tournament , The English OPEN , as well as the English Nationals and other events .
“ I ’ ve watched England compete in the World Cup , European Championships , Commonwealth Games and Rugby World Cup since I can remember ... To be involved in creating Team England and potentially playing at the WPG is a huge honour . Representing your country really is what dreams are made of .” – Sam Basford , Pickleball England
Back to 2022 , the Pickle Ranch is an outdoor venue and whilst players have played more outdoors due to COVID-19 lockdown restrictions , it is still a challenge for the English team , which — due to our inclement weather — is more likely to play indoors than outdoors . Learning how to manage the wind and use it to your advantage is going to be something that our team coach will focus on .
How many countries will take part ? Pickleball is played in 59 countries around the world . There are approximately 50 countries with a country association / federation . Even not having a country association doesn ’ t need to be a barrier . The organising committee members have laid out how a country team can be selected if there is no association , or the association chooses not to send a team to the Games . Entry deadline isn ’ t until May 2021 , so we will know who has entered by then !
At the time of writing , 16 countries have indicated interest .
There will be Group Stages splitting up the countries into a group of countries to play each other , with the top countries making it through to the quarterfinals . We expect that the selection of the countries that go into each group will be a big occasion , rather like the FA Cup draw or UEFA Champions League draw .
“ The World Pickleball Games will be a great opportunity for England ’ s best players to compete on the world stage . Having played college tennis , I love the atmosphere that comes with team events and can ’ t wait to show the world what we can do !” – Thaddea Lock , England ’ s Women ’ s # 1
There is going to be a Pickleball Trade Show , Seminars , Country Meeting , Practice Play and an Opening Ceremony before the Group Stages start on Thursday , the 5th of May . The quarterfinals and Junior and Senior exhibition matches will take place on Saturday ,
May 7 , and the semifinals and finals will take place on Sunday , May 8 . The whole thing will end with a Closing Ceremony .
The organisers are encouraging each team to design their own team uniform and to design a country “ pin ” to trade with the other participating countries – a great souvenir for competitors to pin onto their pickleball bags . Apparently pin trading dates back to the modern Olympics , when three designs were produced for the 1896 Games : one for judges , one for athletes and one for officials . Seymour Rifkind still has the pins he received when he was part of world competitions and wants to encourage this custom with the World Pickleball Games .
Pickleball England is excited about participating in this significant milestone in pickleball ’ s development .
MARCH / APRIL 2021 | MAGAZINE 49