Thirteen-year-old Theo Malbois was Pickleball England’s MVP at the weekend – managing the main court for taster sessions at the huge Family Traveller event in Twickenham.
PbE chair Karen Mitchell brought together a team of more than 30 volunteers to put on nearly 800 taster sessions across the weekend, having been asked to be there by Fort Myers in Florida. As Karen explains: “Since there are lots of pickleball courts in the area they thought it would be a way to hook families into considering them as a holiday destination.”
With one roll-out court and one taped court, 364 gave the game a go on Saturday – and the incredible numbers meant 433 tried it out on Sunday with a third court marked up and in use.
And Theo was leading the main court by himself at some points, with Karen describing him as “a great role model for the other children”.
Theo first discovered pickleball while living with his family in Newport Beach, California, picking up the basics at the age of nine after his dad became hooked on the sport. When the family returned to the UK at the end of 2020, pickleball was still relatively unknown, especially for kids, so Theo became the first child to join his local club, Lightning Pickleball in Acton, West London.
He wasn’t the youngest volunteer of the day, though; that honour went to ten-year-old Seb Oprea, who accompanied his parents Paul and Julia.
