After becoming hooked on the rapidly growing sport of pickleball, Colliers Wood’s Emmanuel Otu is making it his mission to get more of the black community in south London involved.
The 40-year-old banker first got involved with the sport two years ago when a friend introduced him to it while he was staying over in the United States, the birthplace of pickleball.
After finding it easy to get into, Otu looked around for a club through Pickleball England before finding London Pickleball, based in New Malden, which is run by Louis Stevens.
Otu was speaking at the English Open, which was held at the Telford International Centre, where he competed in the men’s 3.5 35+ singles and doubles tournaments.
Asked what his hopes are when it comes to spreading the sport further, Colliers Wood’s Otu said: “I’m trying to get more individuals involved in pickleball from the black community in south London.
“I’m actually an ambassador for Pickleball England to help expand the sport in the Lambeth area, so we’ve got a club in London that we’re trying to develop.
“I’ve been involved with that for about a year now and we’ve managed to get 100 people.
“The thing with pickleball is people are very keen on it and also people are looking for an easier sport that they can get involved in, that’s quite social and it’s also good to make friends and meet new people.
“It’s almost like you don’t need to do much of a [sales] pitch, you just invite them along to play and once they’ve played once or twice, they’re hooked.
“And we’re working with Lambeth Council to get pickleball into the leisure centres.”
The 2024 English Open was the largest pickleball event to take place outside of North America, with a record number of almost 2,000 players from 42 countries set to participate.
Over 30,000 people around the United Kingdom now play the sport and there are over 700 places in which to play, with pickleball displaying an exponential growth in recent years.
That is also reflected in the fact that Pickleball England have reported a 41 per cent increase in member registrations since the end of 2023.
When asked about his experience in Telford, Otu said: “This is my first English Open, it’s massive and everyone seems really intense and quite involved in their pickleball.
“There are also different nationalities, because I met one of the pros from India who was quite a friendly guy and he gave me a few pointers.
“This is the first event I’ve been to where there have been players from other countries, including some American pros who’ve been around.”
Pickleball England has announced a record number of players competing at this year’s English OPEN from the 8th-14th August at the Telford International Centre in the largest pickleball event taking place outside of the USA EVER – visit pickleballengland.org
