Activating Youth Pickleball in BC ("AYPBC"): Pickleball BC Association ("PBCA") Project Update

Vancouver Pickleball Association’s EVES’ (East Vancouver Elementary Schools) Slamboree, where 86 students from eight schools participated in a friendly celebration of pickleball, June 2024.
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Introduction
This update will provide you with a brief project background and current activities within each of the three participating Regions including Vancouver Island, Thompson Okanagan and Vancouver Regions.

Aside from growing pickleball by introducing it to students K – 7 in selected BC school regions, there are numerous benefits for the youth, such as it’s healthy, and fun; lessens their personal digital screen times; sports, in general, builds one’s character and teaches team fundamentals; and there’s social aspects involved with friends and family. Also pickleball is accessible and less intimidating than other sports.

Background Recap
In case you missed it, per our AYPBC’s last instalment and announcement on our website:

• In June 2024 viaSport British Columbia announced a grant proposal of up to $30,000 per BC Provincial Sport Organization under a BC Sport Participation Program called the “Provincial Sport Development Fund”. The BCSPP supports programs that attract children, youth, Indigenous and marginalized populations to lead active and healthy lifestyles through involvement in sport, while also helping to support communities delivering physical activity programming throughout the province.
• Successful bid, PBCA received a viaSport British Columbia $30,000 grant, September 2024.
• PBCA selected three provincial Regions as above with its respective PBCA Club delegates: Victoria, Vancouver, and Vernon.
• Goal is to have a youth programs K – 7 resource package, including a curriculum and tool set, for all BC clubs to utilize that will posted on our PBCA website by mid 2025.
• To meet the objectives of viaSport British Columbia:
  - To provide children with an active and healthy lifestyle through sport participation. 
  - To help support communities delivering those sport-related activity programming.

Updates From The Three BC Regions
1. Victoria, Vancouver Island Region: Connie McCann, President, Victoria Regional Pickleball Association ("VRPA") said “I would like to say we moved faster than a prairie fire with a tailwind; but, in fact, connecting to the elementary schools was the biggest hurdle. Thanks to our very own retired teacher and founding VRPA member, Heather Hood and wonderful member Barb McLeod—they reached out to their contacts and found six Elementary Schools. All of the schools are excited, and one of them has already received a staff introductory pickleball lesson during a school ProD day. If hooting and hollering are a sign of success, then we were successful.”

Some of their schools, from a total of six, include:

• Ecole Quadra School, which is a vibrant and diverse community of K to Grade 5.
• Strawberry Vale Elementary School, located in a semi-rural area in the District of Saanich, their school leader contact is Audra, a pickleball player herself, where their outdoor pickleball courts is right next to the school.
• McKenzie Elementary, who wish to build a foundation of knowledge, skills and attitudes in their students; and their staff have already been instructed on how to play.

Further, Connie adds: “We know that the future of pickleball is in the hands of our youth, and for the most part, the youth do not yet have pickleball paddles in their hands. VRPA is honoured to be part of this fine project to do just that.”

2. Vernon, Thompson Okanagan Region: For Rick Klein, Chair Player Development Committee/Vernon Pickleball Association ("VPA"), and his team, when they were first approached about the AYPBC initiative June 2024 by David Snell, President Pickleball BC —they enthusiastically said “yes” to being involved. To date, they have been working diligently towards the roll out of the program in their school districts.

According to Rick: “We identified our leadership team in July with Patricia Andrews, a retired elementary school PE teacher, who is also a member of our VPA, and Derri-Ann Cooper, who is an active teacher in our school district #22 and also a member of our VPA. Both ladies bring a great amount of experience to the program and we are lucky to have them involved. Other key team members include Barb & Byrne Hallonquist, Glenn Jesperson, and Pat Cooper.

To date we have approached three local under resourced schools in our district: Harwood, Alexis Park, and Mission Hill Elementary Schools plus asked if they wanted to participate. They were very excited to be involved, and we have been working with them through the last couple of months to bring them up to speed. Our VPA coaches held a teacher training session in November for 5 teachers from the three schools, which went very well, we have another session set up for December 10.”

Vernon’s other initiatives include:

• To urgently acquire equipment and begin the three schools’ program roll out by the beginning of January 2025.
• To expand the program scope and bring more schools on-board.
• The VPA, along with the schools, have organized and booked a program-ending Slamboree that will be held at the VPA facilities on February 19 & 20, 2025 for about 170 6th and 7th graders.

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3. Vancouver: Tony Casey, Director, Global Pickleball Federation & Sharon Hoy, AYPBC Project Coordinator, including other delegates, were instrumental with their Vancouver Pickleball Association’s EVES (East Vancouver Elementary Schools) project introducing pickleball to Vancouver Eastside schools during Summer 2022—which was the inspiration for the AYPBC project.

Other EVES highlights included:

• To expand the program scope and bring more schools on-board.
• Introduction to the “pickleball experience” sessions for school leaders and students in over two dozen schools over the past 24 months.
• School-wide pickleball classes for kindergarten through grade seven classes in three schools.
• “Learn to Play” sessions for 29 teachers from 16 schools.
• Slamboree: 86 students from eight schools participated in a friendly celebration of pickleball.
• Thirty schools acquiring balls and paddles; many of them sharing the equipment with other schools in their areas.
• Since EVES’ inception, the program has captivated over 1,550 students, 100 teachers and 30 schools. To date, over 25% of Vancouver elementary schools have experienced pickleball through EVES.

Conclusions
David Snell, President Pickleball BC says “Now that the AYPC project is well underway there are major goals that we have set for ourselves as follows:

• PBCA wants to help support the project in each of the 3 Regions, supported by PBCA, the EVES experts and our Regional Affiliated Clubs mentioned above
• In order to 'Activate Youth Pickleball in BC' (pickleball for schools, in schools, by schools) we will provide equipment, coaches, curriculum for youth pickleball programming K-7, and pickleball club support in our 3 Regions
• Ensure pickleball thrives in BC and is sustainable - embedded within schools’ curriculum, woven into the fabric of a school-as-a-community, powered by schools with community sport support
• Effect school educators’ collaboration with sport leaders in their communities
• Build a prototype for developing physical literacy and nurturing social interaction for elementary school students of all abilities and ages
• Provide a cornerstone for advancing pickleball and creating opportunities for the greatest number of children and young people
• Continue the support of a sport that is wonderfully and incomparably... fun!”

In summary, the experiences from the planning and implementation of this model will be captured and documented during our AYPBC project duration. The objective is to have a planning guide and other resource materials produced, posted on the PBCA website and available to other PBCA Clubs in BC to implement in their areas. By mid 2025, this collection of learnings, tips and techniques will be promoted to all BC pickleball clubs for use with their local schools. The AYPBC leaders’ planning framework and unit plan/curriculum will be integral components.


In upcoming PBCA News and Newsletter postings we will provide a more detailed, historical outline of AYPBC, EVES, and other activities and initiatives—stay tuned.

“With everyone that’s involved, including club delegates, equipment partners, coaches, and school leaders, there’s momentum towards building pickleball schools K – 7 within the identified regions.”, says David Snell, President, Pickleball BC Association. In addition, he adds: “The participants are all empowered to achieve greatness for the students and their communities, where  PBCA, the Regional participants and viaSport British Columbia objectives will be achieved. I’m looking forward to next month’s achievements and announcements.”

We welcome any questions or comments to David Snell, [email protected] on this significant new PBCA youth initiative made possible by viaSport British Columbia.

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