Our inaugural Mid-Summer Slam tournament has been rescheduled to July 23-25, 2021.  Check out the tournament details and registration information in our tournament posting on pickleballbrackets.com.  Remember, Surrey Pickleball Club members get both advanced registration privileges and discounted fees.

Hello fellow SPC members,

It is with great reluctance that we have had to cancel the 2021 Spring Launch. We have decided that this is the most prudent course of action. As of mid May, because of the provincial health orders, the City of Surrey is still not issuing court permits for us to hold a tournament. It is our hope that after the May long weekend, the health authorities may look to relaxing the current guidelines so we can move ahead with regular weekly play and our two remaining tournaments.  But...we will have to wait and see.

Hope to see you on the courts some time in the not too distant future.....

Rick Vandusen

Whether and how we're allowed to play pickleball currently and for the next several months is governed by three areas:

• Provincial Health Orders (PHOs) - as issued by Dr. Bonnie Henry
• BC viaSport - which takes the PHOs and adapts them to provide guidelines for organized sports in BC
• The City of Surrey - which takes the above two into consideration when deciding whether to open the courts, grant court rental permits and under what rules

The current status of these three is:

• PHOs - currently limit outdoor gatherings to 10 or fewer with social distancing required; stay within your same-household social bubble; the current PHOs are in place at least until April 19 but, given the province's recent uptick in COVID cases, are likely to be extended.  For example, we've recently seen an extension applied to indoor dining.
• BC viaSport - no organized leagues or games, with 3 metre social distancing required, no spectators.  Hence, for pickleball: singles or same-household doubles only
• City of Surrey - courts are open for singles or same household doubles only; no group court rental permits are being granted

Subject to potential sanctions by any of the three governing bodies, as individuals, pickleball players are deciding for themselves whether to follow these guidelines.  For example, we're seeing lots of doubles, even if the partners are not same household and there is lots of between-game milling around at courts. 

As an organized club, the Surrey Pickleball Club does not have the ability to ignore and go against these guidelines.

Given the above, the current status for the Club is:

• Weekly Play - The City has not yet granted us the permits to begin weekly play on May 3 as planned.  Within a few days of being granted those permits, we will open weekly play.  When that happens, we expect to have to be operating under COVID management guidelines.  Those guidelines have been developed and we have submitted those guidelines to the City.  We're ready to go!
• Clinics - The City has not yet granted us the permits to hold the clinics.  It is unlikely that the Renneson clinics, scheduled for mid May, will be permitted to proceed (group size, distancing, City permits) and will have to be rescheduled.  If postponement is confirmed, we will work with Mark's organization to try to reschedule his clinics.  The Deakin clinics, scheduled for mid July, remain scheduled for now.
• Tournaments - The City has not yet granted us permits to hold the tournaments.  The members-only Spring Launch tournament (originally scheduled for May 1) has been rescheduled to Saturday, June 5 (registration mid-May).  If restrictions prevent us from holding it on June 5 it will be cancelled since further postponements would then start to overlap with other tournaments.  The Mid-Summer Slam (July) and the Grip 'n Rip (September) remain as currently scheduled.

While we're still not in a wide-open playing situation, we are in a much better place than we were at the beginning of the since-cancelled 2020 outdoor season.  Once the guiding bodies allow us to provide club events, we will notify you and be ready to get everyone back to the courts.  In the mean time, stay safe and stay well.

As we approach the start of our 2021 outdoor season and in light of the ongoing uncertainties over COVID-19 restrictions, the Club has developed a policy for fee refunds including implications of a late start to our season.  You can read it through our Fees page.

Your membership in the Surrey Pickleball Club includes membership in Pickleball Canada. If you are planning to join the club or renew your club membership you should do so prior to April 1, 2021, before the Pickleball Canada membership fee increase takes effect.

Several players in Surrey have expressed confusion whether there is a "same-household" exception to City's "singles-only" playing guidelines.  By way of the email below (sent on February 1), the City is confirming that their guidelines are singles-only, with no exceptions.  The link to their website can be found here.

After a very long period of being worked on by Metro Vancouver, the reservoir top where the upcoming dedicated pickleball courts (12) are planned, is now in the hands of the City of Surrey. We had the opportunity to visit the site close up this morning. Here is the plan for what is going in. See our Facebook page for a video of what it looks like today. Still a long way to go, but all of the bases for the nets and the fencing are in place. With any luck, we should be able to play on the new courts late in our 2021 season.

We previously mentioned that 2021 will bring over 100 new rule changes. Three of the ones that you might find interesting include:

1. No more lets. A serve that hits the tape and lands in the correct service box is now live and must be played. 
   
2. Drop serves allowed. Serves may be hit after the ball bounces and with no restrictions on the nature of the swing.
   
3. Asking about positions. Serving teams can now ask both whether they are the correct server and in correct position.  

Check out all of the changes (81 pages of them!) here

See the article here.

Good afternoon,

I’m reaching out to our active Pickleball and Tennis contacts across the City, to confirm changes that are now in place Province Wide with the revised Provincial Health Order.  Please share this information within your clubs (formal or informal), fellow players and any other active tennis and pickleball players that you know.

Effective as of December 4th, the PHO placed new restrictions on adult indoor and outdoor team sports, to limit the amount of physical interactions to help reduce the spread of COVID-19. 

• All team sports for people over 19 years of age are now suspended – this includes doubles play in pickleball and tennis (both for organized and casual play)
• ONLY singles play can occur for tennis and pickleball
• viaSport has increased physical distancing requirement for all individuals to 3m

Tennis BC and Pickleball BC have recently updated their Return to Play plans to meet the PHO, and are linked for your reference.

Our Bylaws team and Park Ambassadors will continue to be an active presence across our many parks to talk with park users and help ensure safe sport is taking place, in line with the PHO’s requirements.  If you see any unsafe sport use taking place, please call our Bylaws Services number at 604-591-4370.

Thank you,

CITY OF SURREY, PARK OPERATIONS, OUTDOOR COMMUNITY SPORTS & FACILITIES