Britain’s first ever Wheelchair Pickleball League begins in 10 March in Carlisle. We speak to its founder, Terry Smith, who has done so much to promote disability pickleball in Cumbria – and is now hoping to take the format nationwide.
“My love affair with wheelchair pickleball started just before the first Covid lockdown. I was promoting wheelchair tennis at an open day at Chatsworth Tennis Club in Carlisle and during one of my many coffee breaks I started watching this strange game being played. I had never seen anything like it before.
I watched for a while until curiosity got the better of me and I decided to go for a closer look. That was my first meeting with a great guy called Richard Wise from Eden Valley Pickleball. He offered me the chance to have a go, which I immediately accepted.
The first question I asked him was, do I get two bounces as in wheelchair tennis? He confessed that he did not know as he had never seen a wheelchair pickleball player before. He was pretty certain that I might be the first one in the country!
Within ten minutes of playing I knew I had just discovered a fantastic wheelchair sport. I was hooked. I introduced it to Jim, a friend of mine who I play wheelchair basketball and tennis with, and he quickly became hooked too. The two of us then set about getting others to start playing.
Covid stopped our initial progress but once things were back to normal, I started attending pickleball festivals with the intention of promoting the wheelchair game. To begin with, I was the only wheelchair player there – but the response I got from the pickleball community was awesome and everyone was behind us.
I’m delighted to say that we now have eight regular wheelchair players in and around the Carlisle area. As things progressed we gained fantastic support from Pickleball Scotland and Pickleball England, who started to include a wheelchair category in their competitions. On court we are competitors, but off court we are a team of people who are passionate about promoting this wonderful wheelchair sport.
At the moment, as far as we know we are the only organised group of wheelchair players in the country. If there were similar groups elsewhere, we could hold inter-club events. We’d love to hear from you!
The wheelchair game has only two rules which differ from the standing game: we get two bounces if required and the small front caster wheels can be in the no volley zone (kitchen) when volleying but the larger rear wheels cannot.
Wheelchair pickleball is such a great sport for wheelchair users. Tennis is a big area for a wheelchair to cover and basketball and rugby are very physically demanding. They’re great sports, but a smaller pickleball court solves these issues.
Wheelchair pickleball can be played in different formats. The hybrid format involves a wheelchair and a standing player playing as a doubles pair, or there is the all-wheelchair format where there are four wheelchairs on court. It can also be played in the singles format.
The hybrid format works very well and offers disabled people the opportunity to take part in a sport alongside able-bodied people. This could include family members and or friends and could include school children who possibly cannot otherwise participate in P.E.
I was one such child and I definitely felt excluded.
That child can now join in and play a sport with and against their peers. I think this aspect of the sport is particularly positive for mental health.
The all-wheelchair format is important for the development of the sport. Recognising this, we have now set up a Wheelchair Pickleball league with an initial 11 players, which is very exciting. Starting on 10 March in Carlisle, it will initially be a bimonthly event with the intention of increasing participation as we progress.
This will be a very positive event in the development and promotion of our sport. Hopefully we will attract more players to join us and I see no reason why we can’t take the league to other venues around the country.
I believe wheelchair pickleball would make a fantastic Paralympic sport. That is a nice thought for the future. In the meantime, I will continue to help promote wheelchair pickleball in whatever way I can.”
