President’s Kitchen Sink Newsletter Report March 2025 Edition
Left: Activating Youth Pickleball in BC (“AYPBC”) Franklin equipment arrived at Ecole Macaulay Elementary school where PE Teacher Darren Comer and his excited students (picture permissions granted) prepare for lessons.
Right: Connie McCann, past President of the Victoria Regional Pickleball Association and Sharon Hoy (left) AYPBC Project Coordinator.
The Kitchen Sink March Edition, Pickleball BC (“PBC”) President’s Introduction
Welcome to the March edition of our Kitchen Sink Newsletter. We have many 2025 PBC Board of Directors updates for our members this month that we will cover below, and more news from our Affiliated and Associated clubs.
In this March 2025 issue we wanted to highlight: summary of our 2025 Annual General Meeting that took place February 18th 2025 and our PBC Board 2025 elections; Notice of the Pickleball Canada (“PCO”) Special General Meeting Monday March 24th 2025 (deadline to register and vote this Monday); an update on the delivery of Franklin equipment across BC in our ongoing Activating Youth Pickleball in BC (“AYPBC”) project; news regarding our proposal to establish a 2025 BC Provincial Team to compete against other Provinces’ teams at the Nationals and a request for “expressions of interest”; a “From Our Clubs” report about Bud Hauser who we wanted you to meet—a 95 year-old player in Comox; other “good news” is that our Community and Youth Grants Funding Program has been increased; and, other updates on 2025 tournaments (including the Provincials in Vernon), News, Policy reports and our 2025 initiatives in our Director’s Kitchen Corners section.
Enjoy all the new news and updates in our March Kitchen Sink Newsletter and see you on the courts – with your eyewear protection!
David Snell
President Pickleball BC
President@PickleballBC.ca
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News From Our Clubs
Comox Valley Pickleball Association’s 95 Year Old Player, Bud Hauser
After a vigorous Friday morning pickleball session, I cornered Bud.
“Bud, some of our newer players don’t know you are 95 years old. If I bought you lunch and a pint, would you share your secrets of how you have kept active in mind and body for so many years”?
<Click link to read more.>
• Meet Bud Hauser, Comox Valley’s 95 Year Old Pickleball Icon
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President’s Report
As outlined above, in this March Kitchen Sink Edition we wanted to first of all introduce your PBC 2025 Board of Directors and some of the new initiatives that we are undertaking this year.
The 2025 Annual General Meeting of the registered not-for-profit society Pickleball BC Association was held via Zoom February 18th. Amongst other agenda items, the membership approved a slate of 2025 Board of Directors as outlined below as well as the PBC 2024 Reports presented by the 2024 Directors and President. Also the President thanked our retiring Directors Walter Knecht, Rod Williams and Dave Eaton for their dedication and hard work on behalf of our members through 2024 and over prior years.
I am pleased to introduce PBC’s 2025 Executive, Board of Directors and their remits and our 2025 PBC team as follows:
- Board Executive: I have been re-elected as President; Sharon MacDonald is VP and Co-Chair of our Youth Committee; Jim Burke Board Secretary & Government Liaison; Blair Morton Registrar; and Suzi Inkman Treasurer.
- Board Members with their 2025 remits are: Phil Sheps (Legal); Robin D’Abreo (BC Head Coach and Tournament Committee); Rick Folk (BC Head Ref and Chair, Tournaments); and, Doug McKay (Facilities).
- Heather Hood is Co-Chair of our Youth Committee with Sharon and they both are on our AYPBC team. Also Heather is currently our BC and Yukon Regional Representative on the Pickleball Canada (“PCO”) Board of Directors.
- Mel Buenaventura is responsible for Marcom including our newsletters and website that is getting a total and much-needed “revamp” this year.
Please refer to our PBC website page for more information on our 2025 team and Committees who are here to serve our BC members, clubs and stakeholders.
Notice of the Pickleball Canada Special General Meeting Monday March 24th 2025
Please register for the PCO Special General Meeting called for March 24th by this Monday March 17th to be able to attend and vote for recommended changes to the PCO Board and Bylaws. Further information about the agenda and Notice of Motions to be voted on here.
Franklin Delivers Equipment to AYPBC Regions Throughout BC
As reported prior and in our AYPBC story posted here, PBC was awarded a $30,000 grant from a viaSport British Columbia Provincial Sport Development Fund in September of 2024 given further investments from PBC, PCO and our 3 Regional Clubs, PBC and Pickleball Canada procured and delivered Franklin Sports equipment for our AYPBC youth participants introducing K – 7 students to the sport of pickleball across BC.
Working around the clock to out-race the impending, ever-changing Canada-USA 25%+ tax tariffs, myself and Barry Petrachenko, PCO Executive Director, ensured that the pickleball equipment the students would use was shipped prior to the midnight deadline last month.
The final AYPBC lesson curriculum and tool sets for all of our BC clubs will not be ready until this Summer, but our initiative of introducing pickleball to 16 Elementary schools and approximately 500 K – 7 students in our 3 BC Regions has had a tremendous start. The excitement as shown in the pictures above has been palpable and truly heartwarming to see—youth pick up our wonderful sport quickly and have lots of fun doing it!
To date, there are countless number of teachers and our 3 Regional Clubs (Vancouver, Victoria, and Vernon) who are overseeing this rollout, and all are involved in making this initiative happen. Overall, they are also seeing the tremendous enthusiasm of both the teachers and the youth as our program is successfully deployed.
Proposal for a Provincial Team Competition at Nationals
The Board of Directors has recently agreed to review a PCO proposal and invitation that would have Provincial Teams compete in an event at the Nationals to be held in Winnipeg, August 19th – 24th 2025. As a result of meetings held with the provinces and our feedback provided, it is excepted that 6 – 8 Provinces have interest in fielding teams to compete at the 2025 Nationals as follows:
- The BC Provincial Team would be selected by our PBC Tournament Committee based on a transparent selection process to be determined. Tournament outcomes, CTPR ratings and placement in the 2025 Provincials in Vernon may all be considered amongst other criteria.
- The BC Provincial Team will be comprised of sixteen 4.0+ CTPR players with 4 – 8 alternates. The proposal is 2 Divisions of Masters 50+ and Open Divisions, each with provincial Men’s and Women’s Doubles teams, a Mixed Doubles team, and a Men’s and Women’s Singles team. One player per event.
- Competition Format proposed is a Round Robin where each provincial Division team plays one game against the other provincial teams, leading to Gold/Silver and Bronze medal matches.
- This event is proposed to take place for one day within the 2025 Nationals, possibly August 21st and will not interfere with other matches.
Lots of details to be worked out but we would like to ask for expressions of interest or club recommendations for players 4.0+ CPTR who may be interested in applying for the BC Provincial Team. Please send your details with the Division and event that you would be interested in to: HeadRef@PIckleballBC.ca cc President@PIckleballBC.ca. Thanks for your interest and we think this will be a lot of fun and a way to celebrate our best players in BC!
Kitchen Corners Reports.
Updates on Memberships, Refereeing and increased Grants as noted above.
Finally, please send your Club stories and pics for consideration in our monthly “From our Clubs” segment, or if you can share some of your Club event pics for possible inclusion on our PBC website or Instagram, we would really appreciate it—for consideration please send them to Marcom@PickleballBC.ca.
This Newsletter contains plenty of new news that I hope you can enjoy along with time with family and friends. All comments and contributions are very welcome!
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David Snell, President
PICKLEBALL BC ASSOCIATION
President@PickleballBC.ca
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News From Our Clubs:
Comox Valley Pickleball Association
Below is an article one of our members wrote about another of our members, Bud Hauser.
During Covid Bud was reluctant to play pickleball so a couple that were good friends of Bud’s approached us and asked if we would be willing to play with them and Bud – just the 5 of us, no one else. We were thrilled to be asked and quickly agreed. Over the outdoor seasons of 2020 and 2021 we met at our local outdoor lacrosse box and played our hearts out. Bud was incredible, always showing up with that wonderful smile of his and such a great attitude of warmth that enveloped us all in a blanket of friendship. My husband and I enjoyed those mornings so much and although we were glad to see the end of Covid lockdowns, we ended those sessions with more than a touch of sadness. Our special time spent with Bud was exactly that—special.
My husband has always said that Bud played like a demon during those summers and then when we played with him later it seemed that Bud’s play had improved even more! He truly is an inspiration, an amazing man and a fantastic person to be around. He is still playing and when I spoke with him this morning he was disgusted with his game yesterday, as we all get sometimes. Tomorrow will be a better day for him and he will be surprising those few that don’t know him when they find out his age and see his talent on the courts!
For those of us that do know him, we are honoured and privileged to be able to call him a friend.
Donna Turner, Secretary
Comox Valley Pickleball Association
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Meet Bud Hauser, Comox Valley’s 95 Year Old Pickleball Icon …
Pickleball action at Martin Park, Courtenay, August 2024
After a vigorous Friday morning pickleball session, I cornered Bud.
“Bud, some of our newer players don’t know you are 95 years old. If I bought you lunch and a pint, would you share your secrets of how you have kept active in mind and body for so many years”?
Licking our lips at the thought of the pint, Bud and I were soon nestled into Cumberland’s Waverley Hotel, a thriving institution even older than Bud.
This is Bud’s story.
Born in 1929 in Moose Jaw, SK, Raymond (Buddy) had four older sisters to spoil him and one older brother to torment him. Growing up on the prairies was not easy during the Great Depression. As a young boy, Bud got a valuable early education, hawking newspapers and shining shoes on Moose Jaw’s infamous River Street.Upon the outbreak of World War II, the Hauser family made many sacrifices, as did the rest of Canada. Four of Bud’s older siblings joined the Canadian forces. His Mother and her sister moved to Fort William (now Thunder Bay) to work on an assembly line building warplanes.
“Just to keep me out of trouble,” Bud spent two of his high school years at out-of-town boarding schools. Always athletic, Bud played every sport, a trait that has followed him to this day.
Bud joined the Dominion Bank when he was 19. A year later, he married Grace, his high school sweetheart, a fairy tale union that lasted 66 years. They were blessed with four daughters (Beth, Lynn, Jan, and Leslie), seven grandchildren and nine energetic great-grandchildren. Bud’s banking career took him to Regina, Winnipeg and then to Calgary, where he managed one of Toronto Dominion Bank’s largest commercial banking centers. Retiring from active banking in 1985, Bud and Grace left Calgary to enjoy Victoria’s milder climate and, in 2005 relocated to Courtenay to be closer to daughters Beth and Leslie and their families.
Bud discovered pickleball in 2010 when the game was reintroduced to the Comox Valley. Years earlier, the game had been played in our high schools.
In his own words, this is how Bud frames his pickleball journey:
“Yes, Dave, playing pickleball has undoubtedly enriched and prolonged my life in retirement. The physical benefits are undeniable, and if I am forced to lay off for too long, I certainly notice adverse effects on my body. It is sometimes difficult to make the initial effort to go out and play, but after doing so, I feel better.The social aspect of the game is of even more importance. I am most fortunate to have my family’s love and support. I am also proud that my enjoyment of the game has now been passed down to my daughters and grandchildren, who are enthusiastic players. The genuine friendships I have developed due to pickleball are the icing on the cake.
Dave and Bud on a hot August afternoon.
Having this kind of loving social contact with friends, most of whom are younger than my daughters, keeps me young and wanting to stay this way.”
With the chicken fingers and the pint(s) now long gone, Bud’s parting comment on living a successful and happy life …
“Marry well, treat others as you want to be treated and keep physically and socially active.”
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Thanks, Bud, for sharing your story with us. As well as being a multi-gold medal winner in the Yuma Arizona Senior Games, you are an inspiration to our community both on and off the pickleball court.
DLW
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Kitchen Corners: By The Numbers
March 2025 Membership Report
As of March 5, 2025, there are 14,677 active members in BC, down considerably from December’s numbers. There were 1,006 memberships processed in February 2025. This is down considerably from last month as well. 572 renewals processed and 434 new memberships. A very slow month compared to other months. With warmer weather just around the corner and the outdoor season about to begin, I suspect that these numbers will increase in the next month.
After receiving a message from Pickleball Canada regarding membership numbers, I thought I would share the highlights of the message. The report compared data from February 2024 to February 2025. Some key findings from the report:
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BC membership grew by 7% (890 members) and constitutes 25.3% of members in Pickleball Canada. This makes BC the second largest PTSO next to Ontario.
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Pickleball Canada’s membership grew 15% from the same period in 2024.
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Manitoba saw the most significant growth at 53% from 2024 to 2025.
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Nova Scotia and NewBrunswick saw some significant growth in the same period in 2024 as well with Nova Scotia having 43% growth and New Brunswick with 42% growth.
Some key finding for this past month:
See you on the courts.
Blair Morton
PBC Registrar
Registrar@PickleballBC.ca
Thinking of joining—follow the link!
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Kitchen Corners: Head Referee Corners
Line Calling
As our outdoor pickleball season is about to begin, I thought it would be good to touch on line calling responsibilities. In almost every pickleball game I have played in, or officiated, line calling is always a point of contention, or at least, confusion.
A line call is defined as “A loud word(s) spoken by a player or line judge and/or a hand signal to indicate to the referee and/or players that a live ball has not landed in the required court space”. Players are responsible for making all line calls on their end of the court (except in the rare occasion that line judges are present in officiated play). An ‘out’ call shall be made when the ball contacts the playing surface completely outside of the court.
Pickleball has a code of ethics for Line Calling and states: “The player, when assigned line-calling duties, must strive for accuracy and operate under the principle that all questionable calls must be resolved in favor of the opponent”.
In non-officiated play, I often encounter the situation where the players decide to have a replay when none of the players can make a line call. This is not the correct way to make a line call. If you or your partner cannot make a line call, the ball is “IN”. If one partner calls the ball “in” and the other partner calls it “out”, the call is “IN” … no replay! If neither player can make the line call, they may ask their opposition if they could make the call. Once you ask your opposition to make the call, you and your partner can no longer make the call. The opposition’s line call will stand. If the opposition did not clearly see the ball land, the call is “IN” … no replay.
When players are moving around the court and the ball is moving rapidly, it is often very difficult to make the correct line call when the ball lands. If all pickleball players correctly execute their line calling responsibilities, and adhere to the pickleball code of line calling ethics, our great sport will be even more enjoyable for all participants.
If I can help you out in any way with regards to the rules, please contact me at headrefferee@pickleballbc.ca
Enjoy Pickleball …
Rick Folk
Head Referee
HeadReferee@PickleballBC.ca
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Kitchen Corners: Grants
PCBA Grants Program Increase Monetary Awards
Pickleball BC (“PBC”) Community and Youth Grants Increase
(Royalty-free photograph from Pixabay)
According to PBC Vice President and Grant Administrator Sharon MacDonald: “With unanimous Board approval, PBC has increased its Community and Youth grants funding from $500 to up to $1,000 in 2025. This added funding could not have come at a better time as the cost of manufactured products have been on the increase. For more information regarding this seed money, visit here and your FAQ’s here.”
Apply For Your Grant Funding Today
If you have a need and feel that your club qualifies, please apply here, or if you have any questions contact …
Sharon MacDonald
PBC Vice President and Grant Administrator
VicePresident@PickleballBC.ca
Grants@PickleballBC.ca
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Sponsorships
We urge you to support and thank all our sponsors at every opportunity—they are listed throughout our website and in this newsletter. Sponsorships can help to defray the cost of hosting our website, sending this newsletter and also of supporting the running and promoting of tournaments and clinics.
Opportunities exist for businesses and individuals, starting at $25.00 to sponsor and support pickleball in British Columbia—details on our Sponsor Program page or contact Marcom@PickleballBC.ca.
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Website or Newsletter
As always we are delighted to receive suggestions and/or contributions of content for the website and future newsletters. Send to Marcom@PickleballBC.ca.
David Snell
President, Pickleball BC (Association)
President@PickleballBC.ca
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