Mini Tournival February 2026
Another day of keen competition at Bishops Stortford with a mini tournival involving 12 men and 12 ladies. There were a lot of good rallys and games and plenty of laughter. Congratulations to the winners Lee and Lisa.
Christmas fun for charity
Another wonderful festive fundraising afternoon was held at Wodson on Nov 30. As always play was fun, a little competitive but mostly chaotic…how can it be anything else when you have a full-blown turkey running around waving a paddle!
Thanks to all those who took part. I think everyone had great fun, especially Keith, who seemed to scoop all the prizes.
That said the biggest winner was of course our wonderful charity Hearts for Herts which will be receiving £430 thanks to your generosity.
English Open, Telford. August 2025
The Telford International Centre hosted another hugely successful English Open Championships. Easily the biggest UK Pb tournament of the year it was held over 5 days with almost 2,500 players from 38 countries competing across more than 100 different events aimed at all age and skill levels from 3.0 to 4.5 and “Open” for some of the world’s best players – a truly “inclusive” event.
Over 40 playing courts plus an exhibition arena were laid out in a mammoth exercise on the Tuesday night ready for a packed schedule starting at 7am on the Wednesday morning where a good contingent of club members were assembled for the first day of gender doubles in the 50+ to 70+ categories.
As always the army of volunteers did their very best to keep the packed schedule on track but the first day finals were only just completed by 10pm, meaning a few cancelled restaurant reservations and some very exhausted players but the medal haul was worth it!
Despite the standard of play increasing every year, as pickleball reaches the masses, BaD still had a really successful and enjoyable tournament. Many players advanced from round robin groups and a few made it to the final stages of medal matches but all enjoyed competing and supporting fellow team mates.
For me, spectating on the second day was possibly more enjoyable (and certainly less stressful!) than competing and a personal highlight this year was watching some of the young players practising amongst all us oldies. They were just incredible and I was completely blown away by their talent…there can be no argument that pickleball is NOT just for retirees!!
A big thank you to all the volunteers, organisers at PbE (Karen Mitchell and her team) and sponsors who worked tirelessly and patiently over the 5 days (not to mention all the weeks/months of painstaking planning) to make the event such a huge success. Congratulations to all those BaD members that took part and in particular the following who managed to win medals.
Gold medals
Yvonne Stredder – gender doubles 3.5 70+
Karen Jones & Sandra Peacock – gender doubles 3.0 65+
Bronze medals
Ceri Why – gender doubles 3.5 70+
Christine Neyndorff – gender doubles 3.0 70+
Nigel D’Arcy – gender doubles 4.0 65+
Janis Trantum & Kay Parker – gender doubles 3.5 60+
Zoe Barford & Terry Broughton – gender doubles 4.0 50+
Romeo Sison – gender doubles 4.0 35+
Murray Allan – skinny singles 70+
Terry Broughton
Senior Pickleball Tournament, April 2025
More than 100 players across Hertfordshire headed to the university’s Sports Village for the inaugural Senior Pickleball Tournament, making a bit of history — and plenty of noise — in the process.
With age categories of 60+, 65+, and 70+, and organised by a team of volunteers, the event was a huge success and a testament to the growing popularity of pickleball across the county – with many of the participants enjoying tournament play for the first time.
“This is a first, as far as we know, and we’re thrilled with how it turned out,” said Etain Ferdenzi, the event organiser. “The goal was to create something fun, inclusive, and competitive — and judging by the smiles and sore muscles, we’ve nailed it.”
Herts Pickleball League 2024
2024 was the second season of the Hertfordshire Pickleball League. The season officially started in February and was extended into October due to the difficulty in arranging the necessary matches. Each team in the league plays all the other participants either at home or away. Each match consists of 32 games comprising 8 men’s doubles, 8 ladies doubles and 16 mixed doubles. Each game is first to eleven points. The match winners are awarded 3 points and both winners and losers also get 1 point for each multiple of 5 games they win.
The Braughing And District Pickleball Club (“BAD”) entered two teams for the 2024 season – the Red Team and the Blue Team. The Red Team comprised a squad of 20 players with the Blue Team being able to select players from the rest of the Club. When selecting teams for matches, the team captains strived to involve players that expressed an interest in playing in matches.
The Red Team finished a creditable fourth with 47 points, one point behind the team who finished in third position. The Blue Team finished in seventh with 24 points, significantly above the teams who finished below them. The feedback from BAD players was that they enjoyed the experience and the opportunity to play players from other clubs.
The season proved a success for the League too and as a consequence it is likely that the league will comprise two divisions for the 2025 season.
English Open, Telford. August 2024
Many of us from BaD attended the English Open between the August 8-14. The majority of our players were in the more ‘mature’ categories and therefore played between the 13th to the 15th. There were a record number of players competing this year in Telford and it was the largest ever pickleball event outside the US.
Thanks to all players for being such a great team, you all played brilliantly, achieved a lot, supported fellow players and had fun. Well done !!!
Medal Winners
Terry Broughton 55+, 3.5 gender doubles Silver
Janis Trantum 55+, 3.5 gender doubles Silver
Ceri Wy 65+ 4.0 gender doubles Gold
Karen Duggan 65+ 4.0 gender doubles Bronze
Karen Duggan 65+ 4.0 mixed doubles Gold
Pam Stoten 65+ 4.0 gender doubles Bronze
Pam Stoten 65+ 4.0 mixed doubles Gold
David Stoten 65+ 4.0 mixed doubles Gold
David Stoten 65+ 4.0 gender doubles Bronze
Yvonne Stredder 70+ 3.5 gender doubles Gold
Murray Allen 70+ 3.5 gender doubles Bronze
Murray Allen 70+3.5 Singles Silver
It would be good to see more players from BaD completing next year (or the English Nationals in October). It really is good fun and there are age categories up to 70+ and skills categories start at 3.0, so no excuse !
Terry Broughton was one of the ‘novice’ competitors from BaD and she has done a little write up of her experience. She didn’t mention she got a silver medal in the women’s doubles with Janis Trantum.
Experience of an English Open “virgin”!
Wow what a weekend! Well not really a “weekend” as that was reserved for the young’uns and pickleball superstars but the Monday/Tuesday experience for us slightly more mature players certainly didn’t disappoint.
As a first timer I didn’t know what to expect but from the digital advertising road signs en route, to the welcome pack, precision organisation and high-tech event scheduling/recording we really felt a part of something pretty special….oh and that was before we realised there were FREE bananas on offer .
The Telford venue is quite spectacular with 40 courts all separated with hoardings to avoid too much ball loss and affording most courts some good spectator space that created a great vibe. The roll-out courts did suffer from a few dodgy bounces in odd places but my biggest fear of the Franklin outside ball was fortunately put to rest as it was easier to control than expected.
There was as slight shortage of chairs available so my top tip would be take your own but there were plenty of food outlets, coffee and water stations. The toilets were also excellent (clean and plentiful!) and the on-site physio a great addition.
We chose to stay in Ironbridge, which was lovely but given that once you have a player wrist band you can have free access to the Centre during the whole tournament it is probably preferable to stay on site. This would give plenty of opportunity for practise or spectating – it was brilliant to see some of the best players in the world!
The whole experience was great fun and very well organised – for which a great army of volunteers deserve a huge THANK YOU. We all had a lot of laughs, it was a lovely chance to spend time with club mates, play some great matches and an opportunity to make many new pickleball friends from far and wide.
Terry xx
Dutch Open Pickleball Tournament 3-5 May 2024
Twenty-plus BaD (and Hoddesdon) pickleball players attended the Dutch Open Pickleball Tournament in Haarlem. The first international Dutch tournament was held in 2014 in the middle of Amsterdam. The event is held every two years and in 2016, 2018 and 2022 it was held in Almere and Arnhem – but without a computer! This year’s tournament was in Haarlem – with a computer!
Members had a great time. Many medals were won and some players even got medals in 2 categories. The format included round robin group games (1 game till 11) followed by a knock-out competition. Many players got through the round robin stage but unfortunately lost out on a medal. Well done everyone.
Haarlem is a lovely old city, and worth a visit in its own right. Some even explored on a bike, which is the usual mode of transport in the Netherlands. Many players extended their visit and did some sightseeing. Haarlem is only 12 minutes by train from Amsterdam, so all very convenient, and we all hope the event will be in Haarlem again in two years’ time
It was good to see students from Amsterdam University helping out with the organisation of the Dutch Open. They were there for the 3 days and were “in charge’”on the third day. A great idea .
