Bordon may have the first club in the county to add something special. The club is set up to become a hub for two racquet sports that are growing quickly. Traditional tennis is being played but the two courts are being changed.
The current all-weather surface will be replaced by two pickleball and padel tennis courts that are lit up at the Bolley Avenue location. Padel is growing faster than any other in the world. It’s like tennis on a smaller, fenced-in court and squash.
Pickleball and tennis are a lot alike, but pickleball uses a hard plastic ball and the rackets are basically bigger paddles for table tennis. Annie Wakefield and Jasper Allen came up with the idea for the makeover, and EHDC just recently agreed to a temporary change of use application.
They thought that Whitehill & Bordon’s sports scene could grow and that the courts that weren’t being used could be turned into something else. They also say that the two-sport court layout might be the first of its kind in the county or district.
Annie commented: “We had to give a detailed breakdown of how little the court was used to the Lawn Tennis Association to support our application and they agreed.
There is a growing young population here and we didn’t want to do this in Haslemere or anywhere exclusive. We wanted it to be inclusive and I’m really keen to promote this with the local community and schools.
I think it’s going to be a real boost for the community,” said Mr Allen, head coach at Grayshott Tennis Club.
It’s quite difficult to find the ideal place to put up padel courts but this site is perfect.”
