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8-14 AUGUST 2024
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FAnticipating a Pickleball Tipping Point in the UK This Year
By KAREN MITCHELL
DIRECTOR , PICKLEBALL ENGLAND
Feb . 18 , 2024 , Pickleball England hosted the 4th Annual General Meeting via Zoom . It was a pleasure to share strong growth numbers . The chart below shows the number of registrations received by month for the last five years , showing sharp increases in 2023 . This has
continued with 361 registrations in January and 738 in February .
In addition to sharing data on registrations and breakdown by region , age and gender , we also introduced the two candidates for the National Director position as Frank Arico steps down to concentrate on his role as president of the European Pickleball Federation . All England-resident PbE members were sent a unique voting link for them to cast for their preferred candidate . They could only vote once ; any additional vote would write over the prior vote . Members have until March 23 to vote . The winner will be announced and will join the board . There was also a vote for the South East North Regional Director . This vote is just for PbE member residents in that region . For both positions there were one male and one female candidate , all highly qualified in different ways .
Our 2023 financials show revenue was up 183 percent versus the prior year , outstripping membership growth . Most of our revenue comes from events ; this demonstrates that players can ’ t get enough of festivals , leagues , and tournaments . We are seeing that repeated in 2024 . The Skechers English OPEN had 1,122 registrations after 11 days , exceeding last year ’ s registration in one week !
The pickleball ecosystem has expanded with at least eight online stores to purchase equipment , multiple event organizers , certified coaches , leisure centers adding pickleball to their offerings , hotels and businesses adding pickleball courts , and the rise in number of podcasts and newsletters . The future is looking bright for pickleball in England . •
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MARCH / APRIL 2024 | MAGAZINE 63