Read the latest installment of the Weekly Pickleball News Round-up. This week we cover the Pickleball Gold Rush, which is a Must Read article. We also cover Pickleball Dating, and we link to a super cute 3-year-old pickleball player. And the resolution of the Pickleball Hunger Strike. What the?
Another big week, read it all here in the Weekly Pickleball News. Brought to you, with love… by the Aussie Pickleball Bros. Pickle On!
Australian Pickleball News
Pickleball getting some Press in the AFR
Any Australian coverage of Pickleball is great. So the AFR reported on “the biggest sport you’ve never heard of”. Actually, a pretty interesting article, focusing on Pickleball up-and-comer Sarah Bur and Rohit Ninan, who built a pretty cool site Picklepals to help find local courts. Worth a read if you can get behind the paywall.
Read Pickleball the biggest sport you never heard of here via the AFR.
Global Pickleball News
Pickleball Sold Out & Driving a Gold Rush Mentality – MUST READ
In this weeks must read article, Frank Pritchard is the son of Joel Pritchard who was one of the trio that created Pickleball in 1965. Frank dislikes the way the current game has turned into a huge commercial venture. And he believes his father would feel the same.
Some great insights from some older players where they believe that money has changed the game. Where $450 paddles and three rival leagues are driving a gold rush mentality. And the sport is described as the “wild west”. It’s a really great article on how pickleball is changing.
Read how Pickleball Sold Out in the article via the Guardian.
The Picklemall is opening soon! August 5 to be exact.
Reported by the Aussie Pickleball Bros a while ago, the Picklemall is due to open on August 5. A fantastic idea to convert empty shop spaces at a shopping mall into a 16-court extravaganza in Tempe, Arizona. A website now exists, and take a look at the screen grab below. How exciting! Let’s see how this idea expands across the globe.
Check out the Picklemall website here.
Teqball, a Soccer/Ping Pong Mashup the “next pickleball”? Ummm…. No
It seems like every other week a new sport comes up and is the next pickleball. Teqball is the latest, most ridiculous new sport to land in recent times. Teqball is soccer/ping pong. You cannot use your hands and you need to serve with your head or knee. OMG.
Allegedly this sport is big in Hungary. It looks so difficult to play – it is the exact opposite of pickleball. But worth a view just to see how nuts this sport is. The Hungarians can keep this one, and there is no chance it will EVER be in the Olympics.
Watch this video on Teqball and decide for yourself.
Pickleball Celebrities
Serena Williams Coach Rips into Pickleball
It’s always funny when tennis traditionalists hate pickleball. The latest is from Serena William’s coach Rennae Stubb. She isn’t happy about the popularity of pickleball. And she doesn’t like tennis greats like Agassi or McEnroe being lured into pickleball for large sums of cash. I also love that in the article, they call pickleball a “baby version of tennis”. classic!
Read how Serena William’s coach rips into pickleball here.
Timothy Olyphant – Defends Pickleball and Loves to Play
Timothy Olyphant, a Hollywood hunk from big shows like Deadwood and Justified, loves a bit of pickleball. He claims that his latest season of Justified, may see Raylan Givens playing pickleball, wearing his famous cowboy hat. Sounds like he could be playing pickleball and kicking ass this season? See Timothy defend pickleball to the naysayers too.
Fans of Timothy Olyphant (the Bros 100% are!) should watch the entertaining Pickleball discussion here
Pickleball Insanity
Pickleball Dating? Yes, there is a website for that.
OMGee. We had the Pickleball lovin’ Golden Bachelor last week, now we have a pickleball dating site. This is real, discovered through this article on Desertsun.com. So there is a pickleball dating app. For anyone looking for a soulmate or perfect pickleball partner. No swiping left or right, just connecting over the love of the game. It’s a great idea and looks to be a US-only site…. For now.
Take a look at the Pickleball Dating site, and please keep the Bros. posted if you find love through the site.
Pickleball Hunger Strike is Over After 50 Hours
Last week we reported on a Canadian man that went on a hunger strike to protest the sound from his local pickleball courts, The man famously said that it was like “living next to a gun range for 11 hours every day.” Well, after 50 hours with no food, the man ended his hunger strike. He was satisfied that the local council was taking his concern seriously. And he believes that progress has been made to resolve the issue.
Watch the video news report about the end of the Pickleball Hunger Strike here.
Pickleball Fun
Pickleball Smash Coming to Nintendo Switch, other consoles & PC
Pickleball Smash is a new video game coming to PC and all game consoles in November. Play tournaments, customize your champion and dink to your heart’s content. The Nintendo Switch version will have motion controls which sounds great. And the game is said to be a pick-up-and-play game, which is fantastic news. You better believe the Aussie Pickleball bros will be buying this in November, so stay tuned for that.
Take a look at some of the details via Pickleball Smash heading to Switch.
Cute Video Alert – 3 Year Old in Sunglasses plays pickleball
Little Axel is 3 years old and plays pickleball 3-4 times a week with his parents. He is obsessed and if he keeps it up, he could be a future champ. Now we have cute baby/pickleball videos. How long until we start seeing cute cat/pickleball videos? It’s only a matter of time.
Watch little Axel the three-year-old pickleball star in this video.
Final Thoughts
The Aussie Pickleball Bros. brings you the latest in Pickleball News. Delivered fresh every week. Get it while it’s HOT. Follow the Bros on Twitter via the icon below. Or feel free to contact the Bros directly via this handy contact page.
Pickle On!
The Aussie Pickleball Bros.