3 board members

Participation is key! Come with your ideas and suggestions! Let us know if you are interested in standing for one of these positions. Please email Tillsonburgpickleballclub@gmail.com

Only members of the Tillsonburg Pickleball Club will be able to vote.

Respectfully

The Tillsonburg Pickleball Club Steering Committee

PLC Sports Travel

This was an email sent to the club. Thought it was interesting and so am passing it along to the membership for your personal information. The club is not planning anything at this time.

Welcome to PLC Sports Travel. We are based in Headingley, Manitoba

PLC Sports Travel focuses on delivering a unique and unforgettable Pickleball experience to all our customers. We are passionate about international sports travel and introducing recreational athletes to amazing locations and competitions around the world.

We have been organizing sports tours for the past 20 years to over 30 countries worldwide. Some of our favorite destinations include Sweden, Finland, France, Germany, Czechia, Switzerland, Italy, Spain. Portugal, Australia, and New Zealand. Anywhere there is Pickleball, we can arrange a tour. PLC Sports Travel Tours are designed for players of all abilities.

A PLC Sports Travel representative travels with all groups to ensure each tour runs according to plan and each traveler has the “Trip of a Lifetime”.

If your club or any members are thinking about a Pickleball Tour, please visit our website at www.pickleballtours.ca to see the exciting lineup we have for 2024-2025. PLC Sports Travel will be pleased to customize a tour for your group to the destinations that interest you. Please follow us on Facebook at plcsportstravel.

Upcoming tours this fall include Ireland & Scotland and a tour going to Madrid, Seville, Granada and Malaga, Spain. Lots of Pickleball on these tours.

Please contact us anytime with any questions you may have about Pickleball Tours. One of our regional representatives will be happy to assist you.

If you would like to be removed from our mailing list, please reply unsubscribe to this email.

Kind regards,

The Sales Team

PLC Sports Travel

166 Bridge Rd.

Headingley, Manitoba

R4H 1G8

Mobile 204 955-7981

Email. Info@plcsportstravel.com

Website : www.pickleballtours.ca

May 26 2024

Last day of pickleball on the tennis courts! The new courts coming along.

photo credit: P Northgraves

May 24 2024 Courts Lessons and more

May 24 2024

Hello fellow pickleballers! The new courts in Tillsonburg are coming along nicely and we have been told that the completion date is the first week of July. The tennis court resurfacing will begin next week, so we will be without courts for the month of June. One option is the Cami Park in Ingersoll which has 8 pickleball courts new last year. It’s just north of the Cami plant on the same side, right beside the Seniors Centre. It’s free and courts are open dawn to dusk. There is a ‘Whats App’ group called Ingersoll Play. If you want to be added, let us know.

Another exciting development in the club is the chance to have free lessons! John and Cindy Bes have kindly offered to give lessons to any Tillsonburg Pickleball Club member. If you are interested, contact the club at Tillsonburgpickleballclub@gmail.com Give you name, contact information and the level you think you are, being beginner, intermediate or advanced. John and Cindy will contact you to schedule the lessons once the new courts are up and running.

The steering committee is busy organizing our first AGM (Annual General Meeting) for some time in June. We will be firming up the date and will let you know. Please consider being a more active member of the club, in any capacity. We hope to add tournaments and fun days in the coming months.

That’s all for now! Happy Pickling!

The Tillsonburg Pickleball Club Steering Committee

Newsletter #1

Hello fellow Tillsonburg Pickleball Club members. What a week it has been. It started last Monday April 22^nd, in packed room with a great group of pickleball enthusiasts. We were so lucky to have had Alison Baron and John Hindle, president of the Niagara on the Lake Pickleball Club Inc to share their knowledge with us all. We couldn’t be more excited to grow pickleball in our town going forward and we are truly thankful to John and Alison to help us launch what will work for Tillsonburg and area citizens.

So what has happened since Monday…

• First and foremost, we have officially 42 Members. That is amazing. And, there is ongoing interest and inquiries about the club on a daily basis
• We have reached out to our local recreation department
• We have also reached out to our local newspaper and neighboring communities
• A meeting has been arranged with the Tillsonburg Recreation Department on Wednesday May 1^st to forge a relationship and create a plan going forward
• The Steering Committee is meeting to develop a vision and a strategic plan including planning for our first annual general meeting that you will all be invited to
• Lastly, we continue to explore the grant that Ontario Pickleball Association will offer new clubs called Plant the Seeds. This initiative is designed to support member clubs in launching two key programs: Learn the Game Initiative and/or Youth Programming.

I’m sure we will have even more information to share the following weeks and it is our intent to keep you informed as much as possible. It takes a village to raise a pickleball community and we are so grateful that you will be a part of the journey!

Diane Peacock, Steering Committee Chair

First Meeting and Info Session - John Verbakel

Much like everywhere in North America, interest in pickleball in Tillsonburg is exploding. On Monday, April 22, the steering committee of the newly formed Tillsonburg Pickleball club, held a meeting in the Town Centre mall, which was attended by 65 enthusiastic, prospective club members. Steering committee president Diane Peacock enthusiastically welcomed everyone in the room packed to capacity.

Alison Baron and John Hindle, president of the Niagara on the Lake Pickleball Club Inc. were invited to speak with the group. Their organization dealing with a similar population to Tillsonburg, started in 2016 with 30 members and has mushroomed to over 600 through a culture of inclusion, partnerships with local government and private sector and many volunteers to foster their growth.

Hindle spoke about his club’s journey and provided the Tillsonburg and surrounding area participants with insights on how to make their own decisions on what might be considered for their own situation. As well, he emphasized the importance of partnerships and that pickleball clubs need to educate local governments and interested partners on the potential income streams that would be mutually beneficial.

Hindle used the analogy of the Titanic when making decisions about growth. He said that most of us who have access to some sort of playing facility are already in the lifeboats, however there is a majority of those in local communities who are still on the ship or in the water because there just aren’t enough courts. Their club decided to provide more lifeboats to allow everyone in as opposed to closing off membership to an exclusive few, and thus over 600 members. Club play happens in four different sites.

It appears that a major benefit of joining the club is to acquire the liability insurance required by prospective playing sites, outside of community courts and allow players to use those potential facilities. In addition, the club would, in negotiation with the town, provide appropriate scheduling, balls, coaching supporting and a host of other benefits.

Hindle talked about all the advantages of becoming a formal club and being affiliated with the provincial pickleball organization and how that might be relevant to the group in attendance. By the conclusion of yesterday’s meeting a large number of the 65 in attendance had already signed up online to become an official club member.

Plans are now underway to formalize the Tillsonburg Pickleball Club by establishing an executive so that the important work of growing pickleball playing opportunities will continue to match the speed with which this popular sport is growing.

If you are interested in joining the Tillsonburg Pickleball Club, go to http://www.pickleballcanada.org/club/tillsonburgpickleballclub

Welcome to Tillsonburg Pickleball Club!!!!

We are very excited to grow this fun interactive sport in our town. Tillsonburg Pickleball Club is a non-profit club, and an official member club of Pickleball Canada and Pickleball Ontario. Currently, we are the only Pickleball club in Tillsonburg

 Membership fees are a total of only $30 annually:$10 Tillsonburg Pickleball Club  $10 Pickleball Canada  $10 Pickleball Ontario    Included in the fees are members and club insurance.If you are already a member of Pickleball Ontario, you only pay the $10 to add Tillsonburg Pickleball Club as one of your clubs.Please Note that Membership fees are non-refundable from all 3 entities, so please consider that before you join.

Pickleball Canada and Pickleball Ontario offers Tillsonburg Pickleball Club members many benefits including allowing you to register for tournaments with other members, insurance for both clubs and members, training video and a host of socials throughout the year. Be a part of the future of pickleball in Tillsonburg

Tillsonburg Pickleball Club aims to grow this sport, in fun interactive ways for all citizens!