Pickleball mania

by Nicholas Duck
Warragul now has its own dedicated pickleball space following the opening of the Warragul Pickleball Club.
Located at the Warragul North tennis courts, the club has renovated two of the disused courts into pickleball facilities.

Now sporting five colourful courts, lights, furniture, astroturf and a shipping container tricked out with modern facilities like a mini-fridge, it's been a dramatic transformation for a space that just a few months ago was in a state of disrepair.

Having launched the club a few weeks ago, founder Gines Satchi said the community had quickly embraced the idea.
"It's been pretty good, there hasn't been a night where no-one's turned up, which has been surprising for something so young. There are always at least a few people when we're open."

Pickleball is a sport resembling a smaller version of tennis, played with a hollow ball and paddles. After taking the US by storm, it has quickly become one of the fastest-growing sports around the world.

Key to that, according to Gines, has been its accessibility and low barrier for entry.
"It's super easy to pick up. Everyone that we've had come through, even people who've played racquet sports, they've said 'oh, this is a lot easier.' It's hard to matser but it's an easy learning curve."

The club currently hosts a Monday night competition as well as learn to play sessions and social hits across Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
They will soon be looking to expand into offering services, including court rentals, across more days a week.

With the competition night regularly seeing full numbers and the more casual sessions also looking healthy, Gines believes there's certainly a demand for the sport.

"A lot of people coming in haven't tried and are curious, a lot of people are stopping by and they've seen either myself or the team around. A lot of people are intrigued because it looks much nicer than it was," he said.
"People want that program, people want that community, people want to see regular faces."

The club also held their first tournament on the King's birthday Monday with their King's Court Cup.
"The weather was spectacular and it brought players who didn't normally play into the comp night. That was cool," Gines said.

"Down the track when it's warmer we'd love to do a Saturday-Sunday type of tournament all weekend."
For more information and to keep updated head to https://www.warragulpickleball.club