We appreciate you taking the time to explore opportunities to engage with BPC.
Below are overview descriptions of each of the Bellingham Pickleball Club Committees. For each of the committees shown below, you can be on the standing committee and/or you can be listed on a pool of contacts for specific events, maintenance projects, etc.
Please let us know which committee(s) you are interested in learning more about, and we will have someone from that committee contact you. You can reach us at communications@bellinghampickleball.org.
Open Play Committee
The Open Play (OP) committee plays a central role in the BPC, arranging partnerships with local venues to provide Open Play opportunities. In addition to committee members, OP needs volunteer hosts especially In the winter months for the indoor sessions. As a volunteer host, you manage your event through Spond, coordinate court set-up for the sessions, as well as, act as the welcoming face of the BPC to members at the sessions. The benefit to you for hosting is a reserved spot in the high demand indoor sessions, and your use fee is waived. In the summer months, hosts are needed to be ambassadors of BPC at Cornwall Park.
Open Play hosting is a great way to engage with the BPC community. Training is provided to BPC OP Hosts on a regular basis to ensure that new volunteers have the tools and information they need to feel confident in their role as BPC Ambassadors. The time commitment is variable, as you can lead sessions that fit with your schedule.
Skill-Development Committee
The Skill Development Committee (SD) provides valuable services to our members by establishing the skill development sessions and schedule. The SD committee sets the vision and coordinates the upcoming SD sessions. The volunteer hosts help BPC members learn pickleball skills through drills and games. The hosts are provided training and support by professional coaches, as well as guidance on how best to lead sessions. Skill Development is one of BPC’s key member benefits and the committee continues to need individuals to lead sessions. The time commitment is variable, as the volunteer can lead sessions as it works with their schedule.
Membership Committee
The Membership Committee is focused on supporting our members by recommending ways to honor volunteers and utilize club funds for the benefit of members. Currently, the membership committee is identifying, testing, and implementing a new membership and reservation system that will best serve our clubs growing needs.
Currently, we are in need of individuals who can help with the process of exploring technical solutions that will be sustainable. If you enjoy research, then this could be a great team for you. Additionally, we are looking to find 3-5 people to find and support our volunteers in a comprehensive and organized way. The membership committee work is done remotely, and is project based, so the time commitment depends on your availability.
Communications Committee
The Communications Committee members work remotely to disseminate information to BPC members and to answer questions related to BPC programs. Our goal is to respond to member inquiries within 24 hours. Some committee members monitor electronic communications every 4-6 weeks. Generally, this takes ½ hour per day during the monitoring week.
Committee members can volunteer for special projects such as updating the website, building monthly emails, and developing annual surveys. The amount of time required for these special projects varies, but average 5 hours a month. Experience with email marketing tools (Mailchimp), WordPress, and Webmail is beneficial, but not required.
Events Committee
The Events Committee’s role is growing as the BPC membership grows. The committee is responsible for coordinating tournaments, ladder leagues, social mixers, and the August annual meeting.The committee members share the responsibilities for planning and tracking the details related to events. The committee has been undersized for the variety of events that BPC wants to deliver to its members. Our goal is to have a 6 – 10 person committee. If we can achieve this, then the workload will be sustainable for all members. The volunteer hours vary due to the project based nature of the events committee focus.
Facilities Committee
The Facilities Committee is focused on outdoor court maintenance at Bellingham Parks, especially Cornwall Park and Fairhaven Parks. The committee is most active in the warm weather seasons, May – October. BPC works closely with the Bellingham Parks and Recreation department to schedule the major cleaning of the courts at Cornwall Park. The maintenance of the tools needed by BPC members to clean the courts is the responsibility of the Facilities Committee. The time commitment is minimal in line with the adage, “many hands make light work”.
Finance Committee
The Finance committee works closely to ensure the financial solvency of the Bellingham Pickleball Club. The responsibilities include income and expense tracking, insurance processing, IRS reporting, and annual budgeting. The team currently consists of three people.
New Covered Courts
The Pickleball Pavilion committee will be in need of grant writers and fundraisers once a site has been approved for the new covered courts to be built. If you have expertise in this area, please lend a hand. The covered courts committee work is a combination of in person and remote, so the time commitment depends on your availability.
Board of Directors
The Board of Directors (BoD) is evolving to become efficient and effective at serving the growing BPC member base. In the coming year(s), in addition to liability and risk mitigation, our focus will be on member’s pickleball skill development, open play, and securing covered courts. An initiative is underway to build covered courts in Bellingham, and the BPC BoD will play a role in ensuring that our members have generous access to those courts.
For the 2023/2024 year, which starts in September, the BoD needs 6 new board members. We invite you to attend our next meeting to learn more about how we operate. The BPC Board meets on the second Thursday of each month at 6:30 via Zoom. Members are welcome to attend these meetings, but cannot vote on matters presented. To receive the Zoom code for the Board Meetings contact us.