Youth orientated pickleball sessions that will teach junior players the fundamental skills, confidence, and help develop a passion for the game.
Age/skill appropriate instruction from our competent team of highly skilled club mentors will make learning fun while developing coordination and competitive spirit, all the while reinforcing the need to enjoy your time on court and to respect other players.
Coaching can be expensive. Joining these sessions is a very cheap way to help your kids develop a new skill in an exciting game.
Pickleball is widely regarded as the world’s fastest growing sport, suitable for older adults right down to kids. Juniors are very quickly turning to pickleball and learning vital eye-hand coordination skills and is an ideal family pastime. By learning young, kids will develop skills that last a lifetime. They will eventually become the leaders of clubs as they mature, and who knows, even future champions.
Whether your child already has some type of paddle sport experience or they have never played a paddle/racquet sport, Hervey Bay Pickleball Club’s team of tournament/medal winning volunteers will help your child on a fun-based pathway to build skills, confidence, and a love for the game of pickleball.
Learning the Basics.
Our Junior Development sessions are tailored to suit all learning styles and provided in small group sessions.
Group Sessions:
Perfect for focusing on a variety of skills. Players will get personalised attention with only 4 players per court. Techniques learnt will include footwork, paddle grip, paddle control, serving, volleying, forehand and backhand strokes and most importantly FUN. Playing any sport while keeping a level head is far more enjoyable and rewarding than getting upset with yourself and not enjoying the moment. By having only 4 kids per court the activity gives the players good social interaction with other kids of a similar standard, all the while learning about teamwork and enjoying friendly competition in a supportive, structured and safe environment.
Our Junior development Sessions are designed to be FUN, while learning and developing new skills.
What will your child learn:
Enjoyment while learning and developing new skills such as:
Basic scoring and rules of pickleball, paddle grip and stance, basic skills such as serving, returning, forehand & backhand strokes, volleying, dinking, and footwork, teamwork and communication.
In the end, not only will kids be learning and mastering a new game…..
They will become addicted to pickleball very quickly!!
Where to from here:
Junior Fixtures:
Once the sessions develop and players become proficient with technique and rules, they will move on to a Junior Fixtures competition. This will take the form of a weekly session giving participants a chance to put what they have learnt into action in a fun and friendly structured environment, under the watchful eyes of the club members who have been helping them develop their skills.
What to bring along.
Your child will need comfortable closed in sports shoes, a sun hat, sunscreen, water bottle (with water of course), comfortable loose-fitting clothes and most importantly, don’t forget to send your child along with a SMILE.
A willingness to support your child as they learn a new skill.
Paddles and balls are supplied by the club. You don’t have to purchase a paddle straight away. Let your child try the game, and if they like it, speak to one of the mentors about purchasing a paddle. It doesn’t have to break the bank; it just needs to be comfortable and practical.
Ready to Get Started?
Jump on to the Hervey Bay Pickleball Club website fill in the registration form, and sign up to Pickle Planner- https://herveybay.pickleplanner.com
We look forward to seeing you and your kids at the sessions.
Hervey Bay Pickleball Club is hosting a free come and try day Sunday 12th October 2-4pm. Suitable for all ages and abilities. Registration is required.
Pairs competition based on gender and skill ability
Advanced men, Advanced women, and Intermediate
Closed session – registration is required prior to the start of the season. Reserves/Subs will be called upon if players are away.
Fees: $10 per week for members, free for unlimited members.
Location: Outdoor courts behind PCYC. Arrive by 5:50 PM for a 6:00 PM start. On the first night, please arrive 30 minutes early to set up, meet your team, and warm up.
Members are welcome to join as players or reserves—everyone is encouraged to participate! Complete the registration form to secure your spot.
Please check Facebook 1pm Sunday for any weather cancellations!
2pm this Sunday before the social session we are having a paddle try and buy cross “swap meet”.
This is a two part opportunity:
Existing members to safely sell their old paddles, which are often in great condition!
Players looking to buy a paddle to try a variety of different paddles (the “best paddle” is what you like the most!) and purchase a second hand one at a great discount, or a new paddle rather than shopping online!
If you are wanting to sell a paddle it would be great to arrive 15 minutes earlier. You can also give your paddle to Matt to sell if you prefer.
We will have Engage Neon Tour 2.0 balls for sale for private court hire, $10 for 3 balls.
The Australian Masters Cup, organised by the Pickleball Association of Australia, is Australia’s newest and only league for players aged 50 and above, which offers a pathway for players in “Club-land” right through to the National level.
The objectives of the league are:
PLAY with a sense of belonging: Increase the social opportunity that pickleball presents to create meaningful, enriched connections between our members.
PLAY with a competitive purpose: Provide a pathway for those aged 50+, 60+ and 70+ to play competitively.
Create a format which allows participants to play as much or as little as they like.
PLAY yourself well: Endeavour to increase the overall physical and mental health of our members.
PLAY pickleball: Increase the overall number of Australian’s playing pickleball.
In 2024, we surveyed our senior members, they told us what they wanted, and we’re delivering.
Our senior members wanted:
PLAY with flexibility:
1. an opportunity to compete locally
2. more opportunities to socialise
3. level-based play
In 2025, we’re setting the foundations for an exciting program that endures in our pickleball communities.
With your support and feedback we will minimise the challenges and maximise the fun so do join us on this journey as we continue to grow and develop the game of pickleball in Australia.
4. Season
The Club League season will commence in March 2025 and will run for no less than 10 weeks and no greater than 12 weeks. All club league matches must be completed by the 1st of June 2025. Participants must compete in 50% of the available league sessions at their club in order to qualify for the Regional Qualifiers.
At player level:
1. Players must have a pickleball.com (brackets) profile
2. Players must have a DUPR profile
3. Players must LINK their DUPR profile to their pickleball.com profile.
4. Players must “become a member” of the club in the platform (if not already a member) Item 1
There is plenty of information below, the main things are:
Ensure you know your start time and make sure to arrive early for warm ups
Have a quick look at the parking guide, because we are in the middle of a precinct and not directly on a street it can sometimes be wonky. PCYC or Library are the 2 GPS landmarks most reliable depending from which direction you’re coming in
Food will be going all day, approx 7am to 6pm. Coffee from 9am to 12pm approx Friday, and 7am to 12pm approx Sat & Sun pending when sales die down
Hervey Bay is excited to once again host a leg of the QPT. The weather in August is usually 22-25 degrees and sunny, the whales are out and it’s the perfect time to visit 🥰
Summary:
We have 21 courts: 15 dedicated outdoor Pickleball courts at the club, and PCYC next door with 6 indoor courts. We are in the middle of town so dozens of food outlets & main shopping centre within just one hundred metres
We will use the biggest pools possible, maximum game time > jamming max number of entries is a priority
Shade, seating and water will be provided. If you have comfy camp chairs you can BYO
Hervey Bay is a direct flight from Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne; and a comfortable few hours drive for most of SE QLD
Brief Runsheet:
Friday singles start approx 10am. Free social play before, and approx 3-5pm as pools condense into finals and courts become available. All singles games at on club courts outdoors
Friday 6pm, session at the courts, free for tournament players
Saturday is Gender Doubles (mixture of PCYC for < 2.99+ events, outdoor courts for 3+)
Sunday is Mixed Doubles (mixture of PCYC for < 2.99+ events, outdoor courts for 3+)
Hervey Bay QPT proudly supported by Fraser Coast Regional Council
Our Courts and Location
Our courts are bang in the middle of town! Google “Hervey Bay Pickleball” for complete directions. Below is a little map. Most outdoor courts are individually fenced so very few balls come running through mid game and have permanent nets. The remaining courts have temporary nets, as does the PCYC.
Within 100m to 300m walk we have Red Rooster, McDonalds, KFC, Dominos, Pizza Hut, Natural Noodle, Hungry Jacks, Guzman y Gomez, Stocklands with over a hundred shops and more! It’s an amazing location. You can see the Comfort Inn just across the road a quick walk away, details are further down.
Food and Facilities
The food options are couldn’t be better! On site – We have drinks, bacon & egg burgers, hamburgers, veggie burgers, fancy donuts, and snacks available all day 🥳 Coffee – A coffee van will be on site from 9 – 11am Friday, and 7am Saturday & Sunday, until sales die off midday-ish Nearby – Per the map above there are dozens of food outlets within 100m walk of the courts, so you can pop out and grab whatever you want very easily.
We’ll have shade, seating, water, toilets. On Saturday & Sunday when PCYC is being hired there are also showers.
We are not a licensed venue so are unable to sell alcohol.
PCYC Hervey Bay generic social session, $8. Useful for those who want practice on the indoor courts before the tournament
Free social play for all tournament players available before singles start from 8-10am.
10am to 5pm
Singles. Approx 3-5pm as pools finish and games condense to less courts for finals, social free-play available on free courts.
Evening
Free social play for tournament players. BBQ Dinner.
Saturday
8am to 5pm
Gender Doubles all day. Expecting older age groups to be first cab off the rank getting younger as the day goes on
Sunday
8am to 5pm
Mixed doubles. Will maximise amounts of courts used, knowing a lot of people will want to finish so they can make it home for work.
Venues
Hervey Bay Pickleball Club
15 outdoor dedicated courts 🥳
Food, coffee, drinks, portaloos and main admin desk outside. Showers and toilets are inside the PCYC.
10 courts have permanent nets, the remaining courts are mostly PickleNet temporary nets. Balls will be Franklin X40s.
Hervey Bay PCYC
Oddly the other venue for Pickleball in Hervey Bay is the building right door!
PCYC has 2 basketball courts we’re using. One is a multi-purpose court so we’ll tape over the badminton lines, the other we’ll tape the lines.
They are using PickleNet temporary nets, and the balls will be Franklin Indoor Balls.
Being indoors it’s out of the elements. The toilets and showers are inside the PCYC. We will have another desk so you can check in, drop scorecards, and purchase some drinks inside.
Pools and semi finals will be played indoors. For gold/silver, bronze/fourth matches, the default location is inside for consistency, however if you wish to join the queue for the outside live streaming court for gold/silver, or outside for bronze/fourth, if both teams agree you are welcome to 😀 Because of the different conditions, lighting, balls some will prefer to keep the consistency. From an admin point of view it doesn’t matter, only thing is finals could be played immediately indoors, vs a queue for outdoors depending what other pools are ahead.
Depending on the final number of entries, at the moment gender and mixed doubles 50s < 2.99, 60s < 2.99, 60s 3.0 – 3.5 are planned for the indoor courts. The younger kids can hike to the facilities from outside 😀 All singles matches on Friday will be outdoors.
Parking
There are two carparks you are welcome to use, the landmarks for your SatNav being the Hervey Bay PCYC or Hervey Bay Library.
We ask you please not park alongside the PCYC gravel driveway where the 4 cars are pictured as this will be used for walking between the two venues. Minimal traffic will be safer for everyone 😀
Court hire is available during the day, BYO paddles and balls. Payment can be made via the website, signs are on the fence.
$15/hour/court.
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday 5-8pm approx (after tournament play is finished) the lights will be flicked on. Free for tournament players.
Rotation will be required for 40+ visitors so everyone gets a fair turn.
Friday morning until 9am is available for everyone. After this time if you are not playing singles, please vacate the courts to allow those participating to warm up. No charge for tournament players.
Saturday afternoon as all pool games finish, courts are available to use for practice. Pending the amount of players remaining as the sun sets lights may be turned on for further play.
Check In
Check-in at the club courts will be available from 9am Friday, and 7am on the weekend. Players must check-in and warm up at the club courts, THEN head to PCYC for games when access is provided as the PCYC hire is from 8am to 5pm.
If you are not playing until later, please come an hour before your scheduled playing time, this will give you a chance to register, warm up, familiarise yourself with the layout, watch some games, then jump on.
Matches
If an event is big then there will be two pools. The top two teams from each pool will go through to a next round of semis then finals.
There are two formats: first to 11, first to 15. Win by 2. You will need to change ends after 6 points (11) or 8 points (15). Check your score sheet it tells you what you are playing to. There is always someone who will write in 11-whatever, and someone will go “you know it’s to 15 right?” then you awkwardly have to jump and kick the players off to finish the game. Don’t let this be you 🙈
We will spend the next few days trying to find partners for those who don’t have them and then we will decide if any events need to be merged. If your event gets merged, then at the end of the tournament, you will still be allocated the QPT points in the event that you originally registered in.
The draw will come out about 4 days before the event. This will have exact start times and will be emailed and on the website.
If you need to withdraw from an event, then please let us know ASAP, the contact page on the website and tick “relates to QPT”. Refunds are not usually given for withdrawal once registrations have closed. A medical certificate is needed. Also, if you owe money for the tournament, then please go into your brackets profile and make payment as soon as possible.
Scorecards
Throughout the tournament please use Pickleball Brackets website to check that your scores have been entered correctly and see how your playing pool is progressing. It’s a big job entering all that data and errors do get made. You can help us by:
Completing your score sheet straight after your match
Both teams sign the sheet
Circle the winner
The winner brings in the score sheet to the closest tournament desk
Keep an eye on your Pickleball Brackets account to see how matches are progressing and that the scores are entered correctly
Clothing
Franklin balls being used are the usual yellow/green you’re all familiar with. Please make sure that you aren’t wearing anything of that colour that could distract an opponent to avoid needing to get changed!
Events
With 37 divisions there is a spot for everyone! We have aged divisions or all ages 4.0+ skill level division.
Number of entries and weather will dictate final court allocations.
The plan per last year which was surveyed as the most popular is < 2.99 events are indoors. 3 – 3.5 events will come down to final numbers in which divisions whether indoors or outdoors (outdoors is preference). 3.5+ events are guaranteed outdoors, pending weather of course!
On Sunday, given travel time younger age groups will likely be first so a break before work Monday.
19 years +
Juniors are eligible to enter in the 19+ or Opens (4.0+) categories. If sufficient demand we’ll create a dedicated junior division.
By staying at the Comfort Inn guests receive a 20% off discount of all meals at the Hervey Bay RSL and the Clubhouse Hervey Bay (excluding Friday pre-dinner function being a set menu function).
Our beginner skills and drills session is a great way to learn the fundamentals of Pickleball in a no pressure, fun environment!
Each player is on a court with 3 or 4 players and a helper.
We cover the fundamental skills and techniques of Pickleball:
Serving
Returning
Positioning and Footwork
Volleying
Shot selection
Basic strategy for winning
These drills involve 2 people so you can practice with a friend these exact techniques on your own time if you wish to hone them.
During this session you will learn the fundamentals to pay attention for during a game environment, such as how a point is constructed and what shots are good and bad.
The format is 75 mins of instruction and demonstration, and 15 mins putting it into practice in a game with advice from your helpers! You are welcome to play afterwards if you want.
Our skills and drills sessions are only $20 which goes towards improving the facilities at the club. Pre-payment is required to confirm your spot.
We have some special sessions this month in February, two of our members Matt & Bec will be running them. They have played for a number of years and have multiple tournament wins including open skill events. Availability is limited so book ASAP to secure your spot!
There will also be a number of second hand and new paddles to try and purchase.
