Jess Wilson, a 27-year-old structural engineer from Norwich, England, successfully rescued her local pickleball club from closure.
Balancing her full-time job with a weekly playing time of approximately 20 hours per week, Wilson and five other volunteers managed to revive the club while also campaigning to increase its membership.
“Was Going To Shut Down”
“The club was going to shut down if we didn’t take it over,” reported Abi Curran at the Epping Forest Guardian.
“We wanted to keep it going, so we put all our time and effort into it over the last nine months, myself and five other volunteers.
She added, “We’ve now got 100 members. It’s one of the oldest clubs in the UK [but] After Covid, it had all fallen apart. We put 20 hours a week into it on top of working full-time, which is a lot, but it’s really rewarding to see people come and enjoy it.”
Third-Place Match
Wilson remains totally committed to the sport despite the disappointment of losing out on a medal in a tense third-place match at the 2023 English Nationals at Bolton Arena, where she was defeated by Mollie Kubrick-Finney.
Although she has played various racket sports, Wilson finds pickleball to be the most enjoyable:
“I played a lot of tennis, table tennis, badminton, a lot of racket sports, but this one is the best because it’s so much fun.
“We run our local club, and it’s so accessible for everyone. We get local people in playing games, and it’s amazing because it’s something you would never get in tennis.
A Huge Surge In Popularity
Pickleball has experienced a significant surge in popularity in the UK over the past year, boasting around 12,000 regular players and over 450 venues across the country.
The 2023 English Nationals, held at Bolton Arena with sponsorship from Skechers, Franklin, Scan, and UK Pickleball Shop, attracted 680 athletes –an increase from the 430 participants in the 2022 event.
Jess, while acknowledging the rise in the sport’s standard, views the English Nationals as a crucial platform for the pickleball community to unite and enhance their skills.
Continuous Improvement
She sees the tournament as an opportunity to encourage more people to engage with pickleball, emphasizing the continuous improvement in the sport’s overall level.
“The English Nationals are my practice; we’re trying to get more people into it. The standard is really improving; it’s a completely different level compared to last year.
I did reasonably well in the bronze match, but the standard has gone up a lot.”
A Challenging Balance
Looking ahead, Jess expressed her involvement in additional tournaments, although the demanding schedule has made it challenging to balance with her full-time job. Despite the time constraints, she remains dedicated to promoting pickleball and fostering its growth in the UK.
“I’ve got a couple more tournaments, but I’ve done so many this year that I’ve run out of time to take off work!”
For further information about pickleball in the U.K. or to locate nearby places to play, individuals can visit pickleballengland.org.
About Norwich
Norwich is a cathedral city and the county town of Norfolk, England. Situated by the River Wensum on the southeast coast of England, it is approximately 100 miles (160 km) northeast of London.
Norwich is the largest settlement and has the largest urban area in East Anglia. The estimated population of the Norwich City Council local authority area was 144,000 in 2021.
