By Staff
May 2nd, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON
The pickleball community is asking their enthusiasts to get ready to “slice through the latest scoop in the world of pickleball in Burlington!”
Two organizations have partnered with Passion for Parkinson’s Foundation to promote pickleball as a fun and effective form of exercise for people with Parkinson’s disease.
The two are: learn2pickle.com and burlingtonpickleball.com
Pickleball is a paddle sport that combines elements of badminton, tennis, and table tennis. It is a great way to get exercise, improve hand-eye coordination, and socialize with others. Studies have shown that pickleball can be beneficial for people with Parkinson’s disease, helping to improve balance, coordination, and overall well-being.
Through this partnership, we will be offering a variety of initiatives, including:
· FREE Pickleball classes for people with Parkinson’s disease
· Educational workshops on the benefits of pickleball for Parkinson’s
· Fundraising events to support Passion for Parkinson’s Foundation
We believe that together, we can make a difference in the lives of people with Parkinson’s disease.
CLASSES ARE HELD AT
TANSLEY WOODS COMMUNITY CENTRE
STARTING MAY 4TH
(2:00-4:00)
For more information please make sure to visit http://www.passionforparkinsons.org/ and see what you can do, how you can get involved OR to sign up for FREE pickleball class by clicking the button below!
“We’re incredibly excited about this partnership and the positive impact it will have on our community in Burlington. Join us in playing pickleball for a purpose and help us support the Passion for Parkinson’s Foundation. ”
This part of the report comes from the people who organize the events:
City notice at Ireland Park
Ireland Park fiasco. Last year the city finally agreed to implement a ‘pilot program’ for pickleball, where the courts had a schedule.
This year, the city had decided to discontinue the pilot program. Why? It was working. It was working extremely well. We all know that anything new; as this pilot program would never be a smooth sailing and there would be wrinkles.
To everyone’s knowledge there were 2 instances where residents were not happy about this change and have filed a complaint with the City. We would hate to think that based on those two complaints it was enough for the City to discontinue the program instead of making it permanent.
The FIRST complaint came from a resident because when they showed up to play tennis, they were told to wait until pickleball hours were done and then were showed the ‘NOTICE’ board.
The SECOND complaint came from a small group of residents/pickleball players because when they showed up, during that morning there was a friendly tournament that took place between the lovely City to our east (Oakville). However, and without any hesitation those residents/players were given a preferred court of their choosing so they can play their games. Not to mention, they were happily offered to use the net that was already set up. We guess that was enough for them to file a complaint with the City.
In the last 3 weeks, we’ve sent out a short questionnaire that was further passed on to pickleball players and the ask was to further pass it on to anyone they knew that plays tennis.
The questionnaire had TWO (2) questions:
1.) Did the ‘pilot program’ – having dedicated pickleball hours at Ireland Park worked?
2.) Would you want this permanently implemented or removed.
– additional comment
We’ve received over 1,100 emails and the results were as follows:
1.) 93% – YES
2.) 96% – YES (permanent)
Most comments were; Leave it as permanent as now most players are aware of the court schedule.
Latest response from the City didn’t necessarily answer as to why the pilot program was discontinued, but had mention that there are 6 dedicated pickleball courts that are being added – 2 at Leighland Park (currently open for play) and 4 more at Palmer Park (completion of the courts is sometime in June/July).
Great and we are super thankful. However, since last fall when the courts closed for the season, I can only speculate that pickleball has grown 10+ -fold and there are ‘THAT’ many more pickleball players. If you know of any tennis players, please ask them as well and see what they say.
You can always chime in and remind them that Brant Hills courts, Millcroft courts and Sycamore Park courts are dedicated to tennis only courts AND there is an additional tennis court at Leighland Park as well. How all this makes sense, we’ll never know.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on this and if you’re up for it, please feel free to send the City an email and maybe they will tell you a true reason for discontinuing the pilot program. Here are their contacts:
Denise Beard – Denise.Beard@burlington.ca
Rebecca Holmes – Rebecca.Holmes@burlington.ca
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