Oceanside Pickleball Club Parkinson's Disease Pilot Program

Comox Valley Record story by Michael Briones: A Vancouver Island Pickleball Club has started a pilot program that aims to help people with Parkinson’s disease. A group of eight people with the neurodegenerative disease were first introduced to pickleball by the Parksville-based Oceanside Pickleball Club instructors Ernie Pallot and Sharon Fox on July 25. Despite having to play when the heat was a bit intense at noon, participants savoured the experience and left feeling good and extremely appreciative of the opportunity. One of them was Duncan Watson, who was diagnosed with the disease 10 years ago... 

Pallot and Fox held basic lessons that included tossing the ball around, hand-throwing the ball and hitting the ball with each other simply to give them a good feel for the game. During the course of the lessons, Pallot indicated they will keep a record of everything they’re doing and also hand out self-assessment forms for participants to fill out and bring back for the next session...

“The reason why I want to do this as a pilot program is to have the information available so that we can make it known to the various associations and clubs across Canada, if it’s successful, that they can introduce it themselves,” said Pallot, who added that Pickleball BC and Pickleball Canada are quite keen to learn more from the program.

​More of the story from the Comox Valley Record here.

Duncan Watson learns the basics of pickleball provided by OPC Pickleball Club’s pilot program to help people with Parkinson’s disease. (Maire Watson photo)

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