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The Yukon PickleBall Association (YPA) hosted a pickleball instructor鈥檚 course and player clinics on the weekend at the small gym at Vanier Catholic Secondary School in Whitehorse.

Mark Renneson is a professional pickleball coach. In 2021, he was named the Head of Pickleball Coaching Education for Tennis Canada.

He delivered an NCCP Level 1 Pickleball Instructor course on Saturday and a full day of player clinics on Sunday.

The Star caught up with Renneson on Sunday during an advanced player鈥檚 clinic.

鈥淭oday we are (doing) a full day of pickleball clinics for different skill levels. This clinic right now is our advanced skill session, and we鈥檝e got players from all over the Yukon, and some people even came from Alaska,鈥� related Renneson.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a two and a half hour training session to give these pickelball players a chance to practice and to learn and to compete.

鈥淭his is day two. Yesterday was an instructor鈥檚 certification course put on by PickleBall Canada and this right now is a day of training put on by me and our company, Third Shot Sports,鈥� he added.

When asked if that was the last clinic of the day, Renneson replied 鈥渨e鈥檝e got one more coming up. Today鈥檚 a 10-hour day. These are advanced players. We鈥檝e run two intermediate sessions and then we gave those intermediate players a bit of a break and then some of them are coming back at 5 o鈥檆lock for an open play session, where they get some coaching as well.鈥�

Renneson said the weekend had been going great to that point.

鈥淚鈥檓 happy to be out here. The people here have been incredibly friendly and welcoming. I鈥檓 not sure that they get a whole lot of professional pickleball coaching here in the Yukon, so I was really happy that we could bring a pickleball instructor program here as part of the national certification program and to piggyback onto that a day of coaching with players has been really good for me and hopefully for the players here as well.鈥�

Colleen Clark, one of the participants in the advanced clinic, echoed Renneson鈥檚 thoughts.

鈥淲e have a person in from out of town and he鈥檚 very skilled in teaching. We don鈥檛 have the opportunity to have high-quality instruction all the time, so this practice and ... activity is to really learn some strategy that we don鈥檛 always have the opportunity to see and learn how to do. So far, we鈥檝e practiced some things that we actually know how to do, but he鈥檚 teaching us little tidbits, things he can see that we鈥檙e doing slightly wrong, which is making a pretty big improvement to some people鈥檚 games.鈥�

Clark was asked what she thought of it so far.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been great. We鈥檙e changing around in partners. We get to play with different people. Most of the people, a lot of us know, because we play at Canada Games Centre, at Mount Mac (McIntyre) in the summertime, but there are a few new people too, and that鈥檚 advantageous, because you might make a connection, and be able to meet with that person at a later date, and play with them.鈥�

Renneson identified the main goals of the clinic.

鈥淓ach of the sessions has a slightly different theme, so I guess the specific goals would be related to those different aspects of the game. But, overall, I鈥檓 going to count yesterday as a success, having done the instructors certification program. We have nine people who went through the program who listened and learned and improved their coaching.

鈥淎nd I鈥檓 going to count today鈥檚 courses as a success if people come away saying 鈥業 played a ton of pickelball, I learnt a lot, and I had a great time.鈥欌��

Renneson also explained what Saturday鈥檚 instructor鈥檚 course was all about.

鈥淭his is the Level One Certification Program, which is really focused on introducing pickleball to new players ... it鈥檚 a pretty lengthy evaluation process. They鈥檝e gone through it. They haven鈥檛 received their results yet ... a week from now, they will all have their results, but it was a strong showing from all nine of them.鈥�

Renneson added,鈥� It鈥檚 been great to be here. The pickleball community, in Whitehorse in particular, is very lucky to have so many enthusiastic players and now certified instructors. For a small community, they have a disproportionate amount of strong pickleball activity here.鈥�