PICKLEBALL is a modern racket sport that combines elements of tennis, badminton and table-tennis.
Recently, the highly contagious sport has started to thrive on Jersey, notably due to its ease of accessibility and addictive nature.
For those of you who might not be aware, pickleball is one of the fastest growing sports in the world, particularly in the United States of America and has now taken root on our native shores.
Since its introduction to our island a few years ago, Jersey Pickleball is now firmly established with three purpose-built courts located at the St Clements Sports and Recreation Centre, along with the use of courts up at Fort Regent and the New Gilson Hall.
Led by Tom Price, Jersey Pickleball offers regular coaching sessions, social play events and competitive leagues that are open to all ages, abilities and backgrounds.
As a product of this success, Jersey pickleball players will be competing in the English Pickleball Open for the first time, which will be held at the Telford International Centre in Shropshire during August this year.
The English Open is the biggest competitive pickleball event outside of North America and attracts competitors from all over the world.
Last year the event attracted over 1,000 competitors across various abilities and events, with this year’s expected to attract up to 2,000 across the week of competition.
One of the competing Jersey pickleball players had this to say: “It’s a great opportunity for us to be able to go over and compete in this event; not only do we get to test ourselves against some really high-level players but also it’s a fantastic opportunity to meet new people.”
Among those going over to compete include Tom Price (Jersey Pickleball founder and current Highvern Pickleball League doubles champion), Tom Middleton (Jersey Pickleball coach and current Highvern Pickleball League singles champion), Mike Pollard (former Highvern Pickleball League doubles champion), Georges Grossi, John Pasturel, Laura Morel, Joanna Chaplin and Clive Chaplin.
Pickleball in Jersey has attracted – and continues to attract – a large number and a wide variety of Islanders, from school children to pensioners and police officers to accountants.
While some players have migrated from other racket-based sports, pickleball has been particularly popular with people who are new or returning to sport, due to its ‘easy-to-learn, but hard-to-master’ nature.
Many of the members of the Jersey Pickleball community had never picked up a racket in their lives before giving Pickleball a go.
The sport is played on a small court and the game can be played at a very slow pace, which caters to the needs of those less experienced players as well as those with physical limitations.
However, the opposite is also true, when played at a higher level, pickleball can be an incredibly fast and explosive sport.
Not only is pickleball great for your physical health, it is also a very social sport as it is easy to communicate with other players. Jersey Pickleball has leaned into this aspect of the sport and has taken a community-based approach to growing the sport. According to Mike Pollard: “Jersey Pickleball works as a community of interest. We are not a club with meetings and office holders.
“What binds us is our community spirit, our sense of personal and group responsibility, and mutual support.”
There is no entry fee when joining the Jersey Pickleball community.
Courts can be booked independently by anyone, and Jersey Pickleball’s coaching and social sessions carry a modest charge of £10 per person per session that covers the cost of the courts together with any coaching and equipment provided during the session.
Looking to the future, Jersey Pickleball is hoping to find a location and set up a permanent facility somewhere on the island, as well as set up a proper junior development and schools’ programme to get more young people into the sport and a lifelong healthy lifestyle.
They are currently looking for sponsors to help work towards these aims and generally aid in the continued development of the sport on the Island.
