Pickleball Club looking for town sponsorship for tournament

Pickleball enthusiasts will come from far and wide for a weekend-long celebration of the sport, as the Niagara-on-the-Lake Pickleball Club is set to host its first-ever tournament in June.

“It has never been offered in the Niagara region: not a single pickleball tournament,” said John Hindle, club member and organizer of the event, sharing news of the Classic Pickleball Tournament at Tuesday’s council meeting.

The international tournament, expecting 200 players, will take place indoors at the Meridian Credit Union Arena and the Centennial Arena in Virgil from Friday, June 9 to Sunday, June 11.

Hindle was at council Tuesday to ask for a municipal partnership with the club and sponsorship for the tournament by waiving rental fees for the arenas.

The pickleball club has seen a rocky few years recently, with their courts closed until spring 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic for public safety reasons, and outdoor courts at the Virgil Sports Park closed last spring after the club and town were convicted in court for a noise by-law violation.

The conviction, delivered in June, included a $1,000 fine and a two-year probation on using the outdoor courts.

“Although over our five years of history we’ve had some stressful times … we stand strong,” Hindle said.

The goal is for the tournament to be a fundraiser for the club, which wants to make financial contributions to the town and to reopen outdoor courts in a new location, he said.

Tickets are $10 for the exhibition tournament on Friday, June 9, which will see eight professional players face off in teams to win a $2,000 prize, from 7:30 to 10 p.m.. The competitions on June 10 and 11 are free for the public to attend, starting at 8 a.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. on Sunday.

Registration is open for the tournament, which is looking for competitors in the men’s or women’s doubles and in the mixed doubles. Players can register for $55 to compete in one of two categories: by age or by skill level.

Registration may be closed soon once 200 players have signed up: demand to participate has been high, Hindle said, with 80 players registering on the first day alone.

“There’s obviously a great interest in coming to the region and playing pickleball,” he said.

According to chief administrative officer Marnie Cluckie, it is typical to charge the market rate for renting municipal arenas to groups, but over the years, they’ve sometimes turned to subsidized rates instead.

“My fear is that we’re opening the door to being approached for sponsors,” said Coun. Maria Mavridis. “There are a ton of organizations that use the arena and the surrounding recreational spaces.”

Coun. Adriana Vizzari proposed using the town’s discretionary grant program to supplant whatever the cost would be for the club to rent the arena.

During the latest budget committee meeting, there was discussion of the town budgeting $102,000 in its discretionary grant program for the 2023 operating budget.

Starting in April, groups can apply for partial funding for events and initiatives through a discretionary grant: the program’s committee would determine who gets funding and how much.

“This is the ideal kind of set-up where a discretionary grant, 100 per cent or partial, would apply,” said Coun. Gary Burroughs of the pickleball tournament at Tuesday's meeting.

Zalepa recommended council refer its decision on the pickleball tournament funding options to the budget review committee, once staff have a number for the total fees that could be waived for the tournament.

While the tournament wasn’t mentioned during Wednesday’s 2023 operating budget meeting, the committee has a second meeting scheduled for March 9 to further discuss plans for operations spending and revenue this year.

For more information on the tournament, or for registration, visit pickleballbrackets.com.

Hindle is also looking for sponsorship from local businesses.