British pro James Chaudry has seen pickleball grow in popularity since he first started playing the sport, and his experience working for a sports agency helped him prepare to compete against the best in the world.

The 33-year-old from Southampton, who in addition to his active time as a tennis player also took part in junior tournaments at Wimbledon, works for Elevate Sports and is used to dealing with sports that take place at a high level.

Chaudry admits he had preconceptions about pickleball when he first heard about the sport while living in Los Angeles in 2019. He felt he wouldn’t have much fun hitting a plastic ball over a net.

It wasn’t until he started working with Pickleball England as it was establishing itself as a governing body that he felt compelled to give it a try and was immediately hooked.

At the Skechers English Open, Chaudry said: “I immediately played with over-50s, young kids and people of all backgrounds and saw how inclusive the sport is.”

“When it comes to developing the sport, there are many best practices that can be adopted from other sports, such as the NFL, the Premier League, individual clubs, teams and the entertainment industry.

“First you have to understand the unique value of pickleball and then you have to bring in outside expertise that shows you what the NFL is doing to get young people excited about the sport while providing an entertaining product.”

“It’s about bringing little things in and then understanding how to commercialise them and invest them back into the sport. That’s really what I’ve brought to Pickleball England.”

With Chaudry’s help, the English Open was expanded to the point where the 2024 edition at the Telford International Centre was the largest pickleball event outside North America, with a record number of nearly 2,000 players from 42 countries participating.

There are now over 30,000 people playing the sport in the UK and over 700 venues to play. Pickleball has experienced exponential growth in recent years.

Chaudry, who competed in tournaments in the United States, took part in three events, reaching the quarterfinals in men’s singles and doubles and the round of 16 in mixed doubles.

Chaudry said: “It’s amazing to see how far it has come. When I joined the Pickleball England team in 2021, I think we had maybe 600 members and now it’s 8,000 members with about 30,000 players.

“The growth has been exponential. There’s been a lot of hard work going on behind the scenes that people don’t realize, but we’re really starting to see the momentum.

“Events like this show how much the sport has developed here.”

Pickleball England has announced a record number of players who will compete in the biggest ever pickleball event outside the USA at this year’s English OPEN from August 8-14 at the Telford International Centre – visit pickleballengland.org