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Some of our news is on the Home page. Scroll down on that page to see several key articles.

The newsletters below contain the rest of our news.  Click a newsletter subject to open up that newsletter.

Our club also uses Facebook for unofficial and social inter-member communications. Sometimes, sudden play or clinic changes are also announced on Facebook. Only SAPC members are granted access to our closed group on Facebook.  Follow us on Facebook.

  • 2020-11-30 11:16 | Anonymous

    We're just sharing an opinion comment published in the St. Albert Gazette regarding the City's vote against continuing with the Active Communities Facility project.

    https://www.stalberttoday.ca/opinion/letter-halting-the-st-albert-rec-facility-the-alternative-is-2903716?utm_source=Email_Share&utm_medium=Email_Share&utm_campaign=Email_Share


  • 2020-11-21 09:43 | Anonymous

    Dear SAPC Members: In addition to setting up as many pickleball play opportunities as possible, you likely expect your board to be looking after the club's long-term needs. This year, the Board and the club's Facilities Task Force have looked at the club's immediate, intermediate and long term facility needs. 

    We have determined that to address these needs, there is one imperative. It is something that all successful sports organizations eventually do, and we've learned that the earlier we start on it, the better. That imperative is to build a capital reserve.

    Without some cash set aside for facilities (as a capital reserve fund), we have no hope of continuing to meet current demand, let alone the projected future demand.

    We've laid this out in a report. We invite you to read the whole report and provide thoughtful comments and input. Your email response, for example, could address these questions:

    i. Do you know of any other way other than building a capital reserve, to qualify for future grants, to seek matching donations and to have the financial capacity to address our needs for court space.

    If so, what is that way, and how would we go about it?

    ii. The report proposes a reserve be built slowly, over many, many years, by adding a 15% premium to all club prices.

    Should SAPC build a reserve more quickly than is proposed?

    Other clubs have done this more quickly. For example, the Kelowna club added an annual surcharge of $30 to their $60 membership fee. 

    iii.Do you know of any facility, grant or partnership opportunities that should be researched and documented in future versions of this strategy?

    If so please tell us all you know about such opportunities.

    iv. Do you have any other opinions or suggested positions regarding anything else in this report?

    If so, please provide a detailed rationale for taking an alternative position.

    Your detailed comments will be preserved, will be made accessible to all board members, and will be summarized for board discussion and decisions at its January meeting.

    If you just want to know a bit more about this proposed strategy but not provide comments, we invite you to read the two-page Executive Summary at the front of the report.

    You may find the confidential member-only report "SAPC Facility Reserve – Investing in our Future" on the Plans, Policies and Bylaws page under the Club Mgmt menu of our website, or click this link: 

    https://www.pickleballstalbert.ca/resources/Documents/Plans/SAPC%20Facility%20Reserve%20-Investing%20in%20our%20Future.pdf 


  • 2020-11-18 09:50 | Anonymous member (Administrator)


    In this issue:

    Cohort play update 

    Future use of schools


    Update on Cohort Play


    The Club had planned to implement Cohort-based play on November 22 nd, before receiving the changed guidelines from the Premier on Nov 12. We are aware there are many questions about cohorts and cohort based play. Please be patient as we continue to plan and we will try to answer as many questions as possible.

    In responding to the mandatory cohort form, members chose to be placed in a cohort based on:

    - Level,

    - Partner,

    - Specific play time;

    - Or placed in a formed cohort under a specific leader.

    Please note that some members asked to be placed in a men only or women only cohort . There were not  sufficient replies to make a men only or women only cohort possible.

    Those that asked to be with a specific leader, automatically have someone to help organize the group/cohort. The other cohorts (level, partner, time play) were created by the club and do not have a leader. Some members in these cohorts did volunteer to be captains, when they replied to the survey. Nicole Currie (Nikki) contacted these members asking if they indeed would help be a captain for the cohort they were placed in. This was in preparation for play at Red Willow. We want to thank all those members who have agreed to help out as captains/leaders. They will be contacted again closer to the restart date to finalize the process and answer specific questions on processes for the captain.

    Of course Pickleball play through the club is now put on hold and we are waiting to see if play will resume after the two week closure. Dependent on this news, you will receive notice of when and how play will resume at Red Willow. If you have been registered in a series play at Servus and BActive you will also receive notice about whether/ when these series will resume. More information will be sent regarding refunds but be patient as we have to wait and see what will happen and whether/ when pickleball will resume.

    In January there will  be a maintenance process put in place to accommodate cohort requests from new or existing members who had not previously asked to be put in a cohort. It will also accommodate changes within a cohort. In January whether/ when play resumes , new cohort-based play at Servus Place and other SAPC venues will be organised.

    I know you are asking “How will this cohort play work.” The Club will assign each play time to a particular cohort. The system will only allow you to SEE and register to play, IF you are a member of that cohort. So for example when play begins at Red Willow, a member will check the Red Willow calendar, and will only see the time(s) available to their cohort. That is the only time(s) they are able to register to play. This will be the same for all play venues beginning in January.

    As we've mentioned before play times will be allocated equitably to each cohort on a "per member" basis. This means that cohorts with more members will get more play times. Note that in larger cohorts, only a small portion of them can attend each session (e.g. only 10 out of 50), whereas in a small cohort a greater percentage of their members can attend each session (e.g. if only 10 in cohort, all 10 can attend a session.)

    You must log into the website in order to see cohort-based play opportunities. You will not see opportunities open to other cohorts. This prevents you from accidentally registering for play with the wrong cohort.

    The cohort you are in (example M03 or S05) is now indicated in your membership profile. You can also see a new cohort directory online -- so you can contact your cohort colleagues when you need to. To see who is in your cohort, do an advanced search specifying your cohort group (eg: SO5). All your cohort members will be listed.
    Here is the link to the cohort directory.


    Special thanks to Ray Keroack for all of this behind the scenes work which has taken so much time to create.

    Now for all of those questions you may have; on the website under the heading “Play”- cohort based play, you will find the explanation and the answers to the questions you may have. Many we have mentioned above. Here's a shortcut to that page.


    As we move forward, awaiting news about pickleball play reinstatement; please read the cohort play information on the website.

    Future School Use

    The districts have confirmed that there will be no Community Use of Schools through February 2021.

    Until then stay safe!



  • 2020-10-25 18:46 | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    In this issue:

    Changes Coming - Get Ready for Mandatory Cohort Registration

    Red Willow Play Changes


    Changes Coming - Get Ready for Mandatory Cohort Registration

    We are changing our play to make it more overtly compliant with new health guidelines and to keep our members safer and healthier.

    A mandatory cohort form is coming in the next two days. All members who want to play in future sessions this winter MUST reply to the mandatory form, thereby qualifying for this new play. A link to the form will be provided in an email to you.

    You have seen in our news that COVID cases are rising in the Edmonton zone. In response, new restrictions on gatherings have been released for the Edmonton area. In addition, this month, there is new Guidance for Sport, Physical Activity and Recreation.

    For the first time, pickleball is explicitly mentioned as a sport that must only be played in cohort groups. These rules also now clearly state:

    • no one should be part of more than one sports cohort,
    • sports cohort groups must have no more than 50 members, and
    • participants switching sports cohorts should not play for a two-week interval.

    In response, your board has passed a resolution that, for the foreseeable future, all our play will be more overtly and explicitly compliant with these rules. Your safety matters.

    To do this as quickly as possible, here’s some of what will happen.

    • A mandatory cohort form will be issued to all members by Oct 27.
      • Members will only have three days to respond.
      • The form will ask if you are in a well-functioning, cohesive cohort and want that cohort kept intact and assigned some play times in our calendars.
      • If you are not in a well-functioning, already-established cohort, you will have the opportunity for the club to place you in a new cohort. We will place you based on some high-level criteria. We DO NOT have the capacity to quickly plan this to meet everyone’s detailed criteria. We will do the best we can, using ONLY the criteria we have put into the survey.
    • A second form will be issued to the identified leaders or prime contacts of the previously established, well-functioning cohorts to identify and confirm their SAPC members, desired play times, etc.
    • Based on the results of these two forms, play times will be assigned to cohort groups.

    If you already have an SAPC play time reservation at Red Willow, B-Active or Servus Place, please keep your reservation and attend the session you have booked. In addition, another week or two of reservations at Red Willow may be booked using the current reservation practices. No one expects that we can convert to explicit cohort-based play overnight.

    Explicit cohort-based reservations will become available for some November times at Red Willow as soon as we can implement this.  The same will apply to January and subsequent play times at other venues.

    What can you do now to get ready?

    • If you are in a well-organized cohort, you need to quickly decide amongst the current members of that cohort if you want to belong to and play only in that cohort going forward. You also need to pick a leader or prime contact for that cohort, and each of you needs to identify that same leader on your responses to the mandatory cohort registration form. This will then be the SAPC cohort we assign you to.
    • Watch for the mandatory cohort form and complete it with the three-day period.
    • If you are a leader of an existing cohort:
      • pick a name for your cohort,
      • determine 1st and 2nd choices for play times (weekday mornings, weekday afternoons, weekday evenings, weekend days).  Note that weekday-day times are likely to remain more plentiful than evening and weekend times.
      • determine if your cohort wants some assigned reservation types like the following:
        • reservable series play, where members pay up front for 8 to 14 weeks of play, once a week, first come-first served within the cohort, no refunds or cancellations. Members find their own substitutes within their cohort for any sessions they need to miss.
        • sticker-pay, individually-booked events, first come first served within the cohort, self-cancellations allowed
        • reserved cohort-determined play. This is open only to well established cohorts. It is cohort-determined play, where you assign play times to cohort members according to your own methods not using SAPC systems, and where the cohort figures out how to pay. This means either (i) pay up-front online with no refunds or (ii) pay by means of stickers on a sign-in sheet, and guarantee to the club that your cohort will always have the minimum number of stickers needed. This option is not recommended unless you already have a proven method of fairly and equitably assigning play times to all your cohort members.

    Note that only SAPC members can be in SAPC cohorts. If someone wants to join our club now, they have only a day or two left to do so. Then we will likely suspend taking new memberships for at least a month and  until this new cohort-based play is well organized. This is only fair – we have new members joining every day and we usually welcome them. But we don’t want people inadvertently joining our club, paying their $30, then finding they can’t play with the club for two-plus months because they didn’t respond to the initial survey and because we’re not yet ready to start adding new members to existing cohort groups.

    Wish us luck. Your club volunteers have a lot of work to do in the next few weeks to make this happen.

    If you want to help us through future projects like this, or want to serve in any other volunteer capacity, please update your volunteer interests in your profile. You will find there are many options to choose from. Your profile can be found under the ‘head and shoulders’ icon (or arrow icon) in the top right corner of any page of your website.


    Red Willow Play Changes

    If you were to chat with fellow members about “how’s Red Willow play going for you??”…you’d possibly hear, “nice to be at it again inside away from the wind, my serves stay in!”, or-“Sit-play-sit s'more!!??”, or- “Not sure I’ll go anymore” ..etc..??

    In early October we launched Red Willow (our solitary venue at the time) and have since heard feedback and have also launched more and different venue play opportunities.

    Here’s what’s being done to address the play and financial stress of Red Willow play. (You probably didn’t know that Red Willow was teetering on a negative cost for the club).

    Starting November 1st, Red Willow Sessions will transition to the following:

    • 10 player limit (at each session) - so captain plus 9 registrants.
    • 2 stickers per player.

    This change is to help us enjoy more quality play (less sit time!), and helps with the financially sustainability needed for this venue.

    Keep your paddle up!

  • 2020-10-12 09:24 | Anonymous

    Weekly Online Registration for Indoor: now at Thurs 12am.

    Just when some of us are now accustomed to the new digeetal youniverse and are ok with using the website scheduling tool, here's a curveball.

    Well not so much a curve, as an off-speed slider. You know those serves right?  

    Here's the changeup. 

    The Indoor Session Registration window time is changing. Here it is.

    Starting this week on Thursday Oct. 15th, and for each Thursday thereafter, the "registration window" opens at 12am, yep, the spooky zone.

    It's just the way the system will work best, meaning- no human has to interrupt their dinner and urgently manually manage the window.  Our website will do it for us!

    Only, it can't tell time, just the day. So, we have a 12am. start, Thursday Oct 15) to register for ALL indoor sessions for that following week's period (Sunday to Saturday)

    Ok, so the recap. This time with colour!

    Starting THIS week, and for all future weeks, the night owls and early birds can scoop their weekly session spots starting at 12am Thursday mornings (aka Wednesday midnight).

    Just getting the word out- real-time, to get-in-line, in-time!


  • 2020-10-05 09:18 | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Reserved Group Play at Red Willow

    Your club is always trying to satisfy the diverse needs of our many members, and we're not afraid to experiment once in a while and adapt as circumstances change.

    Some of you have asked if your small cohort group of pickleball players could reserve Red Willow or a couple of courts elsewhere.  Well, we're still looking into the "elsewhere," but we also have an opportunity now to try this at Red Willow.

    This opportunity has arisen because we don't yet have enough individual members booking into the established sessions at Red Willow. (Yes, we know that is because most of you would rather keep playing outdoors while the weather holds, and we understand that.)  Anyway, we might as well make good use of any indoor facility we can, right?

    Here's the scoop on our trial group plays at Red Willow:
    • Two sessions are now set up, one for this Thursday Oct 8 and the second for Thursday Oct 15. You will see these in the Red Willow calendar, the Indoor calendar, the Reserved Play calendar and the All Play calendar.
    • One member may book the entire session on behalf of their cohort or other group of fellow players. All players must be SAPC members.
    • The sessions will be from 9 am to 11 am.
    • The one who reserves will also act as captain and must agree to learn and apply our club's rules for safe play at Red Willow. This includes adherence to the rule to sanitize and leave the facility by 10:55 pm.
    • The fee for the two hour session is $50 including GST, and this must be paid online by credit card upon reservation.
    • Of course, there can only be one reservation per session, and it will be first come, first served.
    • Registration for the Oct 8 session will be open at 12:00:01 am Tuesday Oct 6, and registration for the Oct 15 session will open at 12:00:01 on Thursday Oct 8. At that time you will begin to see a "Reserve" button on the event description page. (Sorry for the inconvenient time, but that's how our system's automated registration opening feature works. Will you wake up just before midnight to snag this spot? Maybe you can rotate this job within your group if we have more of these.)
    • Instructions for accessing the building will be provided to the captain upon reservation.
    • The captain will have all attendees fill out the regular sign-in sheet, but will not collect stickers. The captain may collect cash from each group member.
    • Each group may range from 8 to a maximum of 16 players. 
    • For this trial, if your group manages to snag the Oct 8 time, please let some other group grab the Oct 15 slot. (However, if no one has booked the Oct 15 slot by Oct 10, then go for it!)
    For this trial period, questions regarding these specific group reservations may be directed to Treasurer@pickleballstalbert.ca. After the trial, please direct reserved play questions to RegPlay@pickleballstalbert.ca.

    Questions from potential captains regarding the Red Willow venue may be directed to our Red Willow venue coordinator, Nicole Currie.

    Please see our website's home page or the Sep 28th news posting for Red Willow safety and play rules. 

    See the Reserved Play page under the Play menu for instructions on making and cancelling a reservation.

    Keep your paddle up!

  • 2020-10-03 19:08 | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    We're pleased to bring you more play opportunities, and your board and the Facilities Task Force is busy looking at warehouses and other facilities to try to address some of the expected shortfall this indoor season, but we also gather from the low sign-ups so far for Red Willow play next week, that many of you are not yet ready to move indoors.

    That's okay -- we understand.  But we want you know that the reservations made for Red Willow play next week are very low.  So low, that the club may lose out, economically-speaking, on each and every session.  Now, we are prepared to lose a bit on several sessions at the beginning and ending of each season, but we have to draw the line somewhere. We hope you understand that if we don't get all of next week's sessions at least 60 or 70% filled by say sometime Sunday Oct 4, then we will start cancelling some of these sessions.

    Don't worry, we will bring them back in subsequent weeks when the weather turns colder.

    All indoor sessions are reserved play and we have several other provisions in place to limit contact between people.  Making a reservation is easy, and you can't play indoors without one.

    For more information see:

    - the article on your website's home page,

    - the newsletter posting of September 28th, and

    - the updated webpage on Reserved Play found under your website's Play menu.

    By the way, if we do cancel a session that you've already reserved, you will get an email telling you that your reservation is cancelled.

    Keep your paddle up!






  • 2020-09-28 09:14 | Anonymous

    More Indoor Venues Please

    Red Willow Indoor Play: How To

    Getting “Carded!?”

    The Search Continues


    More Indoor Venues Please

    St. Albert is a vibrant, growing bundle of award-winning communities that…uh-oh, s’cuse me- sorry, this isn’t the Mayor talking or a Tourism Alberta brochure. Ok- back to our newsletter.. Our club did however get a well-crafted plea in front of the Mayor and council this week though, asking for more PB play venues. And it’s exactly because St. Albert is filled with, and here’s the key word, “Active” communities, we registered the interests and passion of our members with the civic purse-strings in hopes of them tabling future plans for more indoor PB courts! Have a read at the letter that was well-received (and kindly responded to!) by the Mayor.

    This initiative is part of our club vision to grow our venues and facilitate more facilities, until we can all enjoy courts within walking distance, preferably along covered & heated civic corridors, or at least maybe have those moving escalators like in airport terminals. Ah well, a club can dream can’t we?

    In stride with this dream and more rooted in a “near term” feasibility, we are looking at possible warehouse bay options and evaluating the physical and financial requirements for that kind of supplemental venue.


    Red Willow Indoor Play: How To

    There’s a few (6!) things to both prepare for, remember and do when attending Red Willow this Fall season, ok- PLUS another eight COVID codes for indoor play..so, a brainfull of things to know and do for Oct 4th and our new beyond.

    This list of essential play protocols is also on our club website. These protocols are absolutely the “law’ of proper entry-play-exit actions that in fact enable us to use these facilities.

    Just because it’s soo important, we need to emphasize the MASK protocol. No Masks- No enter, No exceptions. It’s just the way it has to be to satisfy the conditions of using this facility.

    Please study & review this list, and follow whatever helpful direction the Captains may have to give you to steer you along while coming to and being at Red Willow.

    FYI, we’re starting with just 2 sessions a day for the first week Oct 4-10th.

    After this first “adjustment week” we’ll fill out the calendar with our planned play for the rest of the month.

    Red Willow Specific Rules: Online Registration starts on Oct 1st.

    1.     15 reservable spots and one held for captain for a total of 16 players per session.

    2.     One sticker for now - may change in January or if we reduce the number of players per session.

    3.     There are no hangers or chairs in the lobby. Hang your coats on the back of your chair.

    4.     No backpacks please. Bring only a small bag, water bottle and indoor shoes.

    5.     Captains will be sanitizing chairs. (The church is providing a cloth and sanitizing cleaner for them to use)

    6.     Only one person in the washroom at a time and only use the middle stall and middle sink.  Members must bring wipes and sanitize each contact point in the washroom after each use.

    To manage the risks of COVID-19 infections, here is the new way we’ll conduct Indoor Play sessions. 

    1. Play is by reservation only.  Click on a session in the indoor calendar to reserve a spot.

    • Cancel your reservation ASAP if you can no longer attend that session. 
    • All reservations for the following week of Sunday to Saturday will open at 12:00:01 am on the Thursday before that week.
    • If you are successful in your reservation or if you are automatically moved from the wait list to the registered list, you will receive a registration confirmation email.
    • When you register, please allow your name to be displayed as a registrant. This allows captains to verify attendees if needed.
    • Members may only book one session per day unless there is an opening in a session less than 24 hours before the start of that session.

    2. Chairs will each be spaced 6 feet apart in the gym and are not to be moved or shared. Each player must use the same chair throughout the event. (Captains will sanitize the chair at the end the session.) 

    3. To enable the socialize we know will happen, masks must be worn at all times except when playing. Masks may also optionally be worn while playing.

    • Note that by signing in you will also be declaring that you have no COVID-like symptoms, have not been recently exposed, accept the risks of play, etc.

    4. Court players can either agree to each serve with their own ball or to share a ball.  Players provide their own balls and should sanitize any used ball after each game.

    5.  Session starts and ends:

    • Arrive on time as outer doors will be locked during play. 
    • The previous session will end at 5 minutes to the hour and the next session will start 10 minutes later.
    • Wait in your vehicle until all players from the previous session have left and you are signaled by the captain to begin entering.
    • No one may enter more than 15 minutes before the first session of the day.

    6. No touching of others' paddles. Do the "Covid wave" after each game. 

    7. We have promised our venue owners that we will touch and use nothing else in their facilities other than what is referenced in this article. Please help us keep these facilities safe for all.

    8. As indoor play opportunities are limited during this pandemic, please limit your reservations to "All Play" sessions or sessions rated at your specific rating level.

    Give a cheer that we can at least have some fun (and relatively safe) play this winter!


    Getting “Carded?!”

    Ah, those early “pre-legal” days..of sprucing up or having some jawline stubble to help advance our age at the tavern entrance. Well, being asked to produce your club ID may take your mind back to those anxious times, ahem- that is, if you ever tried that, not saying anyone did. Not to worry, this is not being asked of all of you.

    Although, as we’re moving to a digital wonderland of cloud-accessible membership info, captains at play venues that are simply doing their duty may need to check “who’s who” from time to time. If you’re “opting out” of having your name and rating displayed on the membership directory (as is your preference), our much appreciated volunteer captains- who can now check a paperless directory online, won’t “see” you, and thereby be put in the onerous position of declaring you unwelcome to whatever specific rated session it may be (thus preserving precious, limited play spots for paid, registered & appropriately rated members).

    So, please enjoy the new feature of printing out your membership card IF you’re a ghost and we can’t see you in the directory. This is your new obligation to help maintain our club “members only” play privileges.


    The Search Continues

    No, not for the Ark, Spock or an ever-flowing Fountain of Youth. We search for something far more plausible- some assistance with club duties!

    These current postings for a Web Coordinator and an Assistant Treasurer, are opportunities to learn and contribute to the goings-on of our year-round club business and development projects! There’s training and support from all of us current Board and Committee members, so if you’d like to pitch in and help shape the future of our SAPC, take a look at the duties and send us a note. (Note that the Assistant Treasurer duties are not specifically posted, and will be developed in collaboration with anyone who steps forward. The duties could range from some basic bookkeeping to advanced financial management. They will be a subset of the duties of the Treasurer which are listed in the Board Members Job Description document.)


  • 2020-09-28 08:51 | Anonymous

    (we've removed the fancy headers, Councillor email addresses and dozen or so "cc's" from the original, official letter..here's the content only)

    ......

    Re: Urgent need for indoor pickleball playing facilities for St Albert 

    Esteemed Mayor and Councillors,

    Greetings from the board of the St Albert Pickleball Club. We hope that this letter finds you all well in these “interesting” times. We would like to commend all of Council for the vision you have to make St Albert a healthy, active community and promote our City as the preferred place to live, raise a family and retire.

    As the St Albert Pickleball Club we are very thankful for your leadership in developing the Alpine Courts to be a first rate pickleball facility, and for making the St Albert City schools available for indoor play to the extent possible. We also treasure the relationship we have with the City Recreation and Parks department.

    As you know, there has been a phenomenal growth in the sport of pickleball in North America. St. Albert has seen the same growth in interest, as the sport of pickleball is health-building activity, conducive to developing friendship, serving a social need for connections to people and community.  This sport can be played by those of all ages and is particularly well-suited to growing numbers of seniors who want to stay active.  St. Albert’s interest in playing pickleball has barely diminished during the pandemic, and we expect the trend of rapid growth to resume unabated, as proper facilities become available. We had over 640 members in April 2020, and wouldn’t be surprised if our numbers quadrupled within four years, given sufficient play venues.

    The interests of St. Albert residents have been hampered by not having sufficient indoor pickleball facilities. As well, the longer our city goes without having a central indoor pickleball facility, the more we will see opportunities to play pickleball and host tournaments slip away. Facilities in Edmonton and other surrounding communities are starting to pull players and tournaments away from St Albert, resulting in lost opportunity to contribute to the economic sustainment of St. Albert businesses and services.

    The lack of adequate indoor spaces limits the growth of this sport in St Albert and the positive impact on the community that it can bring. 

    We also want to be clear that the model of play currently provided by Servus Place is not conducive to fully developing pickleball play for the majority of players. As a club we look forward to being a part of a facility with 12 or more courts and where we can structure some play, providing opportunities for players to develop their play with those at a similar skill level, and providing additional fun through participation in round robins, paddle play, ladder play, shootouts, fun tournaments, family play, and all (mixed) play.  We also look forward, as our club grows, to being able to nurture youth play, build champions and feed competitive players into regional, national and international competitions. These are not possible without a strong local presence and a strong supportive club made up of many volunteers.

    Our vision to be the preferred club for St Albert and the region, both for recreational and competition play is in danger of slipping away as the window of opportunity closes and other communities provide better play opportunities. 

    So, we are in urgent need of an indoor facility to call home in order to remain the preferred option for pickleball play in St Albert, and to maximize the social and health benefits that pickleball provides to the seniors and families of St. Albert.

    As part of our strategic planning, we recently met with Matt Bachewich, President, Active Communities Alberta and part of the ACA board to sustain our ongoing dialogue with ACA, and to discuss progress on their plans for a facility in the City of St Albert. 

    It was great to again hear their vision and their passion to provide facilities that will help our community to be more active in multiple sports, and we look forward to further develop arrangements with Active Communities Alberta for using the facility, should their plans become a reality. At this point it looks like we would be an excellent fit together, and we see a clear path forward to make this facility our home base.

    We hope that you as our City leaders will support Active Communities Alberta in realizing their plans and thereby help us to provide the best pickleball experience possible in St Albert. 

    Thank you for the opportunity to provide our point of view.

    On behalf of the St Albert Pickleball Club (SAPC) board,


    Eileen McClean, President SAPC



  • 2020-09-01 11:20 | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Indoor Play is Coming

    Sticker Sales Resumed

    Indoor Pickleballs for Sale


    Indoor Play is Coming!

    Thanks Eileen and Nicole for securing over 20 play-times per week at Red Willow, arranging for captains, and more. And thanks to Carol P for continuing on as our Registered Play coordinator. Carol will soon be setting up these reserved play times. Watch the upcoming news and the indoor calendar. The first indoor play time will likely be Oct. 4. 

    To help you get ready for this Covid prevention-oriented play, see the two articles below.

    Sticker Sales Resumed

    Need a new sticker card? Orders are now being taken online again. See the Store under the Members menu.

    Indoor Pickleballs for Sale

    To encourage and allow regular sanitation for health safety reasons, members are asked to provide their own balls for indoor play this year.  To facilitate this, our club is selling a limited number of indoor pickleballs.  These are only available through our online store under the Members menu. No cash sales.

    Total cost including GST will be $12 per set of 3 balls. These balls are suitable for play at Red Willow Community Church.  (If we secure other indoor venues this year, they will likely use orange balls.) 

    > Members may buy up to 3 sets each.

    > This round of sales will be ended when our order of 200 balls are sold or on Sep 23, whichever comes first. 

    > Balls must be picked up from Elsi on one of the following days:  

         > Parking lot, Alpine Courts:

              - Fri Sep 25     6 pm to 6:30 pm

              - Sat Sep 26  11 am to 11:30 am

         > Parking lot, Red Willow Community Church:

              - Mon Oct 5 10:45 am to 11:10 am 

    Please wear a mask to collect your balls.  Stay safe and keep our volunteers safe!

    Thanks Elsi for overseeing the pickup of these balls! 





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