ABOUT

A Little History…

In the fall of 2021 at the Moose Hall on Fort William Rd in Thunder Bay, Jason Horychuk approached Darron Smylie about running pickleball lessons and clinics as the sport was starting to take off everywhere including Thunder Bay. At the time, Jason had an extensive background in high level tennis and badminton. The Moose approved the idea to help bring in more members to the hall.

Thus, during Christmas holidays of 2021, the first ever organized, leveled clinics took place at Moose Hall. Soon thereafter, small "Training Tuesdays" clinics were added for new-to-pickleball beginners to learn the game.

In 2022 and 2023, on Saturday mornings at Moose Hall, Jason, with assistance of Darron Smylie and Ron Belaire, gave free lessons to players new to pickleball to help people learn the game and grow the memberships of the Thunder Bay Pickleball Club (Ex Lakehead Pickleball Club) and Moose Hall. In August of 2022, the first youth program in Northwestern Ontario was started. Intermediate and advanced training/drilling session were added on Thursday evenings in 2023 at Moose Hall to help players prepare for tournaments in and out of town.

In Jan of 2023, Jason became the first certified Pickleball Instructor in Northwestern Ontario. In the summer of 2023, more coaches were added to the coaching group in Thunder Bay as Dan Peerenboom, Peter Jaun, and Tudor Nisioiu achieved their certifications. In the summer of 2024, Linda McDonald got added to the coaching staff after she achieved instructor certification, and Jason and Dan extended the venture to the province of Manitoba, selling out every clinic over a four month span to various levels of players in different small towns in and around Winnipeg.