Tiny lobs to form pickleball working group after resident feedback
By: Derek Howard, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Source: MidlandToday.ca, Nov 21, 2025
Pickleball has made yet another rally in a north Simcoe municipality, with Tiny Township looking to adopt a pickleball working group next year, intent on starting a community-led township club by 2027.
The recommendation was presented at a recent committee of the whole meeting where findings from a pickleball survey showed that of roughly 150 respondents, roughly 63 per cent supported the formation of a Tiny Pickleball Club with another 22 per cent indicating maybe to the question.
“It is one of the quickest growing recreational activities,” said recreation and special events director Josh Pallas. “With the increasing participation comes requests for more court times, program and scheduling options.”
Also within the survey, it was noted: over half the respondents played in township-run pickleball programs; nearly half played several times per week; and nearly all agreed that the sport fostered social connections in the community, especially among seniors and seasonal residents.
Staff proposed that a working group be established in 2026, aiming to create a formal, community-led club the next year.
Mayor Dave Evans said that it was an “incredible report,” admitting he hadn’t known there was so much to the sport; he praised Pallas for reaching out to the Wasaga Beach pickleball association for assistance in gathering data.
Tiny Township hosts pickleball at five current facilities: two outdoor courts at Parkside Park in Balm Beach; multi-use tennis and pickleball courts at Perkinsfield Park; similar courts at Emilio Place at Bluewater Beach; a seasonal outdoor surface at the Wyevale Community Rink; and indoor play during winter at the Wyebridge Community Centre.
Evans emphasized his view that an established club would only run the pickleball courts half the time at maximum.
He also compared the usage of township facilities and access to the club as being borne by those utilizing it rather than the general tax base. “There is a certain aspect of pay-per-use involved here too; no different than short-term rental people pay for the implementation and monitoring of their facilities and their bylaw.
“When we’re building this, I think of hockey leagues… the town may run the rink but they don’t own the association,” said Evans.
Following Evans’ comments, meeting chair Coun. Steffen Walma quipped: “Is there anyone else in the kitchen with (the mayor)?”
Most members of council were in favour of the option to implement the working group next year, but an exchange between parks and recreation committee council representative Dave Brunelle and the others resulted in council members agreeing that a representative from that committee would be a liaison with the established pickleball working group.
Upon formal ratification, anticipated at an upcoming regular meeting of council, staff were directed to post the draft pickleball strategy on the township website to gather public feedback, with a period to close on December 23. Following that, a formal pickleball strategy would be presented to council in the new year.
Pallas spoke to MidlandToday following the meeting regarding shared court usage between pickleball players and their new sport as compared to long-standing tennis players.
“The group of tennis players here in Tiny are prominent – a great group that are very respectful of court times – and from what I’ve witnessed there’s little-to-no controversy between tennis and pickleball that exists here in Tiny right now,” said Pallas.
“Scheduling is something that we’ve addressed through the strategic plan and that we would like to implement further to accommodate both groups to have equal access across the courts.”
The pickleball survey, open house, and strategy report can be viewed on the agenda page on the Township of Tiny website.
Archives of council meetings are available to view on the township’s YouTube channel.