Mark Renneson. Tennis Canada’s head of Pickleball Coach Education, returned to Whitehorse to teach instructional courses over the weekend. 

He had previously delivered a Level 1 Instructor training course here in March 2022, and certified eight instructors.

Renneson has an impressive résumé, including: 

• founded Third Shots Sports;

• runs Pickleball Coaching international;

• runs The Pickleball Lab, an online publication; 

• runs the Pickleball Teachers Network;

• hosts the Pickleball Problems podcast;

• runs a pickleball YouTube channel with more than three million views;

• administers a pickleball instructor forum on Facebook. 

Renneson has a weekly pickleball newsletter with more than 12,000 subscribers, and is the author of several drill guides and instruction manuals.  

On Friday evening, he worked with the 26 members of the Canada 55+ Games team at the Canada Games Centre on improving their skills for the Games in Quebec City, set for  Aug. 26-30. 

On Saturday, he delivered a Level 1 Instructor Training course at Takhini Elementary School. 

On Sunday, he held clinics for Yukon Pickleball Association members at the school. 

The Yukon Star dropped by Takhini Elementary on Saturday to check out the instructor training and spoke with Renneson during a lunch break. 

He said the Level 1 pickleball instructor’s certification course was a joint project of Pickleball Canada and Tennis Canada. 

The course is accredited under Canada’s National Certification Coaching Program. 

There are currently three levels of instructor certification. 

“This is the first step,” explained Renneson. “I’m really excited because we’ve run this course previously here in Whitehorse and I think now that we have this second cohort going through, that puts us in a good position down the road to offer the second level of certification in the near future.” 

Renneson said he enjoyed working with the Canada 55+ Games team on Friday evening. 

“It was a real treat for me to be able to work with the teams as they prepare for that competition.” 

“The real focus was, ‘how can they compete well as a team?’ so that they can play effectively together, no matter what their skill level is.” 

When asked what he wanted players to get out of the weekend, Renneson said, “A real focus is on being thoughtful as they play. I thought we saw some real progress with the teams and I’m hoping tomorrow in the clinics we see the same.

“With the instructors, the focus is on being able to introduce pickleball to new players in a way that’s safe and fun and effective.” 

Yukon Pickleball Association director Brenda Dion explained what it meant to have Renneson back teaching in the Yukon. 

“We’re so grateful to have Mark come up again, and what’s really special this time is because Mark’s been able to do three different sessions for us.” 

Dion said the instructors’ course will bring the total number of instructors up to 20. 

“Bringing in a coach from Outside allows us to introduce new ideas to us at a new level of training for our participants.” 

Donna Griffard came up from Skagway for the instructors’ course. 

According to Griffard, Skagway has only two courts and no pickleball experts. 

“People are YouTube-instructed or via various online tutorials.” 

She explained why she was attending the event.

“We have so many new players each week. I have done a few instructor things on slower days. I want to be able to present a little more professional tutorials and things we can build on, as opposed to the constant crash course.” 

Griffard attended previous sessions in 2022 with Renneson. She’s also attended classes delivered by Dion. 

Her eventual goal is to become an instructor. 

“I love teaching. I’m an artist, also, and I love to teach art. When I get a chance, I like to give.” 

Griffard said the instructor’s course is “really good.” 

“One recent takeaway is to be a more commanding presence on the court so that people know who the instructor is if they walk in blind. I think we’re working a little bit on building confidence. A lot of us are new to the instruction part and go at it timidly. We just need to be strong; step up.” 

Griffard said she was enjoying the course. 

“It’s been a lot of fun meeting new people.” 

Griffard said it’s good to have different opponents as well. 

“It’s kind of a game-changer where you see different approaches and different levels of skill. This is all about learning how to teach to different types of people.” 

Tourism and Culture Minister John Streicker also took part in the instructors’ course. 

Streicker competed for the Yukon in the 2022 Canada 55+ games in pickleball. 

“I’ve been a fan of pickleball for a while and I’ve seen lots of new people come out ,and I think it would be great to get into a role to help foster that beginning stage of pickleball for people,” he said.

“My sense is that if we can help people in those first few times that they come to play the sport, then they are more likely to keep it for life.” 

Streicker said he’s not sure if he’s planning on becoming a pickleball instructor. 

“You know my world; I’m pretty busy already. But it would be great to have, and maybe down the road I’ll have a chance to do that.”