PICKLEBALL grows from strength to strength in the Myall Coast and Port Stephens regions, with the ‘Across the Ditch’ Pickleball challenge hosted by Myall Park Tennis Club in Hawks Nest on Sunday, 15 October.

Picklers numbering 31 attended this inaugural event, with players from the Port Stephens Pickleball Club and Myall Park Tennis Club going head-to-head.

“The intense interest in Pickleball within the Port Stephens and Great Lakes regions has mirrored the explosion of Pickleball across the world,” event organiser Roger Smith said.

“Clearly Pickleball is a sport that’s making a real impact and engaging many Tea Gardens Hawks Nest residents both physically and socially in healthy living and aging, while promoting the mental wellbeing that comes with this engagement,” said Pickleballer Mike McDermott.

“It’s wonderful to see traditional Tennis Clubs embracing new variants of the racket game like Pickleball and Pop-Tennis.”

The final scoreboard saw the Port Stephens side win nine games while the Myall Tennis Club side won six, but no-one really seemed to care and that seems to be the nature of this new game as both teams and their supporters headed to the pub afterwards for lunch and a laugh.

“It was great to see both young and old reconnecting socially through sport to their community, and that’s what pickleball and the Tennis Club are doing while at the same time it’s great fun and very social,” Mr McDermott said.

“We had two lovely ladies in their 80’s come along to try it out last Friday.

“That is wonderful to see given that Hawks Nest/Tea Gardens has the oldest demographic in Australia, and shows how tennis clubs can draw in new members, young and old, through Pickleball.”

Pickleball is held at the Myall Park Tennis Club on Thursday mornings from 8:30am to 10:30am, Friday evening 5:00pm to 8:30pm, Sunday mornings at 8:30am to 10:30am, and Sunday afternoons 4:00pm to 6:00pm.

The Club welcomes anyone and everyone interested in trying Pickleball to come along and have some fun.

By Thomas O’KEEFE