Queens Sports Club in Halifax reach national pickleball finals

The club initially entered two teams in the North East League after more than 75 people of all ages started playing the sport there.

Pickleball is a paddle sport that combines elements of tennis, badminton, and ping-pong and is played on a badminton-sized court.

Twelve teams entered the North East League and Queens' A team won the title.

They then hosted a mini tournament against the Vikings League, pitting the top four teams in Yorkshire against the top four in the North East, from which they qualified for the national finals in Leeds on July 12.

Pickleball manager at the club, Janete Thripland, said: "On one tennis court you can get four pickleball courts, so its potential for income generation for struggling tennis clubs is high.

"Many clubs have turned to the new European sport of padel. It is very popular in the UK but is very expensive to set up initially and requires space and planning permission without upsetting residents.

"Queens has struggled with declining trends on tennis membership in the north of England, which is a national trend generally despite the efforts of the Lawn Tennis Association.

"We were approached by a pickleball player who was traveling to Leeds three times per week who asked us to look to running pickleball on our indoor courts.

"Very soon we had 75 plus people playing of all ages, from kids aged five to 11 to social pickleball, with people attending for fun play, up to aged 84.

"The journey has been amazing."

Janette says the club has also trained up several secondary school PE teachers in Calderdale, who are now embedding pickleball into their curriculums.

"We host the first schools tournament on July 1 at Queen's," Janette added.

"We have also trained primary schools as part of Culturedale.

"We wish to keep the sustainability of pickleball by introducing it into schools at an early age."