The world’s fastest-growing sport, pickleball, has found yet another home, and this time, it is in the scenic valleys of Jammu and Kashmir, courtesy of the WHS Sports Hub in Srinagar, which has launched J&K’s first dedicated pickleball courts and the Pickleball Sunday League. By setting up the region's first dedicated pickleball courts and launching the Pickleball Sunday League, the hub is actively contributing to the growth of the sport in the state.
The decision to introduce pickleball at WHS Sports Hub stems from a desire to provide innovative sports opportunities for the youth of Kashmir. By creating a dedicated space for pickleball, they are now aiming to foster a vibrant and inclusive pickleball community.
The Pickleball Sunday League
The Pickleball Sunday League is a crucial component of WHS Sports Hub's strategy to popularise the sport. Viraj Singh, one of the co-founders of WHS Sports Hub, shared his thoughts and talked about their inspiration in an exclusive chat with Pickleball Now.
"We've been in the education sector for over 60 years and running one of the oldest schools in J&K (Woodlands House School). Being engaged with the youth for so long, we decided that we wanted to pay back to society, and hence, we set up the first-ever pay-and-play facility for the youth of Kashmir, which was initially a program for the school kids. So, we introduced cricket and football turf first, and then we added pickleball as a sport because it is one of the fastest-growing sports. At this point, it's a great market to start in a place like J&K," said Singh.
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According to Singh, the concept behind this was that with the two pickleball courts, WHS wanted to build a community around pickleball in the state. "So, that's one of the main reasons we started a Sunday League where we can get all kinds of people, and they can, you know, interact and set up their pairs, whether it's mixed doubles or even singles. The idea was to build a community and, you know, make it an event which is not going to be chargeable as the initial phase was to just, you know, encourage people across the city to come and play the sport. Most importantly, grow a community across J&K," Singh added.
A Vision for the Future
In five years, WHS Sports Hub envisions an ecosystem where pickleball thrives as a significant component of J&K’s sports landscape. By introducing more courts, training coaches, and hosting workshops, they hope to inspire the next generation and create a vibrant community.
"We would be doing multiple events when it comes to pickleball. We started as a Sunday League. Now, going forward, we are going to be working with different identities across the country and setting up workshops as well. We also want to create national-level events and, hopefully, with time, do international events as well and build the entire ecosystem across J&K by setting up more pickleball courts and creating a full community around pickleball," Singh said.
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When asked if there was a possibility of seeing international events in Srinagar very soon, Singh answered in affirmative and said, "Yes. We are looking at even, you know, trying to map this out with the government and key players in the industry of sports in J&K and in India to sort of get J&K on the map of, you know, for pickleball across the country. Right. We want to get J&K on the map of pickleball in the country and across the world because if you notice anything when it comes to this part of the country, it's always big news," he added.
With support from government and sports organisations, the hub is poised to turn this dream into reality.
"We want to, you know, get the support of the government and make this into a national level sport and do interstate tournaments and get people from the state to sort of understand and take themselves forward. We also want to build and set up courts across J&K, especially in smaller districts, set up an ecosystem of coaches, and deliver them with the best equipment and facilities. And with time, I guess that's going to give the answer to the country on a place like J&K has done a lot in order to build the sport of pickleball," he concluded.