Pickleball sessions run at Echuca Basketball Stadium on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Photos: Matthew Kappos.
Echuca-Moama is a thriving community that is only growing. One of the many reasons people love the region is the multitude of groups they can be part of.
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To help you find the right group, check out our ‘Why not join ...’ series each week, where we focus on a community group.
In today’s edition, Matthew Kappos speaks to Pickleball Power.
Pickleball is one of the fastest growing sports in the world and the same can be said for the game’s presence in Echuca.
The past 12 months have had great growth in pickleball since the addition of regular sessions at Echuca Basketball Stadium at the start of last year.
Assistance from Campaspe Shire enabled Pickleball Power, a pickleball coaching and promotion brand run by Wayne “Roo” Muschialli, to set up regular Monday sessions at the stadium.
Muschialli says the game lit a spark in him when he first discovered it and he is seeing that replicated in his members.
“Probably the most important thing is you're seeing smiles back on people’s faces,” he said.
“I’m a big kid at heart, but it makes you feel like a kid again, and that's what most people here are feeling.”
Pickleball is a paddle sport featuring elements of tennis and table tennis, played on a standard 6.1m x 13m-sized badminton court, with altered interior lines.
Players play singles or doubles matches, utilising carbon fibre paddles to strike a hollow plastic ball containing 26 to 40 circular holes.
Participants return the ball within the court utilising similar concepts to tennis, a unique feature being a 2.1m non-volley zone on either side of the net within which players cannot strike the ball before it has bounced.
Muschialli has made it his mission to promote and grow pickleball in the area, also running regular sessions at Bamawm, Nathalia, Cobram and on the tennis courts at Rich River.
Since initially starting with a Monday afternoon session, Pickleball Power now runs three times a week at Echuca, adding Wednesday and Friday nights to its schedule.
Wayne “Roo” Muschialli runs pickleball sessions in Echuca, Bamawm, Nathalia and Cobram.
Photo by
Matthew Kappos
All equipment needed to play is provided and Muschialli is on hand to provide pointers to newer players who want to learn the game.
“It's sort of like (Las) Vegas,” Muschialli said.
“If you haven't been to Vegas, it's hard to explain to anyone what Vegas is like.
“Pickleball is the same. No use talking about it, you’ve got to get them on the court and they go ‘Oh, this is all right because it's a lot easier than I think’.
“I’ve got grandkids playing with grandads and stuff like that.
“There are not many sports that everyone can interact.”
Currently, matches are purely for social and practice purposes, but there is a push for the group to institute a more formal competition as it continues to grow.
“That’s the problem we’re having now is that we’ve got some that just want to come and have fun, and we’ve got some people who want the competition,” Muschialli said.
“We’ve just got to be patient.
“My number one motto is one you have to have fun, two be friendly, three be safe, four be patient.
“I know everyone wants what they want, but it’s not going to happen overnight.”
Pickleball Power sessions run at Echuca Basketball Stadium on Mondays from 1.30pm, Wednesdays from 7.30pm and Fridays from 7pm at a cost of $10 a session.
Sessions run for approximately 90 mins each.
More information about session times for pickleball in Echuca and the region can be found on the Pickleball Power Facebook page.
Echuca Basketball Stadium is located at 244 High St, adjacent to Echuca South Recreation Reserve.
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