MEET THE SDP TEAM
Watch Steve in Action
Steve's Journey to the Pickleball Court
Steve comes from a tennis background which gives viewers the beauty of all his technical prowess at the same time as giving us confidence in his ability to close on the big points.
Watching Steve’s Pro-level matches is like watching a prize fight between Ali and Liston – Steve being the up-and-comer who is hell-bent on establishing himself as one of the world’s best in this sport. Pickleball is a game that requires its top players to possess more than just power, but finesse – with a side order of cunning.
It started with a hard crash on his right side with the over-head smash to medal at the Young Senior Tennis Nationals in Montreal in 2016. Then came the long and frustrating rehab period that moved like molasses for a man who cannot tolerate playing a sport at any less than his best. While hitting the gym and waiting for tissue to repair as a competitor in his early 40s, his Dad mentioned pickleball being played at the local rec centre.
As Steve admits himself, playing a game with a hamburger garnish in its name did not excite him much, but he went to participate and keep his body moving. The underhand serve was the saviour and Steve was immediately taken with this sport. Steve now can say he is one of the Top Ten pickleball players in North America, with a current status as Canada’s #1 player. His rating fluctuates between 5.5 and 6+.
Steve still plays locally on weekends (mostly drilling) so that he can stay connected to his good friends that helped him into the inner circle of competitive pickleball, but his 2019 tournament schedule has been very exciting with his partnerships.
It was after playing The Nationals at Indian Wells that other top players recognized his talent and he found himself with an inbox full of requests to play. Steve and his partner, Tim MacVinnie, went on to take Silver in their age category at Nationals, losing only to Matt Wright and Dave Weinback.
Steve is a proud, card-carrying member of Team Head and works diligently to obtain podium status at every event he enters as they were early to find him and add him to their extensive line up of Pro players.
This year’s schedule has Steve partnered up with some of the best in world including: Dave Weinback, Matt Wright, Wes Gabrielson, Randal Zbinden, Nick Williams, and many more.
At the US Open Pickleball Championships in Naples, Florida in May 2019, Steve performed with his usual burst of athleticism and headed back to Vancouver with 3 Medals – Gold in Men’s Doubles 35+ with Erik Lange, Gold in Mixed Doubles 45+ with Susan Baze, and then the Coveted Bronze on the big stage Men’s Doubles Pro Event with Randal Zbinden of Utah.
Our Instructors
SDP employs only the best players as instructors for our camps. All of our Lead coaches are 5.0 rated players. In addition to Steve himself, we are proud to have the following instructors as part of the SDP team.
Robin D'Abreo (Greater Vancouver, BC)
Robin played on the Canadian National Field Hockey team for 15 years including Olympics, World Cup, Pam Am Games and Commonwealth Games.
He is a former National Men’s team field hockey coach with over 20 years working in Coaching Development.
He started playing pickleball in 2019 and was a Gold medalist in 4.5 Mixed doubles at National Pickleball Championships in 2021 with wife Dana. He is sponsored by Head Pickleball.
Dana D'Abreo (Greater Vancouver, BC)
Dana has been a Physiotherapist since 1997 and is the owner of ProActive Pilates. She played on Canadian National Field Hockey Team for 8 years including World Cup, Pan Am Games, and Olympic Qualifier.
She was a Field hockey coach for 10 +years and started playing Pickleball regularly in 2019.
She is a double gold medalist at 2021 Pickleball Nationals in Singles 4.0 and Mixed doubles 4.5 with husband Robin. Dana is proudly sponsored by Head Pickleball.
Wendy Sofiak (Greater Vancouver, BC)
Wendy played softball for 25+ years and was on the Canadian National Softball team for 6 years including World Championship, Pan Am Games (silver medalist), and two gold Canadian National titles with her club team, White Rock Renegades.
She started playing pickleball in 2015 and has worked to become a 5.0 ranked player in women’s and mixed doubles. She was a silver medalist in mixed doubles at the Kelowna Open Pickleball tournament, won Gold at the Kamloops Open in mixed doubles, and won silver in women’s doubles and gold in mixed doubles at Battle of the Paddle. Wendy is sponsored by Selkirk.
Haddow Thul (Calgary, AB)
Haddow is a Level 1 IPTPA & NCCP Level 1 instructor.
He is a 5.0 mixed doubles gold medalist and 5.0 men’s silver medalist at the 2022 USAPA Mountain Regionals, and a 5.0 men’s silver medalist and 5.0 mixed bronze medalist at the 2022 Burnwood Classic.
He was also the men’s 4.5 gold medalist at the 2021 Canadian Nationals.
Brad Chapman (Calgary, AB)
Brad comes from a background in Badminton and started playing Pickleball in early 2018. He competes at the 5.0 level with aspirations of going pro.
Brad won Gold in both 5.0 Men’s Doubles and 5.0 Mixed Doubles back to back years at the Alberta Pickleball Provincials (2021-2022). He also won gold in 5.0 Men’s doubles and 5.0 mixed doubles at the 2022 Kamloops Open. Most recently, Brad won 3 gold medals and 1 bronze at the 2022 Pickleball Canada National Championship playing at the open level.
Brad is a level 1 NCCP certified instructor.
Kim Harding Layton (Calgary, AB)
Kim has a multi-sport background and, before discovering pickleball 5 years ago, she competed in triathlon for 8 years up to the full Ironman distance.
She is a driven athlete and loves finding ways to improve and help others do the same.
She competes at the 5.0 level and has a triple crown in 2022 at the US Mountain Regionals, The Kamloops Open and Alberta Provincials, as well as four medals at Canadian nationals.
Kim is proudly sponsored by Head Pickleball.
Rose Sawatzky (Winnipeg, MB)
Rose is a Pickleball Canada Organization (PCO) Director. Her responsibilities include being on the Club Development task force, developing Pickleball Manitoba’s website through the National System a web-based Integrated Management Platform and responsibilities as the Complaints Case Manager.
Rose is the current President of Pickleball Manitoba and works together with a great group of volunteer board members who have a passion for pickleball and are committed to the promotion, development, and growth of the sport.
Rose has excitement for building, guiding and promoting the game of Pickleball. Rose says, “The planning process is important to me in order to keep on track to where we are going and how we are going to get there. It encourages us to think ahead, be innovative to develop goals and objectives.”
Paul Clemens (Saskatoon, SK)
Paul is a 5.0 player and numerous medalist in open level tournaments across Canada, recently competing at the US Open Pickleball Championships.
Paul brings a diverse sports background to pickleball and has been playing for 6 years. He is also the founder of Picklefest.
Paul’s experience and laid-back demeanour will help you level up your game fast.
Other guest Pros will also be appearing at some of our Camps, so stay tuned to find out who will be joining us to help you be the best pickleball player you can be!
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