Callander pickleballers, your sport calls on you to serve

Callander’s pickleball groups are looking to expand.

First, they need volunteers to lead them. Currently, there are two days dedicated to pickleball at Callander’s Community Centre at 1984 Swale Street. Inside, there are two courts, complete with permanent lines to demarcate where the action occurs.

Mondays and Wednesdays are when the action goes down, “but they’re full,” noted Callander’s Senior Municipal Director, Ashley Bilodeau. “We have to turn people away.”

It’s a real pickleball pickle. The games are so popular, there isn’t enough room for everyone to play. The solution? Find a volunteer dedicated to the cause willing to lead another day or session of game times.

“We’re trying to find more volunteers that are willing to lead beginner classes,” Bilodeau added. An extra person or two could organize more games, allowing more people to play, and encourage new talent to the sport.

Callander’s pickleball group is a community affiliate of the municipality. Affiliates are allowed to use municipal space for free, or at a deeply discounted rate, because the affiliates bring value to the citizenry, such as a pickleball league.

See: Plan allows Callander groups to use town facilities at a discount

“It’s one league that runs the two sessions,” at the Community Centre, Bilodeau clarified. There are beginner, intermediate and advanced levels within the league, and now “the idea is to create another beginner level, so that drop-in sessions can happen.”

Sound appealing? Figure you have the chops to help lead a new beginner session? Reach out to the Municipality at [email protected] to let staff know you’re interested. Ideally, the session would take place during the week, as weekends are often booked with other events. However, a weekend slot could be possible, as could an evening session.

Please note, the volunteer opportunity is only open to Callander residents.

David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.