PLAY PICKLEBALL
Outdoors in North Gower
Alfred Taylor Recreation Centre, 2319 Community Way
PICKLEBALL
​​The Manotick Tennis Club (MTC) offers both tennis and pickleball to its members at two sites. Tennis is provided at Centennial Park in Manotick while Pickleball is provided at the Alfred Taylor Recreation Center in North Gower. Members may play either or both sports with the same membership, although most members play primarily one sport and indicate which is their primary sport at registration. The MTC has a membership limit (2025) of 1000 members with up to 850 identified as primarily tennis players and up to 150 identified as primarily pickleball players.
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The North Gower tennis/pickleball facility has been completely rebuilt for 2025. It consists of six dedicated pickleball courts with permanent pickleball nets, and two tennis courts which also have pickleball lines that use the tennis net. These are public courts, available for free public use at any time. However, the Manotick Tennis Club has negotiated an arrangement for exclusive use of at least three of the dedicated pickleball courts at certain times totalling 34 hours per week. Note, some other groups have similar arrangements but for significantly fewer time slots than the MTC. Our members have access to courts as members of the public seven days per week from 8.00am to 11.00pm.
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2025 PICKLEBALL PROGRAMS
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The MTC offers a range of pickleball programs including leagues, clinics , drop-ins, along with private lessons. Pickleball programs are offered in accordance with four player ability levels as defined below.
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Level 1 (beginner/new player) - You have played pickleball for less than a year, know the basic rules, can serve and return the ball in the court 50% of the time, can maintain a rally of 3 shots, and are starting to move to the no volley zone line.
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Level 2 - You've been playing for less than two years, know the rules, almost never swing and miss, use both your forehand and backhand, serve and return in the court 60% of the time, can maintain a rally of 5 shots in a row, dink as much as possible until the ball pops up high before speeding up the ball, handle moderately paced shots, move to the no volley zone when you get the chance and attempt drop shots to advance to the No Volley Zone.
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Level 3 - You've been playing for more than two years, serve and return the ball in the back half of the court 60% of the time, use drop shots successfully 50% of the time to move to the NVZ appropriately, maintain your position at the NVZ, initiate and maintain dink rallies (5-10 in game play), sustain volley exchanges at the NVZ, try to keep the ball low and have correct court positioning for doubles play.
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Level 4 - You’ve been playing for more than three or four years, can serve and return the ball with depth and/or placement 80% of the time, can use the third shot drop successfully 65% of the time, can reset the ball and start a dink rally 60% of the time, can consistently dink with placement and purpose, can create and hit “gaps” for yourself and your partner, can sustain a rally and place the ball during a volley exchange, have good court coverage, quickness, mobility and balance, and understand proper shot selection and am reducing my low percentage shots and unforced errors.
The provisional schedule for leagues is outlined below. These may be adjusted once the season has started based on the actual makeup of the membership. Initially, there will be 15 distinct leagues: 3 for Level 1, 5 for Level 2, 6 for Level 3, and 1 for Level 4. Each is a two hour time slot and the schedule is designed to provide each playing level opportunity to play during the day and in the evening. Players may join one or more leagues but are encouraged to attend those sessions that match their ability level to provide everyone with the best experience. There is a limit of 20 players per league and sign-ups for leagues will begin in late April. Once the limit is reached for a league, other players will be added as spares and may be invited to play when space is available.
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Skills and Drills Clinic: Join our club Pro who will provide instruction (free) to members who are hoping to improve their pickleball game. As well, our club Pro is available for private and semi-private lessons (fee) at other times. See below for details!
Pickleball Drop-in Session: This is open to players of all ability levels. Come join the fun and meet new members!
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There is no additional cost to participate in these sessions.
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MEET OUR CLUB PICKLEBALL COACH

PAUL LECK
Club Pickleball Coach
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8 years playing experience
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NCCP Level 2 certified
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OPA-APO Skills Director and Instructor (6 years)
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Manotick Pickleball Club Instructor (5 years)
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Valleystream Pickleball Club Instructor (2 years)
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37 years high school teaching experience
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37 years of coaching youth and high school sports
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Enjoys working with beginner and intermediate level players looking to improve their skills