Pickleball boom comes to city with major new venue
Pickleball boom comes to city with major new venue
Lee Bottomley Fri, September 25, 2026 at 12:16 PM UTC
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Pickleball is played on a badminton-sized court with a plastic ball and solid paddles
A pickleball company is developing a venue in Stoke-on-Trent which it says will be one of the UK's largest dedicated to the sport.
A mix of tennis, badminton and ping-pong, the game can be played by singles or in pairs, indoors or outdoors.
Pickleball People, who sell pickleball products and run play and coaching sessions at leisure centres in Staffordshire, Shropshire and Cheshire, plan to convert a warehouse and offices at Festival Park into a nine court site, cafe bar, shop and viewing areas, due to open next year.
Director Rob Taylor said: "We bought the building at the beginning of August...[but] we've being working on this project for the best part of two years."
Rob Taylor is opening what he says will be one of the UK's largest dedicated pickleball venues
The new pickleball centre in Stoke-on-Trent is set to open in early 2027, and will have two full-time coaches.
The game was invented in 1965 by US Congressman Joel Pritchard and his friends Bill Bell and Barney McCallum during a summer family holiday in Washington.
The name is thought to have come from Joan Pritchard, wife of Joel, who said the mix of sports reminded her of a 'pickle boat' in rowing, where a crew is made up of different oarsmen.
Pickleball is played on a badminton-sized court with a plastic ball and solid paddles, and is billed as a low-impact sport suitable for all ages.
"You traditionally might think of it as a game for older people, but that has changed dramatically in the last few years," said Taylor, describing the increasing number of young players competing in tournaments as "wonderful".
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The new venue at Festival Park is due to open early 2027
Taylor said he got into pickleball while playing tennis with his now business partner, Nicola, in Market Drayton, after she tried it on holiday and came back raving about the sport.
It eventually led to them forming a group of sixteen and hiring the sports centre at Keele University on a Saturday to play.
"It just sort of went from there, we grew it and grew it..we've got a club of more than 500 people and we run sessions everyday, except Friday, and it's just a joy," he said.
Taylor said it was "quite frightening but also enormously exciting" to be developing their own venue
Having got involved in the pickleball business around five years ago, Taylor, who has a background in retail, said there was no grand plan other than taking opportunities.
He added that it was "quite frightening but also enormously exciting" to have now purchased and be developing their own venue.
A warehouse and offices at Festival Park is being converted
The new pickleball centre in Stoke-on-Trent is set to open in early 2027, and will have two full-time coaches.
Pickleball People currently run sessions at five venues across north Staffordshire, south Cheshire and north Shropshire, and all except the Market Drayton one will move to the new site.
There are also plans to stage the Premier Pickleball League finals in Stoke-on-Trent in March.
Taylor added: 'I've never been involved in anything that puts a smile on people's faces like this."
The company already runs pickleball sessions in north Staffordshire, south Cheshire and north Shropshire
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Related internet links
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Pickleball People
Premier Pickleball League
Source: “AOL Sports”
