Gareth Golightly enjoyed his experience at the Skechers English Open as he continues to break new ground in pickleball as the only Level 1 coach who is in a wheelchair.

The 42-year-old veteran – aka The Wheelie Pickleballer – was at the Telford International Centre where he came up against several of his fellow wheelchair competitors from across the country.

Golightly lost a leg in a car accident while serving as a vehicle specialist in the Royal Logistic Corps in 2002 and sport has played a huge role in his recovery, with him representing his country in several disciplines, including wheelchair basketball and sitting volleyball.

Last May, he completed his International Pickleball Teaching Professional Association (IPTPA) course to gain his top-level coaching qualification, with which he hopes to help continue the growth of the sport in Cumbria.

On his experience at the English Open, Carlisle’s Golightly said: “It’s been brilliant, especially with the fact the numbers have increased, and we’ve got more wheelchair players here as well.

“Hopefully, by the time next year comes around, we’ll have a lot more wheelchair players and hopefully some able-bodied veterans taking part.

“What I love about pickleball is it covers most abilities.

“It works really well, especially at club level where you can play steadily or pick up the pace, depending on how fit and healthy you are, to then come here where you can enter tournaments based on your age, your skill level.”

The 2024 English Open was the largest pickleball event to take place outside of North America, with a record number of almost 2,000 players from 42 countries set to participate.

Over 30,000 people around the UK now play the sport and there are over 700 places in which to play, with pickleball displaying an exponential growth in recent years.

Another big step for pickleball is set to come in 2027 when it will be included at the Invictus Games in Birmingham, largely thanks to Golightly heading up the lobbying for the sport to be added to its program.

Golightly said: “I had the honor of launching pickleball in Birmingham a couple of weeks back.

“It’s massive because I’ve been pushing to get it included.

“As a veteran myself, I see the benefit of it from a mental health and wellbeing point of view and it fits perfectly from a recovery point of view.

“It’s something that connects plenty of families, whether that be kids, partners, nans, grandads, aunties, uncles, brothers or sisters. There’s no limit with what you can do with it.”

Pickleball England has announced a record number of players competing at this year’s English OPEN from the 8th-14th August at the Telford International Centre in the largest pickleball event taking place outside of the USA EVER – visit pickleballengland.org