Goonellabah Tennis Club Pickleball Launch: The Goonellabah Tennis Club has added pickleball to its activities by opening six new courts. The courts are at Reserve Street in Goonellabah and were built on two old tennis courts. The club aims to attract players of all ages and keep the facility busy in the future.
A Growing Sport
Graham Lancaster, president of the Goonellabah Tennis and Pickleball Club, said tennis is losing popularity while pickleball is growing fast worldwide.
“Pickleball is a very productive sport that is very new and potentially in the Olympics, so it’s one of the fastest-growing sports in the world. It’s quite similar to tennis in a lot of ways, but uses a lot less training, energy, technique and ability, that sort of thing. Any age can play it from 3 to 99, I would think, so yeah, there’s no limit.”
Graham Lancaster added that many younger people are now interested.
“A lot of young ones are picking up. We probably had at least a third of the people who turned up to the opening, and there were about 50, who were in their teens or the 20 to 30 age group, so the younger cohort. Down in Ballina, they’ve got about 350 members in Pickleball now and mainly the older ones, because they just don’t have any more capacity for the younger ones. We’re hoping to have a facility that’s open for everyone to use.”
Affordable and Easy Access
The club used $120,000 of its own funds to build the courts. Graham Lancaster said they are not in danger of closing but want to stay successful.
“We’ve been quite a cashed-up club through tennis for many years, so we use our own funds to build these courts, $120,000, and we’re not under any threat of closing anything, but we want to be viable and we want to offer a service. Our courts and our facility are fantastic, second to none, in a beautiful location next to the Goonellabah Soccer Club.”
Graham Lancaster shared that the club wants the courts to be easy to use.
“It’s just a really nice facility we’ve got, and we want to see it utilised. We’re only charging $5 a hit, basically, for two hours for a social comp, and membership is $60, so it’s very affordable, and we have paddles there, people don’t have to buy anything. They can just turn up.”
Courts can also be rented for $10 for 30 minutes, and bookings can be made online.
New Activities and Volunteers
The club offers LED lights so people can play at night with an electronic entry system to get bats and balls. Social competitions take place on Monday and Tuesday evenings. The club plans to expand them as more people join, and is looking for volunteers to help run games.
The Goonellabah Tennis and Pickleball Club is located on Reserve Street, Goonellabah, off Rous Road.
News in Brief: Goonellabah Tennis Club Pickleball Launch
The Goonellabah Tennis and Pickleball Club opened six new pickleball courts to meet growing interest. The courts are affordable, easy to access, and open to all ages. The club plans to grow social competitions and invites new volunteers to join their efforts.
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