Ocean Grove Pickleball Club celebrated its fifth birthday on Sunday with 80 members enjoying music from the Spinning Wheels and paella from Feed Me Surfcoast.
Terry Kealey, who started the club in 2019 with his wife Fran, explained the evolution of Ocean Grove which was one of the first to start in Victoria.
Since then the club has grown to more than 250 members and runs sessions every day of the week up to three times a day.
When the club started it began with plastic paddles and the evolution of the sport has been incredible in relation to paddles and equipment and skill development since then. Even how players pay and register has evolved from cash payments on the day.
Ocean Grove sourced an online booking system from Europe that had not been used in Australia before and shared it with other clubs such as Torquay, Drysdale and Leopold.
Since 2019, the club has taught staff and students at Saint Ignatius, Barwon Heads and Bellarine Secondary College to play pickleball and it has been included in the curriculum.
It has raised funds to support a local student with a music scholarship for an entire year, and for women who are victims of violence
Pickleball is accessible to everyone and is one of the fastest growing sports in the world. There is a huge effort to get it into the 2032 Olympic Games.
If you are interested in trying pickleball contact Terry at OGPickleball@yahoo.com for a free come and try session.
