Update for September 25, 2016

[Mark Chase]

Hey Bubble Ball Bashers,

Another 48 hours has come and gone, so it's time for another update:

City Negotiations

Henry Choi, the executive director for Tennis BC, is meeting with Parks and Rec this coming Tuesday.  In advance of that meeting, he reached out to me for a conversation today.

I briefed Henry on the history of indoor tennis advocacy since Westwood was originally put up for sale.  Henry mentioned that tennis in Canada is experiencing a wave of growth and most municipalities are receptive when it comes to budgeting at the moment.  Obviously it does vary from city to city.  Henry was a little shocked when I said that the city has $11.8 million budgeted to build the new boathouse and facilities at Long Lake, but OTOH is spending money to actually remove the only indoor tennis facility we have here.  Rowing club membership: around 70.  Westwood membership: more than double that.

So we are not covering the same topics in our respective meetings, I suggested that Henry should discuss the growth of the sport in BC, and the role of indoor facilities in player development etc.  I'll be discussing specifics about the Westwood facility and options.

For those of you not already aware, Tennis BC operates a series of "Hub" facilities around the province.  The Tennis BC Hub in Richmond, for example, was purchased from the Sandman hotel next door.  I've played there and it's quite nice.  I sent a followup question by email to Henry, asking if Tennis BC would consider taking on the Westwood bubble as their newest Hub.  I'll let you know the response when I hear back.

Finally, Henry offered to put me in touch with Anita Comella, Senior Director of Facilities Development at Tennis Canada.  I told him yes of course, any help would be greatly appreciated.

FITIN Online

Our online petition is up to 849 signatures!  Nice job, everyone!  Please share the link to anyone you think might support our cause:  https://www.change.org/p/urge-nanaimo-to-preserve-westwood-lake-indoor-tennis-courts

Thais R had this to say about the next steps:

"It seems like the next step is to keep increasing the numbers of signatures to the maximum amount we can and draft a delegation letter to the council, so they can put us in their agenda and we can schedule a meeting to present the results of the petition to them - at that point with solutions. 

However, I do think they won’t do that anytime before the election"

Sounds like a plan!  Let's all try to get that total to the magic number of 1,000 so it can be presented to the new council ASAP

Community Voices

As part of the presentation I am preparing, I would love to get a series of impactful quotations.  How are you impacted by the potential loss of the bubble?  Or conversely, what does it mean to you to be able to play tennis in the winter?  Maybe you were alternately excited and then saddened by the passing of the property to municipal hands, only to be losing the indoor tennis?

I'm going to collect the most impactful statements and use it to close my presentation.  The dad on the change.org petition who commented about his kid just starting lessons and totally loving tennis, only now to have the rug pulled...that's a keeper.  I'd like to get some other statements covering diverse angles such as:

• the 84-year old guy for whom tennis serves as a fountain of youth and who may or may not have beaten me in doubles last week (you know who you are)
• a junior player that trains at Westwood.  I have a statement from a few years back I can use in a pinch
• I personally know of two people who have told me they have invested an inordinate amount of money in playing and lessons, trying to get good.  Sadly, it worked and I find it difficult to beat them now.  But the takeaway is that they are passionate about the game, they support the facility financially, and they feel like they've invested a lot in a sport only for the rug to be pulled from under them.
• You're famous, or somewhat famous, or well-known.  And you play tennis or have heard about it.
• You are some sort of medical professional and tennis is good, in your opinion.  Maybe not a proctologist.

Please try to summarize your statement into one or two sentences.  I only have 15 minutes max to present to Parks and Rec.  I will select statements based on the following criteria:

• Statements that have emotional impact
• Statements from people that have a stature that commands attention (celebrities, tennis pros, sports pros, health care workers, doctors, voodoo priestesses)

That's it for today, cheers,

MC

[Debbie Harit]

It’s 2026, lol. Thanks for all your effort, Deb Harit & Richie Hall !!!

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[C Lan]

Hello from Ireland!

A stab at the health angle:

I’m inspired by those tennis club members who make comebacks from cancer, joint replacement or injury.  Uniformly they say a desire to get back to playing motivated their recovery.  Unfortunately we can’t pick our recovery window to coincide with summer tennis. I need year round tennis for my physical and mental health. 

Cam and Heather

[Catherine Galloway]

Thanks for all you are doing Mark.  

Tennis is a sport for life… it is good for the body, the mind and keeps us connected with friends.  Losing our indoor tennis through the cold, wet months will leave a huge void.

Catherine

Sent from my iPad

On Sep 26, 2026, at 1:48 AM, C Lan <cla...@gmail.com> wrote:



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