Pickleball Panthers debut in Kilcullen

Kilcullen's newest sports group debuted in the Community Centre last evening, with an enthusiastic crew keeping four Pickleball courts busy, writes Brian Byrne.

Most of those present for the Open Evening of Kilcullen Pickleball Panthers were new to the sport, which is a cross between tennis, badminton and table tennis, and was only invented in 1965 in Seattle WA USA. Nineteen years later there was a US national association for the sport.

Pickleball started to develop on this side of the Atlantic in 2011, and in Ireland there are now clubs throughout the country and an organisation, Pickleball Ireland, to oversee the sport's development and competition here.

The new Kilcullen club has been organised by Lucia Brennan and Paula Kavanagh, and last evening's event was very much a 'soft launch' with word being spread amongst friends to get things going.

The game is played by both women and men, and is suitable for all ages, Lucia says. "There's not a lot of running around like tennis, and the games are short, but you do know you have been exercising when you finish. It's good cardiac conditioning."

All are welcome to the sessions, which will be every Tuesday between 6pm-8pm. 

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