a day ago
A new platform is connecting sports, arts instructors with students from across the Greater Toronto Area
is a new platform that recently launched in GTA and is connecting local students and instructors for affordable lessons. CTV's Pat Foran reports.
A new platform that recently launched in the Greater Toronto Area is connecting local students with instructors for affordable lessons for things like golf, tennis, and pickleball.
allows students to search for instructors within their area who are offering lessons at different price points and skill levels.
'It's not as crazy as tennis and it's a bit more of a step up from ping pong. It also gets you moving and people like the social aspect of it,' James Mitchell, a pickleball instructor with told CTV News.
Pickleball is one of the fastest growing sports in Canada. It's something people of all ages can play and requires just a few lessons to get the hang of it.
Mitchell told CTV News he's been offering his coaching services on the platform, connecting him with players he can coach on evenings and weekends, while making some extra money at the same time.
Nicolas Mazomenos has played tennis in the past, but wanted to learn a different sport and decided to give pickleball a shot.
'It's going great. It's my second lesson and I feel like I learned a lot,' said Mazomenos, one of Mitchell's students. 'I got lucky and got paired with a great person, I feel like I've known him forever.'
Maaz Patel only started golfing a year ago but enjoys the game and wanted to take lessons to get to the next level.
'I just want to play consistent and if I'm going out there with people from work, or with my friends I don't want to look bad,' said Patel. 'I just want to improve my bad shots.'
As for Craig Cook, he coaches golf and finds it's a way to share his love for the sport and earn extra money teaching part-time.
'I teach all ranges of golfers, so beginners, intermediate and more advanced,' Cook said. 'I also offer playing lessons on the course.'
How does it work?
When CTV News spoke with founder Tyler Maloney, he said that following the success of the website—which launched in San Diego, it is now offering services in Toronto.
'We weren't really planning international expansion but we started having Canadian coaches sign up and they wanted to teach and then we thought we should double down on this,' Maloney said.
According to Maloney, students can find local coaches offering lessons at a price point and skill level that they want, and the first lesson is always free.
So far, the most popular sports on are golf, tennis, and pickleball. However, they're hoping to bring more activities that are on the U.S. platform to Canada.
'We just had a coach sign up to teach comedy writing. Music theory, rock climbing, beach volleyball, juggling are (also) a variety of things that people sign up to teach,' Maloney said.
Lessons can start at about $50 and increase depending on the instructor's skill level. From each lesson booked, the website takes a cut.
However, there are no fees to check the website, so you can browse for free to see what is being offered.
hopes to expand across Canada in the future and encourages more coaches to apply online.
