Pukekohe Club Expands Venues and Sessions to Meet Demand

Pukekohe Pickleball Club moved into a larger venue at the Pukekohe Netball Centre on January 1, 2026, in response to rapidly rising local interest in the sport. The expansion allows the club to run daytime sessions geared toward seniors while adding outdoor evening play to accommodate players of all ages and ease overcrowding at existing sessions.

The club now operates midweek daytime sessions that continue to attract a large number of senior players who favour pickleball for its social and fitness benefits, particularly during winter months when outdoor summer sports have ended. To meet growing demand the club added outdoor games on Monday and Thursday evenings and plans to add Friday evenings now that the netball league finished on December 9.

Club midweek organiser and committee member Jeff Carr said the sport draws an intergenerational mix. “I’ve got a 10-year-old granddaughter who’s been playing for two years, and she’s now capable of playing fairly confidently against a lot of adults. She comes out here in the school holidays and plays in our league … she’s fairly competitive.” Carr, who discovered pickleball three years ago at the Franklin Pool and Leisure Centre, said the club has grown to more than 100 players, with mostly adults but also teens and children joining regular play.

The Pukekohe Netball Centre embraced the club’s arrival, painting pickleball lines onto two of its courts to accommodate matches. Maree Bernasconi of the netball centre said the facility welcomes the new activity. “It seems to be very popular everywhere. The other great thing is that it’s for any age; they’ve got young people coming through as well. We’ve painted lines for pickleball on two of our courts.”

For players, the practical benefits are immediate: more court time, expanded schedules that include evenings for those who work or attend school, and maintained indoor options during colder months. For the wider community, the arrival of structured evening play increases opportunities for casual and competitive matches, supports local facility use, and brings younger players into a sport that has been particularly popular with older adults.

The club’s shift from Franklin Pool and Leisure Centre to shared netball courts illustrates a local solution to managing rapid growth. Players interested in joining can look for sessions at the Pukekohe Netball Centre and the Franklin Pool and Leisure Centre, where community programmes and midweek leagues continue to run. The expansion offers a clearer pathway for newcomers and families to plug into an accessible, low-impact sport that is drawing participants across generations.