Stand up to harassment & bullying at Red Deer Tennis Club

An exceptional coach was recruited from Calgary over 16 years ago to help elevate the sport of tennis in Central Alberta. The head coach of Simon Tennis School has trained both kids and adults to love tennis and to achieve great heights. He, along with his son and co-coach, has also earned the respect and loyalty of his students and their families.

This coach was the victim of four anonymous, threatening notes at the Red Deer Tennis Club. These notes contained violent and racist threats towards himself and his family. The last threatening note led him to take a leave of absence from the club. It was during this leave (on April 1st, 2025 - no joke), that the Board of the Red Deer Tennis Club terminated his contract on what we believe to be manufactured grounds.

The Board has not addressed these threatening notes in any meaningful way (in fact, they have dismissed them, minimized them, even denied them).

Even worse, we believe that this Board has contributed to and escalated the harassment against both of these coaches for their own interests, up to the contract termination and in the months since. Read more about our concerns here.

We feel that all of our efforts to motivate positive change by engaging with this Board directly have failed. Others who have tried to stand up for these coaches or to advocate for a more meaningful response to these notes have themselves been targeted by this Board. Many people have walked away from the club, choosing not to play in the environment this Board has created and not to support the club with their dollars.

These actions have done nothing to dissuade the Board from their current path. Incidents of aggressive, threatening behaviour have continued at the Red Deer Tennis Club.

We need your help! Legal action is the only avenue we have left to stand up against this harassment and abuse of power, and to hold the decision-makers accountable - and legal fees add up.

Your donations will fuel the ongoing legal fight against this harassment and bullying behaviour. There is a lawsuit already in progress against the Red Deer Tennis Club, the Board Directors that we feel spearheaded these events, and another individual we believe to be heavily involved.

In response, the Red Deer Tennis Club has now sued the Simon Tennis School for “damages” related to the contract termination. They have also sued us (the six individuals behind the Friends of Red Deer Tennis initiative) to stop our efforts to bring transparency, accountability and public awareness to their actions.

We will not be intimidated by these tactics. But we need your help.

Help us stand up for the victims of what we believe to be unjust behaviour. Help us show the young players watching that it matters how you treat people in life. And, in so doing, help us to make Red Deer a safer, healthier community for all of us.

Read more about our concerns here.

If you would like to stay informed about our activities, sign up for our newsletter here.

We thank you deeply for your support.

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