Pickleball players old and new completed a 16-hour pickleball-athon in Suffolk last weekend to fundraise for Brain Research UK.
The event organised by Pickleball East saw players flock to David Lloyd in Ipswich from as far away as Norwich, Essex, Cambridge and Hertfordshire to raise money to support a young club member who has a brain tumour.
As well as raising over £650, organisers Christina Barham and Mo Govere also helped raise awareness of pickleball. It attracted 90 players including many curious first-timers.
Christina told Pickleball52: “I don’t think a pickleball-athon has been done before. I arrived at 6am and the day didn’t wind up until 10pm. We hired one court but so many people came we ended up spilling onto three.
“We had club members, people who had played before and complete newbies, who we explained the rules to and taught how to play. People came from miles away which was really sweet.”
David Lloyd’s Head of Racquets, Ollie Sutton, came down to support the event and club member Steve Willett played all day despite recently having a hip operation.
“I was exhausted by the end of it but it went really well,” said Christina. “It was nice to play with people of all ages and abilities.”
