NEWS FROM THE GLOBAL PICKLEBALL COMMUNITY
PLANET
Pickleball
NEWS FROM THE GLOBAL PICKLEBALL COMMUNITY
A View from Johannesburg
P
By ALLON ROCK and STEVEN ABLONDI
WWW . MEMEL . GLOBAL
Pickleball is growing , and changing South Africa !
Pickleball South Africa ( PSA ) was founded in Johannesburg in 2022 . Darren Zidel , professional player Meg Charity , and current PSA President Allon Rock taped courts on a shopping center ’ s rooftop parking lot to spread awareness of the game . There were just two private Johannesburg country clubs with courts back in 2022 .
When knowledge filtered to us in Johannesburg that Steven Ablondi had put up the first dedicated pickleball court in South Africa in 2020 , in rural Memel , we could sense what impact this wonderful sport was starting to have . Now the explosion is upon us . From the original Bryanston and
Country Club Johannesburg to
Courts sprout up in Joburg .
Wendywood and Gonubie , PSA counts 36 venues ! Back in 2022 , PSA received requests for where people could play . Now people ask how they can construct courts !
In Free State province alone , where Memel ( four dedicated courts , host of the first international pickleball tournament in South Africa , and birthplace of pickleball in the country ) is located , there are clubs in Lindley , Bethlehem and Bloemfontein . Bloemfontein wants to add more . All venues are listed on the Pickleball South Africa website .
Clubs are expected in Potchefstroom , North West province , Nelspruit , in what we call the “ Lowveld ,” and hopefully Soweto , South Africa ’ s most famous township . Plettenberg Bay on the gorgeous tourist “ Garden Route ” has just opened , as have the first courts at Virgin Active gyms in Cape Town .
South Africa is sending a team to Ghana to compete in the first All-Africa Games competition to showcase the sport of pickleball .
Perhaps in future games we can send some youth now being trained in the townships and rural areas !
The explosion is here . Come visit and play . •
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