We are now using an online club membership app which allows us to be in contact with other members and to book court times online (required for COVID-19). Thanks for your flexibility adapting to the new booking system. We’re all learning it together. We appreciate your questions and feedback, and welcome any requests for technical support you may have.

Here are a few tips that may help:

1. How to sign up for Level Play -  It doesn’t work when you go to "Book a Court " The easiest way to sign up for Level Play is to go the the “Calendar."  You can also sign up by clicking on “Events."

2. How to see who else is signed up for level play each day - You have to go to “Calendar” or “Events."

3. How to change your rating - If you feel that you are not in the right group, go to "My Profile” and change your self-rating. 

4. Etiquette in Level Play.

• If there are 5 players, please rotate the person sitting out. (Some people have been conscientiously sticking to the guideline of not switching partners, but this guideline can be overruled when there are 5 players. We want everyone to get a chance to play.)  
• If you see that there are already 4 people signed up for a spot when you want to sign up, and another time slot has only 3, sign up with the second group.
• You can always play down a level, but not up a level.
• We are not playing reserved courts at this time. Everyone who signs up for Level Play deserves equal play time even if it is an odd number of players. You can decide among yourselves how you want to do this.

5. If your name is not showing up on the members list, you need to uncheck "Exclude Account Information From Public Groups” under “My Profile.” This will NOT mean that people outside of our club can see your info. It is for club members only.

6. We recommend not unsubscribing from the club email list. We will now be sending out group emails through the app. You will not get our emails if you are unsubscribed. Please go to “My Profile” and uncheck "Unsubscribe From Marketing Emails.” 

7. There is a way to group yourself with other family members - Go to “My Profile” then “My Family” and add family members. This allows you to make reservations together. For example, one person can make the reservation for both of you. If you need help with this, let me know.

8. Everyone should play with their own ball - If you live together you can share a ball. Balls are for sale for $5 at the court - see Blaine, Helene, Sandy, Gord or me to purchase a ball. We have Dura Fast 40 balls and Onyx outdoor balls. We will have Franklin balls in soon.

9. Only one hour per person per day - Please only reserve one hour of play per day. This allows everyone to get a chance to play. Once we go to 4 courts, we will lift this restriction.

10. Putting away the nets if you are the last group - If no group shows up after you, please move the nets to the side of the court and lock the locker if it is still open. Please also move the divider net to the fence.

11. Please direct any questions, suggestions, or feedback about the new system to Todd. If you have a technical issue, don’t hesitate to let him know. He can’t fix it if he doesn’t know about it. :)

12. Here is the link to the app again. For those who have not registered, please do so if you want to play with us.

After a Long Spring...

Now that the restrictions of COVID-19 are easing, it's exciting to be able to get out and play again. We are restricted to 2 courts diagonal to each other but we are getting lots of playing time in. 

We now have a new scheduling app which allows us to book sessions before showing up. This not only allows us to organize our play time better, it also helps cut down on crowds on the court to prevent the spread of the virus.

Please sign up as a member here.

Fundraising Campaign

During the fall and winter, our Sport Court Development Committee and the Fundraising Committee have been hard at work. So far we have raised approximately $13,000 in donations for the new courts. The disappointing news is the majority of this money was donated by two members of the Pickleball Club.   A BIG THANKS to those two very generous members !!

If we truly want our own four dedicated pickleball courts, with 7 days/ week access to play, it will only happen if you get involved and contribute what you can! Remember, it is a tax deduction. If you can't contribute money, please volunteer at one of the many fundraising events !

The Fundraising Committee is busy getting corporate sponsorship (money) as well as well as private donations. You will soon see sponsorship banners hanging on the fence surrounding the courts. Businesses have this great opportunity to show their support for the community as well as showcase their business name, where it will be seen by everyone passing by in the park and on the road. These banners will remain in place until the end of the project. If you know anyone who owns a business, or you have a favourite business (big or small), please mention this limited one time opportunity and put them in touch with Gord Reid(gordoreid@eastlink.ca) or Faye Gowing (fayegowing@hotmail.com). 

4. Beginners Classes- every Tuesday morning from 9:00- 10:30 starting May 5 (on hold for now)

Once again we will be teaching beginners how to play & enjoy this wonderful sport we all love. This is for people who have little or no experience with pickleball, and need a safe place to learn the skills, rules, & etiquette. Every year we get many new members to join our club from this program. This is how we grow our numbers, so please pass this info along to your friends & neighbors who are curious and want to have fun. We supply all the equipment. All they need are athletic shoes.

They can sign up at the Parks & Rec Office or by email to oliverpickleball@gmail.com

**Do you have an old paddle or two in your garage? We could really use some "loaner" paddles for our beginner classes. Please bring them to the meeting or give it to one of the Board members.

OPC Board of Directors;

Blaine Watson- President

Todd Smith- Vice-President

Sandy Richer- Treasurer

Helene Crane- Secretary

Gord Reid- Co-Chair, Fundraising Committee

This is a letter that we received from Pickleball Depot in early 2020:

To all our valued Pickleball Clubs,

Happy New Year from all of us at Pickleball Depot!

As we say good-bye to the past year we are also saying good-bye to a program which we’ve been running for over 5 years- the 10% Club Members Discount Program- and replacing it with another great program we are excited to announce. We are launching our Club Kit Program which will operate a little differently with the emphasis of the package going to benefit the clubs directly. Currently, your club has a custom discount code which your members have been using for a 10% discount on their orders of paddles, accessories and apparel on our website. This program will come to an end as of Jan 31 2020 in lieu of the new Club Kit Program rolling out in February. Over the past year we have received a lot of feedback from our clubs expressing their need for more affordable paddles and balls for use with their new members in beginner programs as well as ongoing request throughout the year for tournament donation items. We have found it difficult to keep up with the ever growing demand for donation giveaways with the hundreds of tournaments held every year across Canada with many fall based tournaments losing out due to lack of product left in our donation fund at the end of the year. This new program will ensure equal access to a healthy supply of product at the start of the year which you and your club can use at your discression all year long.

As a current member of our Club Discount Program, you will automatically receive a FREE Club Kit (shipping of these kits start February 2020) which can be used in anyway you feel it will best befit your club- whether it’s to assist in building a new members paddle program or you choose to kept the items to be used towards tournament giveaways and auctions- it’s completely up to you!

Each Club Kit will include a hand picked selection of paddles, balls, accessories and/or a sampling of our latest and newest product and will be sent to the facilitator of each club. Please note this Club Kit will be your donation package for the 2020 pickleball year and we won’t be fulfilling any additional donation requests. We would like to give equal access of these kits to new clubs who have never in the past been part of our benefits programs so your club may not be a beneficiary of this kit every year.

Please feel free to pass this information onto your club's membership with the explanation as to why the 10% members discount is coming to an end. If you could also please forward us the shipping address w/ club contact name you would like us to use for shipment of these kits out to your club that would be greatly appreciated.

Thank-you for your ongoing support; we are excited for another amazing year working together!

Best Regards,

The Pickleball Depot Team
General Inquiries / Sales
E: sales@pickleballdepot.ca / P: 250.550.5280 W:www.pickleballdepot.ca