Franklin Premier Pickleball League season two kicks off on 6-7 July at Bolton Arena with its new Challenger series set to give aspiring players a platform to shine.
The Franklin PPL Challenger is the PPL’s version of English football’s Championship, but with an emphasis on giving younger players an opportunity to play high-level pickleball with opponents from across the country.
One of the new generation set to benefit is 14-year-old Ollie Grantham (pictured above, left), who is being coached by Mollie Kubrick-Finney and is included in her Spicy Pickleball Academy team line-up in the PPL Challenger.
Ollie attended last week’s Pickleball Slam event in London and was given a surprise moment in the spotlight when Greg Rusedski handed him his paddle and invited him to play a few rallies with Pei Chaun Kao, James Chaudry and Johanna Konta!
Ollie is also an accomplished junior tennis and padel player and has even given up school to focus on training and competition full-time. He loved his early taste of high-level pickleball competition at the recent UK Young Persons’ Championships in Milton Keynes.
He told Pickleball52: “I am really excited to play in the PPL. It’ll give me some really good match experience and will be a chance to meet loads of new people.” When asked whether it might persuade him to specialise in pickleball rather than tennis or padel, he responded diplomatically: “Hmmm, let’s see!”
As well as Ollie, the Spicy Pickleball Academy team features captain Lucy Bamber, vice-captain Matthew Brindle and Georgia Macalle, Jack Macgregor and Nia Rogers. The other teams are: Louis Laville Pickleball, The Kitchen, Thaddea Lock Pickleball, SB Pickleball and RAQT Pickleball.
Full team line-ups can be found here.
The inaugural Challenger series will run alongside season two of the PPL Premier competition and the new Masters competition. The five match weekends between July and February 2025 plus the finale will all feature coaching clinics and festivals which the pickleball community can get involved in.
James Chaudry, whose RAQT team were crowned season one winners in April, said the expansion of the PPL is great for the game.
“Season two is going to offer more opportunities to develop players, show their skillsets, get more exposure, play at the top level, build new doubles partnerships and grow communities, so it’s really exciting.
“Whilst Pickleball England will always be focused on grassroots and community, there’s always a need for top-level professional leagues and the PPL does a really good job. What I took away from season one of the PPL was seeing the growth of individuals as they came into the spotlight and how much they learned. It will be great to see many more players flourish in a similar way this year.”
James added: “I would encourage everyone to sign up for the clinics and festivals that are taking place at each PPL weekend, starting with Bolton in July.”
