If there was any doubt as to how involved the members of the Niagara-on-the-Lake Pickleball Club are, one only had to be a fly on the way at the organization’s annual general meeting on Wednesday, June 12.
The NOTL Community Centre gym was packed with 141 of the club’s 701 current members that night, representing a turnout of 20 percent, an AGM attendance figure unheard of from other local sports organizations.
They came to elect four new members to the club’s board of directors and to hear an inspiring, rousing presentation from outgoing club president John Hindle, whose two-year term had expired.
Also at the end of their terms were board members Mary Ann Ens, Stewart Istvan, and Cheryl Schwartz. Seven candidates put their names forward to fill the four positions. At the end of the night, member Peter Danakas announced the election of Barbara Bailey, Ron Pychel, Dragana Simao and Debbie Young to fill their positions.
Under Hindle’s direction, the club has weathered the post-pandemic storm of rapidly expanding membership and a court-ordered ban on using the outdoor courts at the Virgil sports park. At the same time, the club has been able to branch out to new facilities at Central Community Centre and a dome in Niagara Falls and hosted the wildly popular 2023 NOTL Pickleball Classic Tournament that drew players from across Ontario and beyond.
Referring to the NOTL Pickleball Club as “the sport’s ambassadors in Niagara”, Hindle compared its 701-strong membership to clubs in much larger centres such as Peterborough (pop. 92,000), Barrie (pop.165,000) and Markham (pop. 343,000). None have a membership approaching NOTL’s, where the population has yet to reach 20,000.
Hindle outlined the club’s growth since its modest start in 2016. A blip in 2020 caused by the pandemic followed a doubling in membership to more than 400 the previous year. In 2022, once the outdoor courts were closed, membership had to be capped until an agreement for six new courts was signed with Central Community Centre. Once again, membership skyrocketed.
When Hindle mentioned next week’s expected reopening of the outdoor courts depending on the arrival and installation of the sound barriers to appease nearby neighbours, a raucous roar erupted from the attendees.
With rapid growth, of course, challenges have arisen. It took some time for the club to choose the right booking system and accurately sort players by skill rating for more competitive play.
And Hindle presented a list of items the new board would need to address. These included exploring a junior programme to build the sport, the possible creation of leagues and developing a method for welcoming pickleball-playing visitors to NOTL on local courts.
Treasurer Kevin Van Neikerk also presented the club’s financial report, during which he announced a profit of just over $3,000 from a club tournament held at the end of May that saw 107 members competing. He explained that $500 each from those proceeds would go to Red Roof Retreat and Newark Neighbours, while $1,000 would be donated to Community Crew’s school lunch program, which runs out of Central Community Centre, where the tournament was held. The remaining $1,000 is earmarked to help pay for the new sound barriers at the outdoor courts.
Overall, said Van Niekerk, the club is in an excellent financial position, with a surplus of almost $24,500.
At a follow-up meeting this week, the board named Simao president, Tim Lutton as vice president and Young as secretary. Van Niekerk is staying on as treasurer.