Entrepreneur represents Austria at European Pickleball Championships

By Mohamed Hamza in Southampton

Austria's Peter Robic went from watching pickleball online to representing his country at the inaugural DUPR European Pickleball Championships.

The Vienna native and entrepreneur first had his interest in the sport piqued after it appeared on his social feed, with a cursory glance resulting in the founding of the Austrian Pickleball Federation.

Having used his strategic expertise and media savvy to help grow the sport's profile back home, Robic is savouring the fruit of his labours after it led him to the first-ever pickleball European Championships.

“Some of the people I follow on Instagram play pickleball in the US so I wanted to try it out," Robic said.

"And I found a group of players playing in Austria and they were there having recreational games once a month.

“I joined them and then we thought 'Let‘s form the federation and build the structure for Austria so we can get the ball rolling for pickleball in Austria'.

“It’s so inclusive. The sport is just amazing. When you play pickleball and you show it to people with backgrounds in other racket sports or without, people get hooked really fast.

“There’s so much accessibility and the community is really great.”

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.

Pickleball gets its name from its American founders, with the family game created in 1965 and named after their pet dog Pickle.

The European Championships saw players compete in men’s, women’s and mixed doubles, across both the Open and Senior categories.

Individual medals were on offer in each of the disciplines, with the medal tallies also added up to decide the overall Champions of Europe.

Robic added: “It makes us very proud to represent Austria. The players here, especially the seniors are really proud and the juniors are very happy to play for Austria.

“We had a really intense selection process over the whole year and we’ve picked the best team that’s available for Austria and we’ve done quite well. We took two wins in the pre-tournament so we’re happy to see how it’s turned out.

“It’s great to see the other federations and to meet other people and hang out with the other presidents.”

Find out more information about the European Pickleball Championships by visiting www.europeanpickleballfederation.org