The East Vancouver Elementary Schools Project – Pickleball Kids in Pickleball Schools

An Update, August 2025

The East Vancouver Elementary School (EVES) project recently completed its highly successful third year with two signature events. In June, Slamborees were held for students at David Thompson High School and for teachers at the Vancouver Curling Club (located in the Hillcrest Community Centre).

Under the leadership of Sharon Hoy and Tony Casey, EVES has introduced pickleball to K–7 students in schools where our city’s rich ethnic diversity is particularly evident. The active participation of many dedicated teachers has resulted in various pickleball activities, such as annual Slamborees. From the onset, the Vancouver Pickleball Association has avidly supported efforts to bring our sport to the next generation of players. Warmest thanks (and congratulations) to Sharon, Tony, all teachers, and all community coaches and volunteers involved in EVES!

The leaders of EVES have been creating pickleball opportunities by working to embed pickleball within the culture of schools. Young people of all abilities are more likely to be inspired to play pickleball if their school encourages, embraces, and celebrates it.

Programs are being delivered through introductory sessions, physical education curriculum, and intramurals (noontime as well as before- and after-school sessions). Extramural activities—including league play, friendly matches between neighbouring schools, and Slamborees—are also shaping a “pickleball school.” Family activities with brothers and sisters, parents, and grandparents are also happening.

Pickleball kids in pickleball schools is the vision.

In mid-2024, David Snell (President of Pickleball BC) led efforts to assemble an application to the province’s viaSport grant program with the dual objectives of expanding EVES in Vancouver and bringing the model to the Vernon and Victoria regions. The application was successful (one of only a handful of applications to obtain the maximum grant of $30,000). Additional funding from Pickleball BC, Pickleball Canada, and the three local associations was secured. Teachers and community volunteers then got to work.

By the end of the school year, hundreds of students had been introduced to pickleball at each site and 22 teachers had been certified as Level 1 instructors (thanks to a training session delivered to Vancouver teachers by National Pickleball Head Coach Mark Renneson). In addition, extensive documentation on the EVES model and the experiences at each site were collated and will be made available electronically to anyone wishing to implement this approach in their community.

And now, to the crowning events of this year – the student and teacher Slamborees! On June 12, 83 students from nine east-end elementary schools were brought together for a few hours of play, competition, learning… and fun! This year, the organizers adopted a novel approach to the structuring of the student Slamboree. With input from teachers at participating schools, students were grouped by level of play (a total of 12 groups were formed). Students played all their games within their group and on the same court. Games were played in three gyms at the host school, and each game was limited to seven minutes in duration. In the end, 11 rounds of play were completed. Volunteer court managers started the games, helped with player positioning and scoring, and kept a record of wins, losses, and ties for each player. Thanks to the effort of organizers, prizes were handed out to all students. The top three students in each group also received a certificate highlighting their achievement. The smiles on the students’ faces attested to the success of the day.

The first-ever teacher Slamboree was held on June 23 and saw 37 teachers from elementary schools around the city share pickleball courts and opportunities to compare notes about their experiences over the past year. All nine courts at the VCC were occupied for the duration of the event. Experienced players proved quite adept at identifying their skill-level groups. Beginning players were grateful for the assistance provided by volunteer coach Jason Liao. Participants were delighted with their prizes of pickleball key rings and dill pickles. A good time was had by all! Teachers are already at work planning more student-centred activities (such as expanded noontime, before- and after-school playing opportunities) and teacher-focused events linked to professional development days.

What else is in store for this coming year?

More students introduced to our sport, more teacher engagement, and more community coaches and volunteers. We are also excited to announce that the EVES program has successfully expanded into Douglas Park and Mount Pleasant Community Centres, where our community coaches, Justin Liao and Brandon Stegmaier, ran summer camps for kids. Look out for more youth programming in community centres this fall! Indeed, Pickleball BC has spearheaded another viaSport application to fund further expansions at the existing sites and to bring the EVES model to more communities across our province.

And, of course, a whole lot more Slammin’!