Sport
17 April, 2026
Pickleball program comes to Maryborough
One of the world’s fastest growing sports is about to expand its player base to Maryborough, with residents encouraged to tie their sneakers, pick up a padel and hit their way into the new pickleball program.
Held at the Nolan Street Gym, weekly one-hour sessions will commence next Wednesday, April 22, at 4.45 pm and will continue until June 24.
Launching thanks to a partnership between the Victorian Government’s Healthy Loddon Campaspe program and Central Goldfields Shire Council, the free program aims to provide the community with a physical and social outlet open to all ages and abilities.
Central Goldfields Shire councillor Liesbeth Long said it’s important for council to expand its recreation programs throughout the region.
“I can’t wait, I’ve been dying to get into pickleball. I’ve been watching the growth of it and I’m like I wish we had it here,” she said.
“We’ve got an older population in Maryborough, so to be able to get them out of their homes and come to this and interact with other people of all generations is fantastic.
“It’s not just older people or young kids. Every generation can play.”
The sessions will be led by Pickleball Australia certified coach Brendon Booth, who said the emerging sport fuses the elements of similar racket games to create a unique yet accessible activity.
“Pickleball is a combination of tennis, badminton and table tennis and what separates it from all of those sports is you can just jump on and within a few minutes, you can be having a really competitive hit,” he said.
“In a lot of sports like tennis, you have got to do things like a big overarm serve and there’s lots of mechanics involved.
“It makes it difficult for new players to come in and start straight away, whereas pickleball is something that a 70-year-old and a 15-year-old can play competitively together within about 10 or 15 minutes.
“The thing I love most about getting on the court is the fact that I’m in my 40s and I’m still making new friends.
“I don’t know if there’s another place where you can go socially and meet people from all different backgrounds and make friends with people you never expected to.”
With residents able to pick up and play next Wednesday, Booth encourages locals to come and see what pickleball is all about.
“Pickleball is actually for everyone and it doesn’t matter if you don’t have a racket sports back-ground, because some of the best pickleballers I know never touched a racket before playing,” he said.
“The aim over the first few sessions is to get people across the rules, but everyone’s going to be having a hit straight away.
“It’s always going to be having fun first and over the next 10 weeks, I’m hoping that we get some people to absolutely fall in love with the sport, so that Maryborough can have an active and growing pickleball community.”