UK’s fastest growing sport pickleball helping combat social isolation in Highlands as Pickleball Inverness enters inaugural Scottish league
One of the fastest growing sports in the world is helping to combat social isolation in Inverness.
Pickleball is a sport that bears resemblance to elements of tennis, badminton and table tennis, and has seen a huge surge in popularity over recent years.
Between 2021 and 2024, it was named the fastest growing sport in the US, following suit in the UK with a 65 per cent rise in participation last year and over 270 pickleball courts springing up across the country.
It is estimated there are around 35,000 players in the UK, with over 100 of those being based at Pickleball Inverness.
Founded by Douglas Fletcher, who had seen it grow quickly in Nairn alongside his wife Liz, courts were sourced alongside the Smash Badminton group who played at Inverness Royal Academy on Sunday mornings.
The first session comprised of Fletcher, his wife and his daughter in August 2023, but it did not take long to grow. Before the end of that year, they were occasionally hitting double figures, but the sport boomed in popularity throughout 2024.
Now, the club runs separate sessions; for intermediate and advanced players, and beginners and social players.
“Every week we had new people arriving wanting to find out a bit more about the game,” Fletcher reflected.
“Suddenly we were filling the hall on a Sunday morning, and we had to have our own separate session set aside for us. That’s where we find ourselves now, but we don’t have the court space to accommodate everyone weekly.
“It’s a very addictive game, so very few people who come along don’t come back, they generally continue to play.”
Pickleball is accessible for people of all genders, fitness-levels, ability, age and more to play together, while also providing a rare chance for disabled athletes to compete alongside able-bodied players.
That inclusivity was part of the appeal for Isabel Patterson, who picked up the sport as a new hobby with her husband.
“My husband was retiring and spending more time at home, so we were looking for something we could both do together, starting on a level playing field,” she recalled.
“We had heard about pickleball, and I was aware it was a growing sport so I wanted to know what it was all about.
“We came along, and the social side of it was such a surprise. We can play competitively, but I’ve got a whole new set of friends, which was a really unexpected bonus of joining the pickleball community.”
Attendees travel from Drumnadrochit, Nairn, the Black Isle and as far as Tain to play in the Highland capital, and for many it is the social aspect of pickleball that keeps them coming back on a regular basis.
Being open for people of all ages and backgrounds, the club is seeing a particular benefit to people when it comes to forging those new connections, with Fletcher continuing: “We have a number of players who have lost partners, or who didn’t have wider friendship groups and felt isolated.
“They come along to try pickleball out and have absolutely loved it. It has opened up new friendships and social groups, while rolling a bit of exercise all into one.
“Probably 20 per cent of those who come along on a Sunday fall into that category, which is fantastic.
“It’s helping to grow their confidence, their social group, and also the sport because more and more people are seeing it being played in the halls.”
Patterson added: “It’s not elitist at all. You don’t have to invest a lot of money initially – there are people who use the paddles we provide for several weeks before they decide they want to buy their own when they are committed and ready.
“The other benefit I’m seeing is that neurodiverse people are joining as well, so it’s a really inclusive sport which is great.”
Of course, while those social factors create a strong atmosphere to build a club on, with sport inherently comes an element of competition.
Accordingly, Inverness have entered a newly-formed regional league under the governing body Pickleball Scotland, which sees the Highlanders go up against a number of teams from Aberdeen and a Dornoch side in the Division One North.
Having won their opening fixture 5-4 against the Northern Lights, it is a sign that both the sport as a whole is growing all the time.
Currently, the league consists of mixed doubles fixtures, but there could be scope for a singles league, as well as branching into single gender doubles in the future.
For Inverness, the aim will also be to enter more than one team in the coming seasons, even if taking the club to the next level is a fine balancing act.
“We’re dancing on a bit of a pinhead – if we were to throw our doors wide open, as soon as people step in to the club it becomes a chargeable event, and High Life would no longer grant us the free courts on a Sunday morning,” Fletcher added.
“We would love for the club to be bigger than it is, but it’s the chicken and the egg. We need to have numbers before we can secure court time, and if we do that too soon we can kill ourselves financially and we’ll just vanish.
“Where we would love to get to is a point where we can have formal, recognised club nights that are open to all comers, as well as having sessions dedicated to different skill groups with a pathway for people to move through them.
“That will bring everyone’s skills on, and once you start to get these club nights set in stone you will see more and more people taking up the sport.
“I’m a number of years off retirement, but I am looking forward to it because that then opens up the ability to run these sessions during the day too when there is loads of availability at Inverness Leisure.
“We want to take it into the evenings for those who work, have a slot during the day for those who don’t, and just have more time available on court that is organised in a way that will allow people to develop to whatever level they want to develop to.”