Fatih Dervent is using the inaugural DUPR European Pickleball Championships as a chance to look to the future.
The director of the Türkiye team is keen to see the sport grow in his home country having first encountered pickleball in the US.
Eighteen players have made the trip over to Southampton for the first-ever continental championships.
“I am so excited to be in Southampton, experiencing the first European Championships in pickleball, which is awesome,” Fatih said.
“I am really happy to be a part of it. We are here with a group of 18 players, we have come here to learn more about pickleball, to get better in terms of skill levels, to get better in terms of international relationships.
“Pickleball in Türkiye was crawling but now we are making baby steps.
“We have had five tournaments since of this year, and we’ve hosted them in different cities.
“We had more players to participate in the tournaments and our skill level is going up so I am very hopeful about the future.”
The first-ever European Pickleball Championships will see players compete in men’s, women’s and mixed doubles, across both the Open and Senior categories.
Individual medals are on offer in each of the disciplines, with the medal tallies also added up to decide the over Champions of Europe.
Pickleball is a fast-growing sport in Europe having first started in the US in the 1960s, it is a hybrid racket sport that is popular for its accessibility for all ages and abilities.
Dervent added: “We had a university championship in April and we created a group of people to form a player development programme.
“Our idea was to make the group as big as possible to try and develop as many people. So instead of only bringing the six players to compete in the European Championship, we thought if we can invest in all 18 players, they can teach pickleball to other people and that is how we can better promote the sport nationwide.
“Those 18 players have the responsibility to promote pickleball when they go back to their cities and they really enjoy it.
“We are really proud to be a part of history at the first European Championships, we will never forget this.
“But this is also a responsibility to us, not just playing, not just coaching but teaching pickleball to other people in our country, we think that is our role.”
Find out more information about the European Pickleball Championships by visiting www.europeanpickleballfederation.org
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