Pickleball & a Dream: Gary's Story
Article Added: 05/08/26
Gary booked a hall and posted it on Facebook. He didn't know if anyone would come.
By early afternoon the hall was packed, paddles cracking against balls, trainers squeaking on the floor. Sixty-two people had turned up. That was the moment he knew pickleball had a future in Doncaster.
He'd been playing for years, travelling to games, winning tournaments. But what he wanted was something closer to home. A club where more people could get on a court, whatever their age or fitness. So he built one...
Doncaster Pickleball.
Pickleball works because you can walk onto a court and be in a good rally within minutes, even if you've never picked up a racket before. The court is smaller than a tennis court, the paddle solid, the ball slower. Rallies run longer, so points build instead of ending in one hit. First-timers are often rallying with the regulars before the session's even over. People who haven't played in years find themselves back on a court, week after week, moving in ways they'd stopped expecting to.
Almost all of Gary's sixty-two came back. Over the coming weeks, they began to bring friends. Within months, Gary was running sessions across three venues in Doncaster. The club was competing across Yorkshire, and they won a regional title, beating Barnsley in the South Yorkshire final.
Growth brought its own problem. Demand for courts grew faster than venues could keep up with it. Doncaster Council started painting outdoor pickleball courts across the borough, and Well Doncaster backed Gary with grant funding to kit the group out properly, the nets and paddles that turn a hobby into something people can rely on.
When Gary upgraded his own nets, he passed the old ones to a group starting up in Dearne Valley. They've since built their own club. One taster session in one hall has rippled out into three venues across the city, and a fourth club twelve miles away.
Sessions run across Doncaster and welcome anyone, whatever your age or fitness. If you'd like to find your nearest session, get in touch with them!
