Dear Amherstburg Mayor Aldo DiCarlo, Town Council, Director of Community and Protective Services Heidi Baillargeon, and Parks and Recreation Commission:

We, the active and rapidly-growing pickleball community (currently 180 plus active players), respectfully ask that you approve the proposal to build an annex to the Libro Centre for five indoor sports and prioritize funding and building dedicated pickleball courts (DPB) in Amherstburg.

Pickleball courts are an excellent use of community resources and should be prioritized, as the sport can be played by people of all ages with or without athletic background including those with disabilities and other health issues. In Amherstburg, many best players are 12 years old and 75 years old.

The benefits are numerous: a new sport for kids (refer to Pickleball Ontario elementary school lesson plan PickleballLessonPlan_FINAL02.pdf); physical, mental and social wellbeing for seniors; active outlet to connect the community.

A summary of considerations for both indoor and outdoor facilities is provided below.

1) INDOOR COURTS

Every winter, our players have to give up playing the fun game or drive many miles to play in Windsor. Please see the map insert for the indoor pickleball facilities.

>>Amherstburg Indoor Sports Association (AISA) proposes Annex @Libro as a solution<<

Benefits of this new facility include:

• A single, centrally located facility for a variety of sports and other athletic groups
• Initial plans support badminton, basketball, pickleball, tennis and volleyball
• No comparable facility currently available
• Greater opportunity to develop sports programs in Amherstburg and attract players from surrounding areas
• A number of opportunities for youth players, tournament play, family sessions and alternative options for the special needs community
• WILL KEEP USER FEES IN AMHERSTBURG
• WILL PROVIDE A VALUABLE ASSET TO AMHERSBURG FOR TOURISM AND RELOCATION DECISIONS
• ALL CAPITAL AND OPERATIONAL EXPENSES AND WILL BE FULLY COVERED BY USER FEES AND ADVERTISING REVENUE WITH NO FUNDING REQUIREMENTS FROM THE RESIDENTS OF AMHERSTBURG

2) OUTDOOR DEDICATED PICKLEBALL COURTS

• Amherstburg currently has NO dedicated pickleball courts.
• Dedicated Pickleball courts are an efficient use of park space that requires little maintenance.  16 people can play on 4 pickleball courts in the same amount of space required for 1 tennis court, which is typically used by just 2 people.
• The two (shared) tennis/pickleball courts at Malden Central Park have reached capacity. Many beginners chose to play in Harrow instead on smooth courts. We’ve had injuries on these two cracked courts with some deep holes. The two courts at Malden are shared with tennis players with at times 8 pickleball players waiting outside for our turns
• The adjacent unusable court at Malden can be easily converted to 10 or 12 Dedicated Pickleball courts. Alternatively, we can build new Dedicated Pickleball courts on the Libro property with its massive land expansion. This will qualify Amherstburg to host the Pickleball National Championship. Imagine the boost in tourism and the great return on investment for the town
• Amherstburg is significantly behind the rest of Windsor-Essex County in this regard; even smaller towns of Cottam and Harrow have newly surfaced pickleball courts!

3) COMPARISON TO OTHER TOWNS AS OF 2021

AMHERSTBURG: 6 shared courts (Malden 2; Anderdon 2; McGregor 2)

Kingsville: 8 shared courts at Ridgeview Park in Cottam plus a grand opening Oct 2021 of Pickleball Complex with 8 DPB Courts at the site of their Arena

Tecumseh: 4 DPB courts Shawanoe Park plus Lacasse Park "Zekelman Pickleball Complex” of 10 DPB new courts opening  Spring 2022

Lasalle: 3 DPB courts at Vince Marcotte Park plus 2 DPB opened in 2020

Please contact apaPresident2021@gmail.com for information

Thank you,

Richard White, Jennifer Brauss

https://www.facebook.com/groups/pickleballAmherstburg