When it comes to pickleball however, it seems that Benalla has far more lovers than it does haters.
The Battle of the Border, held at the Benalla Indoor Recreation Centre over the weekend, saw the players converge on the town from across New South Wales and Victoria to compete for their state.
The event saw players of all age groups take to the court with an over-50s category making its debut at the competition this year.
It was New South Wales who came away victorious as it earned the right to lift the golden paddle.
Eyes on the prize: New South Wales and Victoria were competing for opportunity to lift the golden paddle.
Photo by
Hamish Donaldson
The event was run by the Wangaratta Pickleball Club and president Bryan Wilson was thrilled to see a large number of people competing.
“Last year at this time we (pickleball) had 200 members in Victoria, now we’re up to 800,” said Wilson.
“It’s growing that quickly. Right now I think there are over five million people playing it in the United States alone.
“It’s a sport that can be played anywhere, you can go to a parking lot and mark out a court if you want to.
“It’s all abilities, all ages. We’ve got members in our club from five years old up to 85 years old so everyone can be included.
“It’s a very social sport and if you go anywhere and watch it played there’s always smiles and everyone is laughing and everyone is having a good time.
“It’s one of those sports where you can come out and have fun or you can come out and be competitive.”
In full swing: Three games in motion as another round of competition comes to a close.
Photo by
Hamish Donaldson
As is the fast growing nature of pickleball, it will not be long until Benalla locals get the opportunity to have a swing of a paddle as Wilson says the club plans to have a come and try day in the town in the near future.
If you can’t wait to get involved in what is touted as the world’s fastest growing sport, Wangaratta has come and try days each week.
The Wangaratta Pickleball Club would like to thank the volunteers from the club who made the event possible with their time and effort. Thanks also goes to the sponsors of the event who donated prizes for the raffle.