How pickleball is carving a formidable space for unconventional sports at Newcastle University

The popular American sport makes its way across the Atlantic, all the way to Newcastle.

Ciaran Ayre
4th March 2024
Image Credit: Mason Tuttle, Pexels
I say sport, and people think I’m about to go on a tangent about the latest football news, the next up-and-coming cricket player, or how to properly shoot a three-pointer in basketball. In fact, people assume that these sports must be the best to engage in only because they are given the most media coverage but what does this mean for the multitude of other sports that can be played?

At universities across the country, it is these top contenders that make up the sports culture, are given the most funding, and play competitively between the university teams. What differentiates the sports culture here at Newcastle University is their commitment to shedding light on sports that usually do not get a fighting chance.  

Pickleball, a unique sport which combines rules from tennis, badminton and ping-pong, has found its home in sports culture here in Newcastle. Since its ratification in the first semester, the sport has grown its potential to create both positive community and competition. I took the liberty of attending a training session and to say it is intense is an understatement! 

I quickly assumed that the sport was eerily like tennis, but that was a lapse of judgement on my half as my opponent was only tapping the ball to get it over the court – I thought it quite comical, almost like they were going easy on me.  

After speaking to the coach, Riah Harris about how pickleball came about, she explained that ‘basically the sport is a larger version of table tennis’ which made a lot of sense when considering that my opponent was reassuring me that the ball should bounce once on their side of the court.  

I think the more ‘unconventional’ a sport is, the more engaging it is because they enable you to throw out everything you thought you knew about playing sport – pickleball is no different. 

It is a very social sport, which was unexpected as I’d only ever really seen sports taking place in a competitive setting. The session worked in intervals where your court partner would be switched so you could get to learn more about them, as well as different playing styles. 

Suffice to say, I learned a lot about everyone and how they were much further ahead of me regarding their ability. I felt included in the discussions and the sport itself, which is quite difficult to establish after only one 2-hour session. 

The club has seen a lot of progression since being established at the University, securing around 20 members since its formation in September.  

The unique features of the sport have proven its allure and success, not to mention the passion that the committee have for it – I could feel this emanating across the courts. 

I spoke with the club president, Aleks Frost, to gain more insight into why he decided to fight for Pickleball to be included as part of the roster of sports offered at the university.  

It’s very accessible and open for anyone

‘It’s very accessible and open for anyone’ he told me, going on to say that ‘[pickleball] is less known than other sports and so it's nice to change people's views and show that the sport plays by its own rules’. 

He continued: ‘My parents played pickleball back home,’ in response to what had sparked his interest in getting the club set up at university. 

Where sports like Football, Rugby and Volleyball tend to be competitive in nature, sessions for Pickleball tend to promote both recreational play as well as offering competitions should people be that way inclined which I think can be a lot better for keeping people motivated and having a good morale.  

The committee have been organizing tournaments for the latter group of people however, being the only University-affiliated club of its kind in England, this has proven difficult.  

On top of this, the sport is easy enough to pick up assuming that you have some sense of hand eye coordination (side note: I do not), you quickly become familiar with the techniques that put pressure on your opponent when serving or hitting back with the ball.  

One which I thought was most intriguing was that you can make your court partner second guess where they should be positioned by hitting from the volley line, which is approximately 3 meters away from the middle net. 

Because you are so close to the net, you can play more effectively on defence and offense alike. 

A lot of the club's members were deploying this strategy to rack up the points to win their inning – that is, to earn the eleven points that renders you victorious in a match. 

It was so interesting to find out that there are several members who already play a sport, which accounts for about 15 percent of Pickleball members. A canny few of the members also come from a tennis background, which coincidentally is the practiced sport of the Pickleball captain.  

On this matter, Harris mentioned that she has had to adapt to the ‘unconventional’ rules that come with the sport. 

‘Tactics that work for tennis do not work for pickleball and so the approach [to coaching] has been altered accordingly’ to best serve members while she is coaching. 

To put this in perspective, the current captain has played tennis for upwards of 14 years which only proves the commitment invested in keeping Pickleball alive at Newcastle University.

In conclusion, it was thoroughly enjoyable to see such high spirits within the club and to learn how inclusive a club it is.  

The club is a testament to minority sports and monumental in proving that sports of this kind are just as important as the typical sports usually included across the university sports zeitgeist. 

I want to personally wish the club many successes and to continue to have passion for Pickleball. 

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