Pickleball’s winning formula attracting Geelong players

ONE of Australia’s fastest growing sports has developed a major following in Geelong.

Since forming in 2024, the Geelong Pickleball Club has grown to more than 450 members, with players clocking an estimated 37,000 hours on court in less than three years.

Club secretary Leonie Amerena said the sport’s explosive growth came as no surprise.

After a shoulder injury ended her time playing tennis, Amerena made the switch to pickleball and quickly became hooked.

“I heard about pickleball and fell in love,” she said. “It’s a great sport.

“It’s really aerobic, and so friendly and welcoming for people to participate in.

“It’s a bat and ball sport that requires the same hand-eye coordination and intuition as tennis, but you have to unlearn a lot of skills because the court is so much smaller.

“You can tell a tennis player who is playing pickleball very quickly.”

Amerena said the community that has formed around pickleball and the transparency in how local competitions are run has helped drive its growth.

Players are continuously graded to ensure games are as evenly matched as possible. Amerena said it goes a long way towards ensuring everyone enjoys playing, regardless of how competitive they want to be.

Meanwhile, playing indoors at The Y in Newtown and Grovedale College means poor winter weather does not wreak havoc on local play.

Amerena said constantly evolving categories in major competitions also mean almost any pair of people can play together, regardless of age, gender or ability.

It’s a feature that sets the sport apart and further reinforces its focus on inclusion.

As for newcomers, Amerena said, they are never thrown into the deep end.

“We’ve got a wonderful coaching program and an induction program,” she said. “We believe it’s really important that before people play, they’ve had a session with a coach to learn the basic shots [and] the scoring, so that they are game ready when they want to play.”

By removing barriers to entry and supporting players at every step, the club has fostered not only a fun playing environment but an engaged community.

It is so engaged that when there were concerns games would be cancelled due to a lack of duty managers, a wave of people volunteered to take on the training.

Amerena said preventing volunteer burnout is essential in the longevity of the club.

With new members showing up every week, the club expects to continue to grow over the next 12 months.

Court availability remains one of the biggest challenges, but with several new sporting precincts set to open across the Geelong region within the next year, the club is hopeful of attracting large-scale competitions to those facilities.