The Niagara-on-the-Lake Pickleball Club will play host to a major international tournament in June that’s expected to attract players from across the country and the United States.

The NOTL Classic, which is co-sponsored in part by The Lake Report, will be played June 9, 10 and 11 at Virgil’s twin hockey arenas, the Meridian Credit Union Arena and the Centennial Arena.

The event will be launched on the evening of Friday, June 9, with a series of professional exhibition matches of men’s and women’s doubles featuring professional Canadian pickleball players.

Full details on buying tickets for the exhibition matches will be available nearer the tourney date.

Admission to all the competitive tournament matches on Saturday and Sunday, June 10 and 11 will be free, offering spectators a chance to see what the game is all about, organizers said.

The tournament has been officially sanctioned by Pickleball Canada with support from Pickleball Ontario.

“We expect over 200 players from across Canada and the northern U.S., with events over three skill levels in each of three age groups,” said John Hindle, the club’s co-chair for the event.

A social event for players and their guests is planned for the Saturday evening at the NOTL Community Centre.

A wide spectrum of small and large area businesses are expected to be involved as sponsors, Hindle said.

Anyone interested in becoming involved as a sponsor should contact the NOTL club by email at classic@notlpickleball.ca.

The Lake Report is the tournament’s major print media sponsor and will be providing in-depth coverage of the competition in the paper and on our news website, www.NiagaraNow.com.

“We are looking forward to working with the NOTL Pickleball Club on letting the community know everything they’ll want to know about this significant sporting event,” said Richard Harley, editor-in-chief of The Lake Report.

“Pickleball has become a hugely popular sport, here in NOTL and around the world. Bringing a tournament of this calibre to town is a huge accomplishment for the NOTL Pickleball Club,” he added.

Hindle said he is confident that the weekend event will provide considerable benefit to the town, with out-of-towners able to appreciate NOTL as a tourism destination “together with pickleball’s traditional warm and welcoming atmosphere.”