Celebrating Africa Pickleball Day
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By JAVIER REGALADO
With the surge in pickleball play and venues across Africa , it ’ s hard to believe it ’ s only been a year since the Confederation of African Pickleball ( CAP ) was founded in August 2023 .
Dr . Kwabena Akufo is at the helm as founder of CAP , also serving as a continental director on the board of the Global Pickleball Federation . In its first year , CAP highlights include :
• AASC membership ( Association of African Sports Confederations ).
• Inclusion of pickleball for the first time in the 13th African Games , Accra , Ghana .
• Member countries expanded from 11 to 25 .
• Up to 10,000 estimated pickleball player CAP members across Africa .
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To pay tribute to these achievements , the inaugural # AfricaPickleballDay was held Aug . 17 , celebrating health , wellness , social connections and the spirit of competition .
CAP members from Egypt , Ghana , Kenya , South Africa and more joined in the fun with open recreational play , mixed doubles tournaments , and pickleball demos at a mall . Tanzania held a grand opening of the state-ofthe-art East Africa Racket Sports Club in Dar es Salaam featuring seven pickleball courts , with the minister of sports in attendance .
To learn more about the Confederation of African Pickleball and its “ Pickleball for the People ” program , visit cafricapickleball . com . •
Historic Week for Pickleball in the UK
By KAREN MITCHELL
The Skechers English OPEN powered by the APP was a huge hit with pickleball lovers old and new in an historic week for the sport in the U . K .
Hosted at the Telford International Centre , the 2024 English OPEN was the largest pickleball event to take place outside of North America , with a record number of nearly 2,000 players ( up from 1,063 in 2023 ) from 43 countries taking part over seven days .
There was a strong American presence on the podium with Max “ Purple Jesus ” Manthou claiming success in the Men ’ s Singles Open event before teaming up with Erik Lange for glory in Men ’ s Doubles , while Megan Fudge and Jack Munro topped the podium in the Mixed Doubles event .
There was some home success in Women ’ s Singles as England ’ s Mollie Knaggs came out on top , with players from across Europe and Asia vying for the OPEN ’ s biggest prizes alongside the stars from the States .
The event was about more than just the elite players , with those ages 7 to 70 + competing at all levels . Eighty percent of the players were from the U . K .— a reflection of the incredible growth of pickleball in the region .
A memorable week started with the Battle of the Paddles , as nine paddle brands from across the globe
took part in a fun and unique team event that saw Franklin beat OWL 2-1 in the final .
In addition to the competitive action , a junior competition offered the stars of tomorrow a chance to play in a world-class venue , while the wheelchair event also proved a big success following the announcement that pickleball will be included in the 2027 Invictus Games to be held in Birmingham .
We received lots of praise for the wonderful volunteers who made sure everything ran smoothly . We couldn ’ t stage the event without them and can ’ t thank them enough . •
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2024 | MAGAZINE 73