About three months ago, we brought you a story about Thaddea Lock, the number one-ranked English female pickleball player, going to the Isle of Wight to run some pickleball coaching sessions.
All Skill Levels
In that article, we also mentioned the West Wight Sports and Community Centre, where Thaddea was holding her pickleball masterclass, was going to host the upcoming inaugural Isle of Wight Pickleball Festival.
The festival took place at the end of June and was a great success. It catered to all skill levels, and participants won points as part of a league-style structure with games played up to 11 points.
The event used a “friendly tournament” format, meaning players teamed up with different partners for every 15-minute game.
Congratulations To Champion Alan Nixon
After the play was rather quaintly broken up with a light lunch, congratulations go to overall winner Alan Nixon.
The event was sponsored by an Isle of Wight-based business, The Pickleball Store, which provided prizes and allowed played to try out demo paddles.
Planning is already happening for a similar event later this year and builds on the success of Isle of Wight Pickleball players at the English Open Pickleball International in 2022.
Nine pickleball players from the West Wight Sports and Community Centre, Freshwater, took part in the event, held at The David Lloyd Centre, Southampton and won nine medals! The haul comprised a gold, two silver, and six bronze.
Shannon Kilcullen, a gym and fitness supervisor at the community center, said: “We are thrilled with the success of pickleball in the West Wight and delighted to have hosted the first pickleball festival on the Isle of Wight. Our aim at the center is to provide a wide range of opportunities for the community to take part in sports at all levels.”
The Isle Of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a small island just off the south coast of the English cities of Portsmouth and Southampton. It has a surface area of about 150 square miles and a population of just over 150,000. It is famous for having been one of the last locations Jimi Hendrix played live back in the 70s – the festival attracted 600,000 people – and also holds the annual world-renowned Cowes sailing festival.
