A Sheffield indoor pickleball centre ran their first ever Pickleball Festival which saw players from across the city and South Yorkshire participate in one of the UK’s fastest-growing sports.
Peak Pickleball Sheffield in Attercliffe hosted a five-hour-long pickleball festival on Saturday 21st March between 9am and 1pm including a Challenger court, social play and a DJ.
Pickleball is a sport which combines elements of badminton, tennis and table tennis. It can be played indoors and outdoors with two or four players using solid paddles to hit a perforated polymer ball over a net.
Points are won if the defending side does not return the ball, hits the ball out, does not let the serve ball bounce, volleys in the non-volley zone, or is hit by the ball.
Pickleball players mid-game at Peak Pickleball Sheffield Festival
The game ends when one of the parties reaches 11 points, with a 2-point lead.
Peak Pickleball Sheffield was founded in November 2025 by Gina Floyd and her partner Anna when they quit their jobs and went travelling and discovered their love for the sport. Their mission is to grow the pickleball community in Yorkshire and share their sporting passion across Sheffield.
Gina Floyd, owner and co-founder of Peak Pickleball Sheffield, decided to put on the festival to get people playing each other from across different skills and bring the community together to have fun. She said: “It’s been so nice to see such a variety of people playing together across different ages and abilities.
“Pickleball is a real leveller and that is what makes it really special.”
Pickleball England has seen a boom in recent years and reported in 2025 during their English Open Tournament that they had a record 2,350 players and 4,321 registrations.
Steve Chan began playing pickleball a year ago and loves being able to play with different types of people. He said: “It’s an addictive sport.
“If I come on a Friday night and there’s 12 people and I only know six of them then we have a good chat then a couple of weeks later we have a catch up. It’s really nice.”
Mel Harbour moved to Sheffield for a job in Computer Science and found pickleball through social groups. She said: “I love pickleball, I can’t stop coming back.
“It’s such a friendly community and I keep going back to the same place, the same event and see lots of familiar faces.”
If you are interested in trying out pickleball, you can find out more about Peak Pickleball by following this link: Peak Pickleball | Join the Action Today
