why pickleball is on the rise in Australia

It’s not really an issue here at the moment, says Taylor. A couple of tennis clubs we are involved with have come on board as a way of retaining some of their members by offering a different activity. And when they get free trial time, that’s another source of income.

To highlight this collaborative spirit, the pickle ball just made its debut on the hallowed tennis turf at Kooyong, with a demonstration court set up behind the famous center court during the Australian Open’s warm-up event, the Kooyong Classic. Thousands of spectators lined up to try it out.

Julie Campbell was one of the players to showcase her skills, bringing back memories of her own playing days and her remarkable tennis legacy.

In 1958, his mother Lorraine Coghlan, a 21-year-old from Warrnambool, won Wimbledon mixed doubles alongside Bob Howe. When Campbell was a baby, he made the front pages when a doubles match between his mother and Margaret Court had to be stopped because he was crying in the stands.

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Campbell could have made it a career himself, but decided not to pursue it after making his mark in the juniors in the 1970s. Decades later, he’s back in Kooyong and in a smaller but still satisfying field.

“There are a lot of players like me where if you’ve been competing all your life and the competition is ingrained in you, pickleball gives you a real competitive opportunity to play, but also the social aspect of it,” he says.

Campbell is one of an estimated 12,000 players now playing nationally, including about 1500 in Victoria. The State Association is only two years old, but Membership has grown from zero to 420 since September 2020, with most of that growth in the last year. In Victoria, the Bellarine Peninsula and the bay suburbs are major growth areas. Nationally, the Gold Coast is the home of pickleball, with almost 2000 registered members.

This year promises to be a year of rapid growth as the sport gains more and more media attention and has enough competitive payers to sustain regular tournaments. The Victorian Open will be held at the Somerville Recreation Center in March and the Australian Pickleball Championships will be held in Sydney in October.

David Wassell, who handles the promotion and sponsorship of Pickleball Victoria and also imports pickleball equipment, says the growing sport is now hosting major events on a regular basis.

Two and a half years ago there were no tournaments, he says.

There is probably some sort of tournament in Australia these days almost every month of the year.

Its word of mouth more than anything else. And it’s a bit addictive.

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