Andre Agassi x JOOLA team up with RALLY4EVER for Pickleball in Sydney

A small group of lucky participants from RALLY4EVER’s Sydney programs were treated to a pickleball lesson from tennis legend Andre Agassi and Justin Gimelstob, another former US tennis professional, at The Sydney Racquet Club in the Entertainment Quarter last Wednesday, 13th November 2024.

Agassi and Gimelstob were visiting Sydney as part of a promotion with JOOLA, the leading pickleball and table tennis brand. We were very fortunate they were able to make time to give RALLY4EVER some fun Pickleball demonstrations and lessons.

This was RALLY4EVER’s debut Pickleball event. RALLY4EVER has been exploring the idea to make pickleball a future program option for a while now, recognising the sport’s potential to help people create meaningful connections, share experiences, and strengthen their sense of belonging, in the same way our current tennis programs do.

Andre Agassi and Justin Gimestob gave us lots of inspiration to play Pickleball, by playing with us and also with their words of support and encouragement.

from Andre - ‘It's so easy to forget that you're actually not alone and it's not till you really connect that you end up relying on the very thing that the human condition was supposed to have. We're supposed to have family and community and people of connection. You need it. And so this (RALLY4EVER) offers it, so physically, mentally, emotionally, you guys are doing the right things’

from Justin - ‘There are a lot of studies that have come out about the connection between racquet sports and mental health. Our partner, Joola, they're gonna help support y'all and RALLY4EVER and Louise and give you guys, you know, better resources as pickleball grows in Australia. Andre has got some beautiful partnership with you, and they're gonna be contributing balls and racquets and nets and other things as pickleball, the infrastructure in Australia gets better. And a big part of it will be our commitment to supporting great causes like yours. So, this is just the start’ 

We can now see the attraction of Pickleball, and its appeal for people of all ages and abilities. RALLY4EVER founder Louise Pleming expressed excitement about incorporating pickleball into the organisation’s programs.

from Louise - ‘Pickleball is the perfect addition to our programs. It’s fun, easy to learn, and gets people moving and connecting in meaningful ways. We’re excited to see the sport grow and positively impact more communities across Australia’ 

Many thanks to Darren McMullen and his team from The Sydney Racquet Club for making the venue available to us and supporting our special event.

photographs by our generous supporter @raquelpires_photography