The third event of the inaugural Staff Varsity tournament saw Pickleball teams take to Canterbury Christ Church University’s Sports Centre. Pickleball is a relatively new sport to the UK and has seen a recent boom in participation numbers, across both Universities. Pickleball is a fun sport that combines elements of badminton, tennis, and table tennis. Played both indoors or outdoors on a badminton-sized court and a slightly modified tennis net. Two or four players use solid paddles to hit a perforated r ball, over a net.
At CCCU’s Sports Centre, 14 UKC players and 12 CCCU players competed in a series of Pickleball matches. Participants were split into two groups: Intermediate and Advanced. Participants took it in turns to compete in doubles matches with the scoring working as follows: rally scoring, alternate serves, and first to 15. This allowed for fast-paced and exciting pickleball action!
After the series of games were played it was CCCU who came out on top winning the majority of their fixtures. Pickleball has been a staple at CCCU for nearly four years now, and this was evidenced in the experience and quality of play from their participants. Whereas Pickleball has only arrived to the UKC staff community earlier this year. Although a noticeable gulf in ability, there were some fantastic rallies and games on display and our UKC members should feel proud of themselves. There is lots of learning to take away and hopefully, this can lead to an even bigger boom within pickleball at UKC.
Thank you to Canterbury Christ Church University for hosting Staff Varsity Pickleball and congratulations as well for winning the event!
View the full gallery of Staff Varsity Pickleball photos!
Visit our Staff Varsity webpage for a round-up of all the action.