Pickleball leaders in Wales are in the early stages of forming an official national governing body for the sport.
Katherine Knowles, the highly influential founder and chair of Anglesey Pickleball Club, is leading a seven-strong committee which has begun the application process with Sport Wales to become the nation’s officially recognised body governing the sport.
Although the process is in its infancy, the committee has already received support from friends at Pickleball England and Pickleball Scotland, which were both founded in 2018.
Katherine told Pickleball52: “I often refer to pickleball as the great game with a silly name – forming a governing body will help enhance pickleball’s credibility and grow the sport in Wales.
“We already have some wonderful pickleball clubs here. Together we will become stronger!”
Pickleball clubs are thriving in Wales, not least in the north where North Wales Pickleball leads a host of competitive and social activities. The group’s leader, Paul Byron, is also part of the committee making the national governing body application.
The move has in part been motivated by the growth of the English Nationals to such an extent that organisers have had to become stricter about entry guidelines. Whilst Welsh players were allowed to enter in 2021 and 2022, entry numbers exceded capacity for the 2023 Nationals at Bolton Arena in October and it had to be restricted to English players only.
The 20-strong Welsh contingent returned from the 2022 English Nationals with 20 medals (eight gold, eight silver and four bronze).
“Whilst it was upsetting for Welsh players [not to be able to enter the Nationals], we totally understood the decision,” said Katherine. “It has given us the shove we needed towards setting up a sporting body of our own.”
Katherine says a Welsh team is planning to enter a forthcoming Celtic Challenge event in Glasgow in March and she hopes that governing body status will lead to Anglesey being able to enter a pickleball team when the Island Games is hosted by Ynys Mon (the Isle of Anglesey) in 2027.
“We hope competing in multi-nation tournaments will help boost our application to Sport Wales,” said Katherine. “The sport is growing hugely here and is so beneficial to players in such a variety of ways, so we’ll do anything to spread the word!”
