Next month, Scotland’s men’s football team will play Greece in the World Cup Qualifiers for what is perhaps one of the most important games for them in recent times. A win at Hampden is critical for qualification prospects for a first world cup campaign since 1998 and l wish the team the best of success.
Football is, however, far from the only sport that is experiencing a wave of popularity.
In my role as Convenor of the Cross Party Group, l get to see the data relevant to the participation in different sports. Pickleball, a sport very few had even heard of five years ago, has undergone a meteoric rise in Scotland, growing by a staggering 10,000% since 2018 and now standing at around 5,200 regular players. It is widely reported to be one of the fastest growing sports in the world, possibly number one, and clubs have sprung up locally in Crieff, Auchterarder, Blackford, Dunblane, Bridge of Allan, Perth, and Stirling; the latter two have both recently reported over 100 members.
For those who don’t know, pickleball is played on a standard badminton court (with a lowered net height of 1m) and is essentially a mix of different racket sports including skills appropriated from tennis, badminton, squash and table tennis. It was created in the US in the 1960s by the Pritchard family who lacked the correct equipment for badminton – the name either comes from pickle boat (a boat formed from leftover oarsmen in crew racing) which reflects the hybrid nature of the game or the name of the family dog ‘Pickles’. Its simple rules and scoring, combined with its inclusive and accessible nature, has led the sport to be popular with families and all ages, and is usually played in doubles format for the social aspect.
Recently, l invited the representatives of the sport to Holyrood and that was also the case for Padel, another fast-growing sport and Tennis which has adopted new, very successful initiatives for our schools.
Accessibility to a wide range of different sports is so important and this has been exemplified by a recent report commissioned by the broadcaster Sky found that girls who play sport are 50% more likely to work in senior professional jobs in later life. This is because of the crucial life skills sport ingrains in young people including increased resilience, confidence and adaptability. It is little wonder the research found that women who play sport were almost one third more likely to handle pressure well. When we know girls are far less likely to take part in sports as boys, it is even more important we are championing sports such as pickleball which have a gender balance slightly in favour of women.
So, if you are looking for a new sport that can be enjoyed by everyone, young and old, I would recommend giving Pickleball a try. The Strathearn Community Campus is just one of many local centres that you can get involved and be part of the phenomenon of this sport’s extraordinary rise.
