The club that plays at Radcliffe-on-Trent and Saxondale won gold, silver and bronze at the NEC tournament. One medallist only took up the sport last October.

A Nottinghamshire pickleball club whose sessions run at Radcliffe-on-Trent and Saxondale has come home from the sport’s biggest UK tournament with gold, silver and bronze.

Loco Pickleball Club was founded in January 2025 by Carol Whittington and Lorraine Cockell at Southwell Leisure Centre. Demand has since added sessions at Radcliffe-on-Trent, Kirkby-in-Ashfield and Saxondale.

The club says the 2026 English Open at Birmingham’s NEC drew more than 3,000 competitors from 55 countries, making it the world’s largest pickleball tournament outside the USA. Its members came back with a medal haul:

  • Gold for Mark Timms in the Men’s Doubles, who only started playing pickleball in October 2025, ten months before standing on the top step
  • Silver for Maria Moore in the Mixed Doubles 60+, partnering Julian, the day after she and partner Sarah reached the Women’s Doubles 60+ quarter-finals
  • Bronze for Lorraine Cockell in the Women’s Doubles 65+, partnering a player she had never previously met. They lost just one match, the semi-final against the eventual gold medallists
Mark Timms, right, and his doubles partner on the top step of the podium at the 2026 English Open
Mark Timms, right, and his doubles partner on the top of the podium. Photo: supplied by Loco Pickleball Club

A sport that keeps growing

Pickleball, a paddle sport played on a small court with a perforated ball, has been among the fastest-growing sports in the country, and the club says its results reflect how quickly the local game is developing.

Loco Pickleball runs weekly sessions for beginners, improvers and intermediate players, with coaching and team matches, and welcomes all ages and abilities. Anyone interested can contact the club at locopickleball@yahoo.com or on 07910 173662.

Sources

  • Loco Pickleball Club, in correspondence with West Bridgford Live, 28 August 2026, for the results, the club’s history and the tournament figures. Photographs supplied by the club.