Students on the Isle of Wight and across the Solent in Southampton are loving pickleball after being given an introduction to the sport thanks to Lloyd Attrill.
Lloyd met Todd Connor, Isle of Wight College’s Programme Co-ordinator in Sports Science and Personal Training, at a pickleball coaching course, and the pair devised an idea between them, fuelled by a mutual desire to grow the sport.
Todd set up a pickleball court and used equipment from Lloyd’s business, The Pickleball Store, at a recent open day for prospective new students at Isle of Wight College. Plans are now afoot to make it part of the curriculum on the college’s sports courses.
Todd explained: “The visitors to our open day all enjoyed having a go. It’s such an accessible sport that everyone was able to give it a try and have fun with it.
“The students are still very new to it but we are looking to expand it and possibly offer some evening activities such as participation leagues. We would also like our sports students to gain a good basic knowledge and skills within the game to go into local schools and lead pickleball sessions.”
Lloyd added: “We both wanted to promote pickleball as something cool for new students where they could simply pick up a paddle and play. It was something unusual and engaging on the open day. Now the hope is to take that further by offering it as part of the college’s sports programmes.”
Meanwhile, just a quick ferry trip over the water at Southampton University, Lloyd has also been busy promoting pickleball. He works there giving extra-curricular support to students who want to start their own businesses and became involved in a programme the uni runs called Be Active.
Be Active is a timetable of varied sports activities for students who may not want to dedicate themselves to one sport, but want to try out different pursuits, keep fit, be social and simply have fun. Be Active provides the equipment and space for them to do so free of charge.
Thanks to Lloyd’s involvement, pickleball now features proudly on the Be Active weekly schedule amongst sports and activities like squash, badminton, Zumba, ‘Couch to 5k’, fun frisbee, running and gym sessions.
“It was a pleasure to be able to help kickstart pickleball at Southampton uni,” Lloyd told us. “Pickleball is taking its place amongst a whole load of other activities that keep people fit and helps them meet other students.”
