Winners and Skills at 2022 SA Doubles Championships
The Championships were held 10 July at The Lights.
60 players in four age/gender categories battled it our over 6 hours through round robin matches and elimination finals.
Medals were handed out by City of Port Adelaide Enfield councillors Hannah Evans, Barbara Clayton, Carol Martin, Olivia Colombo and David Wilkins.
Medal winners:
| All Gender Doubles Age 18+ | |
| Gold | Talia Saunders and Joel Carr |
| Silver | Marc Verstappen and Phil Jones |
| Bronze | Kym Alley and Kelvin Robertson |
| Womens Doubles Age 18+ | |
| Gold | Huong Vang and Linh Nguyen |
| Silver | Jane Whittaker and Julie McGuire |
| Bronze | Hamideh Iraj and Jessica Soppitt |
| Womens Doubles Age 60+ | |
| Gold | Ros Basey and Alleyne Johnston |
| Silver | Carolyn Wilby and Anne Nieass |
| Bronze | Debbie Martin and Leanne Pearce |
| All Gender Doubles Age 60+ | |
| Gold | Anthony Smith and Kym Tilbrook |
| Silver | Leanne Campbell and Greg Campbell |
| Bronze | Helen Arnold and Dennis Arnold |
Funding for Pickleball in City of Tea Tree Gully
Great news that in June 2022 Pickleball SA was awarded a grant to grow pickleball in the City of Tea Tree Gully in support of our weekly playing session at Turramurra Recreation Centre (Tuesdays 12.30pm to 2.30pm).
Our fantastic coordinator at Turramurra, Trish McMillan, attended the Council presentation and received our certificate for the grant.
We're looking forward to providing proper pickleball nets with the funds and continuing to support all players, especially the new ones, with the paddles and balls they need to have a great time playing pickleball.
Pickleball is coming to Goolwa
Pickleball SA is setting up a weekly session 10am Monday mornings at Goolwa Sports Stadium. The first session is Monday 2 May. New players have a free first session. The regular session price is $7.50 for two hours, with all equipment provided.
Pickleball in Goolwa has been made possible by the support of Alexandrina Council and their funding for 'Game On' activities through the SA Office for Recreation, Sport and Racing. We're looking forward to many Goolwa locals joining in the pickleball fun.
SA Doubles Championships 2022
Exciting news. Registrations are now open for the Sunday 10 July tournament.
The tournament is at The Lights and runs from 10am to 4pm. Registered players will receive more details with arrival and warm-up information closer to the date.
We are using new software to run this tournament. It's called Pickleball Brackets and has been selected by Pickleball Australia as the national platform for tournaments. Each player joining the tournament needs to set up an account by going here. Once you have an account, you can then easily find the tournament by searching for 'South Australia' and then register.
There are four categories of play:
- Womens Doubles 18+
- Womens Doubles 60+
- All Gender Doubles 18+. Mens, Womens and Mixed Teams.
- All Gender Doubles 60+. Mens, Womens and Mixed Teams.
You can only register a team for one category. So think about your partner and get them organised before you register. If you don't have a partner, register as needing a partner and we will match you up.
Play in each category begins as a round-robin, guaranteeing your team at least 3 games, and then moves into elimination rounds and play-offs, with medals for 1st to 3rd.
We're all looking forward to a fun tournament for everyone.
Fun for all. Pickleball.
Pickleball SA featured in the 20 August 2021 digital newsletter, Weekend Plus, emailed to holders of Seniors Card in South Australia. Below is the article highlighting upcoming and free come and try sessions for 50+ age players. More locations to be announced soon. Thanks to grant funding support from the Office for Ageing Well. Pickleball is proud to contibute to SA's 'Plan for Ageing Well 2020-2025'.
"Back in 1965 in the US the fathers of a bored family on summer holidays invented a game. Finding wooden paddles, a perforated plastic ball, and a badminton court and net, pickleball was born. The family’s dog, Pickles, kept stealing the ball and inspired the name!
Now there are more than 3 million players in the US where pickleball is taking over tennis courts, and pickleball courts are spreading fast to retirement complexes – that’s the popularity of the fastest-growing sport in America.
Australia caught the pickleball bug in 2015 and now there are 3,000 players all over the country. Pickleball found its way to Adelaide in late 2019, picked up by a group of walking club seniors attracted to an easy-to-learn, lower impact court sport.
It’s played on a badminton court size, both indoors and outdoors, blending skills from tennis, table tennis and badminton. A hard plastic paddle, a little like a bat from children’s backyard games, hits a tennis-sized plastic ball with holes. It moves slower than a tennis ball over a net a couple of inches lower than in tennis.
Mostly played in doubles format, pickleball is great for all skill levels.
“Every player who picks up a paddle soon says they are becoming addicted to pickleball, it’s so social and fun”, enthuses Andrew Reilly, Chairperson of Pickleball SA.
“The oldest member is 89, and the average age is 67. Lots of older and experienced tennis and racquet sport players are looking for a less physical game on a smaller court. People new to racquet sports pick it up really quickly too.”
Pickleball has grown fast, despite lots of stops during Covid restrictions, enjoying 150 players this year. Take a look at how easy it is to play.
Players talk enthusiastically about benefits they didn’t expect. In a recent survey by Pickleball SA, players reported positive impacts on their mental health (95%), physical health (100%) and social connections (97%).
Free Come and Try sessions for the 50+ age group are running between August and December. The first new venue is Turramurra Recreation Centre at Highbury on Tuesday 24 August from 12.30pm to 2.30pm. Pickleball SA supplies all the playing equipment at venues, so all that new players need to do is turn up. Pickleball SA is announcing more, new Come and Try venues shortly.
Pickleball is on every week at multiple venues and anyone can try for free at their first session. Click here for more information about pickleball in SA and where to play."
Pickleball-tennis program for people with disability
Pickleball is working hard to be a sport for all.
One of our efforts to reach out to all communities is partnering with One Culture Support Services to support a new pickleball-tennis program for people with disability.
It starts in October offering people of all ages with disability the opportunity to learn and play pickleball and tennis in five locations across metropolitan Adelaide and five locations in regional South Australia.
Learn more about this program here.
Pickleball is coming to Tea Tree Gully
At Pickleball SA we're running new come and try sessions targeted for the 50+ age group.
You might be an experienced court sports player, or someone keen to play a social sport.
Pickleball is fun, fast, social and for all abilities.
The first of our new and FREE come and try locations is Turramurra Recreation Centre. Join us on Tuesday 24 August at 12.30pm.
The Office for Ageing is supporting Pickleball SA to help older South Australians stay active.
Come and Try Pickleball
May and June 2021
Pickleball SA is hosting six ‘Come and Try’ sessions across the City of Port Adelaide in May and June.
We’re a fun and friendly sport for all abilities. So why not get to a session and have a try.
We have all the gear for you to play. And experienced players to show you what it’s all about.
Join us for one of these two-hour sessions:
Come and Try 1 – 12.30pm, Sunday, 2 May 2021 at Blair Athol Reserve
Come and Try 2 – 12pm, Monday, 3 May 2021 at Lefevre Community Stadium
Come and Try 3 – 10am, Thursday, 6 May 2021 at The Lights Community and Sports Centre
Come and Try 4 – 6.30pm, Tuesday, 18 May 2021 at Blair Athol Reserve
Come and Try 5 –12pm, Monday, 7 June 20 21 at Lefevre Community Stadium
Come and Try 6 – 10am, Thursday, 24 June 2021 at The Lights Community and Sports Centre
Pickleball is a fun, social sport to get you active and feeling good. We can’t wait to see you on court!
Great thanks to our supporter, the City of Port Adelaide Enfield.
People with disability learn pickleball and tennis
On 12 December 2020, 25 people with disability of all ages attended a special 'come and try' session at Blair Athol Reserve to try out their racquet sport skills. They got rallying quickly and showed us just how easy it is for people of diverse abilities to have fun and learn pickleball quickly.
This session was the result of a partnership between Pickleball SA and One Culture Support Services (OCSS). OCSS is an NDIS provider and expert at working with people with disability and from multicultural backgrounds. We're looking forward to more partnering with OCSS where pickeball and tennis work together to provide community connection, social skills and sports involvement for people with disability.
World Pickleball Day Event - 8 October 2020
Pickleball SA hosted World Pickleball Day at The Lights with 60 players attending - our biggest ever one day turnout.
All the players had a great time and we're hoping they will be back!
The Advertiser covered the event with a news story (see article with photo) and ABC Radio came along to interview us and this aired on David Bevan's morning program.
We were also fortunate to have visits from the state member for Torrens, Dana Wortley, and the local members for City of Port Adleaide, Hannah Evans and Barbara Clayton.
Many thanks to the great team at The Lights for supporting pickleball and helping to make the day a success!