Pickleball England has been granted official governing body status by Sport England – thwarting a rival attempt for control from the Lawn Tennis Association.
Pickleball England has been the de facto governing body of the sport in England for over five years, organising the hugely popular English Open and English Nationals each year, launching bespoke coaching qualifications and policies and forging partnerships and sponsorship deals.
Not only have they now been confirmed as the official governing body in England, but sportscotland have granted the same status to Pickleball Scotland – and all the Home Nations’ sports councils (including Sport Wales and Sport Northern Ireland too) have recognised pickleball as a sport in its own right (as opposed to a discipline of another sport).
Pickleball England’s rancorous custody battle with the LTA has been ongoing for most of 2024 – and has garnered particular interest in padel circles, as the LTA has been the official UK governing body of padel since 2019.
When the LTA’s rival bid for future governance of pickleball emerged, Pickleball England Chair Karen Mitchell met key padel stakeholders in private to discuss their experiences of the LTA’s leadership and organisation of the sport.
The LTA’s bid met stiff resistance from pickleball’s tight-knit community which rallied behind Pickleball England. An online petition against the LTA’s bid gained over 3,000 signatures.
In a statement, Sport England said: “During a rigorous process, PbE demonstrated they met the strict criteria required to run and represent the sport, showing good governance as well as having established delivery mechanisms in place and plans to increase participation.
“Pickleball is rapidly growing in popularity, and we look forward to PBE continuing to provide inclusive and accessible opportunities for people to play the sport and enjoy the physical and mental benefits of taking part.”
In a statement in February to our sister site, Pickleball52.com, the LTA said: “Pickleball is an exciting sport with a large potential cross-over audience amongst tennis players. We believe that the LTA’s relationship with over 15,000 registered venues, 1.5m tennis fans on our database and an existing infrastructure around coaching, safeguarding, facility investment and workforce could be hugely beneficial to pickleball and help it to grow and flourish.”
But the decision of the respective national sports councils clearly shows their faith in the established pickleball governing bodies in the UK as the sport continues to grow.
On Facebook, Pickleball England described it as “the best Christmas present for pickleball.” Pickleball Scotland took a similarly festive stance: “All of our Christmas wishes just came true.”
