FITIN Update for September 23, 2026

[Mark Chase]

Hello Indoor Tennis Aficionados,

City Negotiations

Myself and coach Whitman are set to meet with Parks and Rec director Charlotte Davis on Friday, Oct. 2.  I expect most of the initial meeting to be a discussion of facts, with the aim of rebutting the main arguments of the city (bubble is end of life, city is not ready to take on operations, don't worry, there is something in the Beban Park Master Plan).  

In advance of that meeting, I'm arming myself with facts and information.  I've talked to the Farley Group, who manufactured the bubble.  They were very informative and helpful.  They have a resource in Burnaby who can come and make an assessment of the condition of the bubble if needed.  They also provided information on relocating and replacing the bubble.

I've also talked to the CEO's of TCC and The Tennis Centres.  Both are very interested in the opportunity to run this facility at Westwood.  TCC brings 50 years or so of experience in public/private partnerships.  They also have the backing of Canadian Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic.

The Tennis Centres has facilities in Langley and Surrey and is run by former Westwood Director of Tennis Larry Jurovic.  Larry knows Westwood well and considers the opportunity "close to his heart".  

So good news, we have not one, but two candidate businesses ready and capable to take over operations at Westwood.  We just need the city to let one of them do it, for reasonable terms.

FITIN in the Media

Whitman is still working on getting us an interview with CHEK.  He has been sidelined a bit over the past couple of days trying to deal with sudden job loss with no EI.

FITIN Online

Have you had a chance to look at the website created by our volunteer Chi?  It's fantastic!  Go to https://www.nanaimotennis.ca

Civic Election

A really great resource on the website (see above) is a listing of all the municipal election candidates and where they stand on the Westwood purchase and the indoor tennis impact.  Please 

Beyond that, all 44 candidates will be appearing at the The Nanaimo and District Chamber of Commerce Civic Engagement Forum at the Vancouver Island Conference Centre on Tuesday, Sept. 29, from 5 p.m to 7:30 p.m.   Here is the link with info on how to pre-register.

https://nanaimonewsnow.com/2026/09/21/be-engaged-and-informed-forums-to-showcase-nanaimo-parksville-election-candidates/

Next Update

Watch for another newsletter in 48 hours

Cheers,

Mark Chase

[Peter Schultz]

Thank you Mark!

Peter Schultz,
   Email: PeterS...@gmail.com
   Cell: 250-470-9228

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[Robb Ford]

Hi Mark

Really great work! We could not have picked a better team than Whitman and yourself, after Thais initiated the petition. Just a note of appreciation!  Thank you all!

Rob

Robert Ford        B.A. Economics

Managing Partner/Distributor

KeyVault-KeyTrak Canada

m. 250 215 1677

office: 1 833 923 8368 Ext. 2

www.adventresources.ca

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[Marty Patterson]

Great work Mark. We all really appreciate what you guys are doing!

Marty Patterson

Get Outlook for Android

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From: fit...@googlegroups.com <fit...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Robb Ford <rfo...@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, 24 September 2026 07:54:38
To: fit...@googlegroups.com <fit...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [FITIN] FITIN Update for September 23, 2026

 

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[Lynne Cowan]

Mark, thank you so much to you and Whitman for all the phenomenal  you are putting in to save indoor tennis and tennis programmes in Nanaimo.  Totally appreciate it. 

Everyone should try and go to that all candidates meeting next Tuesday pre our civil elections to get an idea who gets our votes!

Lynne Cowan

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[Thais Rodrigues]

Hi Mark, 

I’m glad about the news of upcoming meeting. Thank you for being so proactive and prepared. 

Thais 

On Sep 24, 2026, at 09:00, Marty Patterson <patters...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Jeet Sandhu]

Mark, you are doing a great job at representing all of us. Thank you to both you and Whitman. It’s much appreciated. 

Sent from my iPhone

On Sep 24, 2026, at 9:05 AM, Thais Rodrigues <trodrig...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Andre Liem]

Thanks Mark, Whitman and everyone involved, really appreciate all the effort to keep the bubble alive. Website looks amazing.

Andre

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[Jasper Follows]

Yes, thank you Mark and Whitman and Thais and everyone for coming together to fight the city on this. You are all legends!

- Jasper

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[Rob Harrison]



Thank you Mark!👍

Rob Harrison

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[Barnabas Walther]

Hi Mark.

Thank you for all that you’re doing and for the dates that we can go to the council meeting and the meeting of the candidates. I will attend.

Keep up the good work.

Barnabas Walther.

Psychologist 

On Wed, Sep 23, 2026 at 10:57 PM Mark Chase <mark.c...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Kimberly Robson]

THANK YOU MARK!!

Kim

On Sep 24, 2026, at 5:42 PM, Barnabas Walther <barnabas...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[peter Bowen-Roberts]

Well done Mark,

Community sports, being together and not alone, helps us manage our screen time and devices.   The closure of the club is a sad loss of community for all tennis players in Nanaimo and from Duncan to Campbell River.   Why is there no alternative plan already in place?  

Article this month from the British Columbia Medical Journal. https://bcmj.org/editorials/more-just-beautiful-game

Peter Bowen-Roberts.

On Wed, Sep 23, 2026 at 10:57 PM Mark Chase <mark.c...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Marty Patterson]

Great article Peter!

Get Outlook for Android

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From: fit...@googlegroups.com <fit...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of peter Bowen-Roberts <pbowen...@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, 25 September 2026 12:38:10

To: fit...@googlegroups.com <fit...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [FITIN] FITIN Update for September 23, 2026

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[Lynne Cowan]

Great article Peter and so true

Lynne

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[Jamal Youssef]

Thank you for sharing this timely article Peter!

And many thanks to Thais Mark and Whitman for all that you’re doing.

Jamal 

Sent from my iPhone

On Sep 25, 2026, at 1:01 PM, Lynne Cowan <lynne4...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Robb Ford]

Hi Mark;

If I was to give a quick paragraph on the importance of tennis in society that seems to applaud mediocrity,  it would be summarized as such: ( and not to diminish alternate sports) 

Tennis to Pickleball is like Chess is to checkers.  An investment in promoting excellence lies in an investment in those things that are hard, ( as Pres. Kennedy once noted).