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Pickleball Ontario - championship series of tournaments
Pickleball Ontario is launching 6 regional tournaments throughout the province, which will start in March 2023:
Southwest
Niagara Region
Central West
Central East
East (including Ottawa) (March 17-19 in Kingston)
North
The first tournament will be the EASTERN REGIONALS, to be held March 17-19 in Kingston.
The gold medal winners from each class of play will be invited to the finals (free, no tournament fees) to be held in Collingwood Ontario September 21-24, 2023.
Pickle "roll" initiative
A pickleball group in the Peterborough/Orillia area (Kawartha Lakes) is considering purchasing "Pickleroll" pickleball courts, but is hoping to find other interested groups who are interested in negotiating better pricing from the vendor. The Tennessee-based vendor told the Peterborough/Orillia group they don't discount pricing unless an order is for 12 pickleball courts or more. The Kawartha group is considering about 6 pickleball courts. Each 30’ x 60’ mat costs $8,000 USD without negotiated pricing.
If you are potentially interested, you can contact Ken from the Kawartha Lakes Pickleball Association at the below email: pickleball@klpa.ca
More about pickleroll: I played on pickleball courts at a tournament in December 2022, and I liked them. The Dura Fast ball bounced well (I don't remember any weird bounces), and the floor was very "sticky" (no slide, your shoes will not slip at all). I much preferred Pickleroll flooring to a gym floor (laminate / tile flooring). NOTE: the tournament I was at had a hard cement floor underneath. I know someone who said he saw Pickleroll at another tournament, where the underlying surface was not as hard, and he said the ball did not bounce as well.
https://pickleroll.com/
I took a couple videos showing Pickleroll, and I got to speak with a pickleroll rep on one of these two videos:
Video 1:https://youtu.be/q0IMzBVmHdM Video 2: https://youtu.be/8Og40-RNRQI
New sports dome in Orleans
Construction has started on the new multi-sports dome at Garneau High School in Orleans, at the corner of Orleans Boulevard and rue Carriere. It is expected to open in fall 2023 for the 2023-2024 school year.
The dome will be used a sports educational program during school hours, with community access most evenings/weekends. There will be tennis/pickleball courts, but there is no information publicly available yet on how much public access there will be.
However, the Gregory Uras Tennis Academy will run out of the dome, so I expect they will take up alot of the tennis/pickleball court time, and perhaps there will be some tennis/pickleball court rentals when the tennis academy is not running its programs.
Some players are looking for partners
You can browse the list of registered players to see who is looking for a partner to play with, and you can send them a direct message from the below website. https://pickleballbrackets.com/ptplg.aspx?eid=9f3b808f-66a8-4ff5-a7d4-d80083fee5c9
Reminder: New pickleball venue in Vanier (City of Ottawa)
The City of Ottawa has added a new east end pickleball venue at: Richelieu-Vanier Community Center at 300 des Pères-Blancs Avenue. Most City of Ottawa pickleball centres sell out all spaces very quickly, so this new option may be your best option if you are having trouble finding a place to play pickleball. It may take a few weeks for word to spread until this venue sells out as quickly as other City of Ottawa pickleball locations.
If you have questions, you can enquire at: Richelieu-Vanier@ottawa.ca
OTHER CITY OF OTTAWA CENTRES THAT OFFER "DROP IN" PICKLEBALL (I may be forgetting some)
- Francois Dupuis Recreation Centre (Orleans, Portobello at Brian Coburn)
- Hintonburg Community Centre on Wellington West
- Nepean Sportsplex on Woodroffe/Hunt Club
- Richcraft Recreation Complex on Innovation Drive in Kanata
- Eva James Memorial Community Centre on Stonehaven in Kanata
- Greenboro Community Centre on Lorry Greenberg (near South Keys)
- Minto Recreation Complex at Cambrian/Greenbank in Barrhaven
- CardelREC Recreation Complex on Shea Road in Stittsville
- Overbrook Community Centre on Quill Street off the Vanier Parkway
- Hunt Club Riverside Park Community Centre, Paul Anka Drive near South Keys
- Rideauview Community Centre on Shoreline Drive, Riverside South - Richelieu-Vanier Community Centre (new, see above)
PICKLEBALL SCHEULES AT CITY OF OTTAWA FACILITIES: 2 OPTIONS
1. You have to check with the specific facility to confirm their pickleball schedule, as the City does not provide one master list of all pickleball drop in options. Find the facility at the below website to verify their pickleball schedule: https://ottawa.ca/en/recreation-and-parks/recreation-facilities
2. Given how difficult it is to see your pickleball drop in options at city facilities, local player Ted developed a website to make it easier to see the various City of Ottawa pickleball drop in options. He keeps improving it to try to capture every option, but it is possible it does not list every single option: https://zero-zero-today.vercel.app/
City of Ottawa multi-week pickleball programs (not "drop in")
The City of Ottawa multi-week pickleball programs for winter are mostly underway now.
The ones that have not yet started are listed below. Many may be sold out, check with the City website and/or the community centre directly to see if any spaces remain, or check the website below to see if new options are being offered that were not listed when I found the below ones.
Francois Dupuis Recreation Centre (Portobello / Orleans) pickleball instruction Tuesdays 840am-940am (Code 38252), 12 spots available, February 21 - March 28
Thursdays 120pm-220pm (Code 38270), 12 spots available, February 23 - March 30
Sundays 1140am-1240pm (Code 38233), 12 spots available, February 3 - February 26
Sundays 1140am-1240pm (Code 38235), 12 spots available, March 5 - March 26
Eva James Memorial Community Centre (Kanata/Stittsville) pickleball instruction Wednesdays 1045am-1145am (Code 34269), February 15 to March 8
East End Seniors Centre - pickleball
A local player advised me that the seniors centre at 4355 Halmont Drive off Ogilvie Road has pickleball Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Players need to be members of the centre ($35 per year). Fee per drop in is only $1, payable on arrival. Hint: they also serve hot lunches after.
My assumption is that this venue is geared to beginner/social players whose primary purpose is to meet/socialize with other seniors.
Proposed new tennis/pickleball facility near Russell Road/Anderson Road
These are the latest Facebook posts (cut/pasted directly from Facebook) from the group "Score Tennis Academy" regarding their announced plans for a tennis/pickleball complex near Anderson Road/Russell Road. If you are interesting in seeing the posts, public comments, and their responses to those public comments, look up the Facebook Group: Ottawa/Gatineau Pickleball Players
Friday January 13 Facebook update from "Score Tennis Academy"
We met with the design and planning team this morning and have agreed that in phase 1 we will build 16 independent outdoor, and 16 shared indoor ( on 8 tennis).
We will separate the courts in phase 2 as we add a third building for dedicated indoor pickleball (we will keep 8 of 16 shared shared as well).
In phase 1 there will also be an outdoor PB stadium court for teaching, video work, and high profile events. Also, in Phase 1 there will be a small clubhouse, outdoor play area with fun games, ping pong, corn hole, badminton. We are not sure if we can get the on-site snack bar in phase 1 but will try our best for those who like healthy food and a nice beverage.
Our goal is to be as environmentally friendly as possible on this project. Solar energy, Infared heat, water recapture, and efficient lighting throughout.
Note: The design team is adding the pickleball courts to the drawings now so we will have a great visual for you shortly.
Finally, we will have a best case timeline for the Ottawa Pickleball community over the coming weeks.
Have a great weekend, have fun playing, and thank you for your interest in this project.
Wednesday January 11 Facebook update from "Score Tennis Academy"
Happy New Year to all and we hope you are having a great winter season on and off the courts. Here is a quick update on our east end project.
We have been working with our planner and other successful developers over the past few months. The site plan is coming along and we should have something to share in a few more weeks. Phase 1 looks to include up to 16 indoor courts for late 2023 early 2024.
Want to spend your holiday cash on pickleball stuff?
In my experience, employees at local sports shops don't know anything about pickleball or the pickleball products they sell, and the stores have very limited selection of paddles (and often they are on the lower price range/lower quality side of things). We have a few local reps of major pickleball companies close to Ottawa Ottawa who can give advice on their pickleball products; many of these individuals have demo paddles that you can actually try out before making a purchase.
SELKIRK:
Cody (has demos, and sells directly from his paddle inventory) at: codybarbeau@gmail.com
Kim (has demos; promo code ADV-KBRENT used at selkirk.com will get you 20% back in gift cards) at:strategicpickleball@gmail.com
Kelli (has demos, Frontenac/Godfrey counties; promo code for selkirk.com, code ADV-KMCROBERT, 20% back in gift cards):kattgrrrl@gmail.com
OLIVER SPORT:
Carlos at:carlos@oliver-sport.ca
https://www.oliver-sport.ca/
ENGAGE:
Matt: m.kawamoto@live.ca
Matt has discount codes for Tyrol shoes.
GEARBOX
Bill: billfranksimon@gmail.com (ask him about discount codes)
VULCAN:
Ravi at: ravipickleball@gmail.com
MANTA/HUDEF pickleball and ACACIA shoes
Luc at: luc@corepickleball.com
Website: https://corepickleball.square.site/
TMPR:
Michael at: michael@pickleballstrokes.ca Website: https://pickleballstrokes.ca/shop/
Michael has discount codes for Tyrol shoes.
PROLITE:
Sara at: teamprolite@prolitesports.com https://pickleball.atomconnects.com/
Sara has discount codes for Tyrol shoes.
YONEX Yonex (very well known in badminton community) will be introducing pickleball paddles in Canada in early 2023; these will be available through Capital Sport at the RA Centre. tedhthompson@rogers.com
ONIX:
Ted at: tedhthompson@rogers.com
ROKNE Chad Valcour out of Brockville has ROKNE pickleball paddle demos if you want to try one, and the discount code CHADV10 will save you a few dollars. https://roknepickleball.com/?sca_ref=2744552.uNSIaB1EAM
CRBN
Discount code ETIENNE will get you 10% off CRBN product at: crbnpickleball.com
Reminder: UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS
Laval Quebec -Tennis 13 - PB Sport Challenge events
Saturday February 18, 2023: mens doubles/womens doubles
Syracuse NY - January 27 to 29, 2023 https://pickleballbrackets.com/ptd.aspx?cpg=e&eid=e1618592-31b5-429f-bb2e-a22c77354d7c
NEW! Markham Ontario - March 3 https://pickleballbrackets.com/ptd.aspx?eid=906613f2-6ddf-4b42-9eb0-c64d1edda0c2
Magog Quebec - March 4 and 5 2023 PBSport Open
NEW! Kingston - Pickleball Ontario - Eastern Regional Tournament - Kingston - March 17 to 19, 2023
NEW! Collingwood - Team Selkirk Team Challenge - March 24 to 26, 2023 https://pickleballbrackets.com/ptd.aspx?eid=e74a0c6e-5670-42d9-8009-04d14054dbef
US OPEN (Naples Florida) - April 15 to 22, 2023 https://www.usopenpickleballchampionship.com/
Gatineau Quebec - April 29 and 30, 2023 Organized by the Association régionale de pickleball de l'Outaouais (ARPO and being held at the Centre sportif de gatineau.
NEW! London Ontario - May 26 to 28, 2023 https://pickleballbrackets.com/ptd.aspx?eid=4fdef328-f022-44b6-b1d1-1c8e421f03e1
Niagara on the Lake - June 10 and 11, 2023 https://pickleballbrackets.com/ptd.aspx?eid=b014b92c-9e03-4980-81b1-42760391d602
Regina Saskatchewan - Pickleball Canada National Championships - August 23-27, 2023
FACEBOOK GROUP FOR LOCAL TOURNAMENTS Join the below Facebook group to help keep track of local tournaments: PICKLEBALL TOURNAMENTS QUEBEC/ONTARIO
If you are a facebook user, you may also want to join the below group: OTTAWA/GATINEAU PICKLEBALL PLAYERS
