New Allander Leisure Centre set to host national championships as pickleball's popularity grows

The inaugural Scottish National Pickleball Championships are taking place from June 2-4, as the new facility has been built with courts lined purposely lined for the sport.

Pickleball is similar to, table tennis, tennis and badminton and sees players hit a perforated hollow polymer ball over a 36-inch-high net using solid-faced paddles.

It was invented in 1965 as a backyard game in the state of Washington and has grown in popularity ever since being named the fastest growing sport in the USA since 2021 by the Sports and Fitness Industry Association.

There are currently 4.8m players in the USA and the sport is showing a steady increase in popularity in Scotland, being played at over three dozen locations around the country.

This includes the Allander, which the BAMS Pickleball Club calls home, run by former Badminton Scotland chief executive Anne Smillie.

Smillie, who stepped down from that position in 2018 after being in the job for 28 years, and who had been with the organisation for nearly four decades at that point, is excited to be helping to grow another racquet sport.

She said: “I started playing pickleball after I retired from Badminton Scotland, a few of my friends invited me along and I loved it.

"I had played badminton when I was younger, but the court was starting to get a bit big to move around on, and while the top pickleball players are super fit and move around the court at 100 mph, for social play it is a lot easier on the joints.

"Pickleball is a combination of table tennis, tennis and badminton, but they are all a lot more technical, even if you’ve never played any other racquet sports it is quite easy to pick up in a session.

"We have so much scope for growth in this country as we are lucky enough to really already have the facilities, t here are thousands of badminton courts.

"Unlike other emerging racquet sports like paddle tennis which require a purpose built court, you just need a few lines of tape and a net and you are ready to go.

“The Allander had been a hub for pickleball for some time, which several clubs calling it home and the sport was being played at the old centre pretty much every day of the week.

"I expect that to continue when the new centre opens, especially as the courts have been lined for pickleball, which I believe are the only ones in the Glasgow area, so it is the ideal to stage our inaugural Scottish National Championships.

"East Dunbartonshire Council is very keen to promote sport and the staff and management of the Allander have been so cooperative so we are all very excited for June.

"Holding these championships are a great way to promote the sport and I now many, if not all, local authorities are in the process of setting up pickleball sessions in their areas so the sky really is the limit.

"Hopefully going forward continued growth will mean that we can put on more competitions and then choose a Scottish national team to represent us internationally.”

Smillie was recently in Thailand on holiday and discovered the Thai Open coincided with her trip so couldn’t resist picking up a paddle.

She said: “It is quite easy to get addicted to this sport, I have no chance of winning, but I couldn’t resist getting involved when the opportunity presented.

"I have been talking to a lot of people, including a number of Scots out here, who are planning to come over and play in June and you can’t help but be swept along in all this enthusiasm for pickleball that is being generated.”

For more information visit www.pickleballscotland.org