Peterborough opens dedicated indoor pickleball centre amid booming demand

Peterborough’s pickleball players finally got a purpose-built indoor home, and the demand showed up fast. On2Court Pickleball opened at 8 Wainman Road in Fletton with four tournament-standard acrylic courts, giving local players a weather-proof place to book, train and play instead of squeezing into borrowed halls or shared multi-sport spaces.

The new centre, run by Simon and Gemma Bentley, was built for more than casual drop-ins. Court bookings, social sessions, group coaching and individual coaching all sit under one roof, along with a refreshment and social area that matches the sport’s mix of competition and community. For a city where players have often had to fight for court time, the opening created a dedicated base that was missing from the local calendar.

The response was immediate. Simon Bentley said the club received more than 400 enquiries in two weeks and had already seen at least 200 people come through the door. He said the feedback has been especially strong on the court surface and the extra space around it, signs that Peterborough players were not just looking for more hours, but for a better playing environment.

That matters because On2Court is not opening into an empty market. In spring 2024, Peterborough Pickleball Association director Bill O’Byrne said more than 400 people registered within minutes when season sign-up opened on April 21, 2024. The city’s wider pickleball footprint has also been growing, with Vivacity Peterborough later adding court hire at Bushfield Leisure Centre, Hampton Leisure Centre and Werrington Leisure Centre.

On2Court says its Peterborough site is the city’s first dedicated indoor pickleball centre, and that makes it a regional draw as much as a neighborhood amenity. The venue is one of the only dedicated pickleball spaces within a couple of hours’ drive, which gives serious players a place designed for the sport’s pace, spacing and social rhythm rather than a temporary compromise.

The Bentleys bring coaching credentials with them, too. Simon Bentley is listed as an LTA-accredited Level 4 coach and Gemma Bentley as an LTA-accredited Level 2 coach. A Tennis Business Academy case study said Simon Bentley had already grown his coaching programme from about 200 players to more than 400 and tripled revenue, a useful clue to how they approached the new venue.

The timing also fits a sport moving into the mainstream. Sport England, sportscotland, Sport Northern Ireland and Sport Wales all recognise pickleball as a sport, while Sport England recognises Pickleball England as the national governing body in England. Pickleball England says individual membership is free, its club locator draws more than 2,000 visits a day, and its materials forecast more than 10,000 members by the end of 2024 and 25,000 by 2025. For Peterborough, the new centre is less a ribbon-cutting than a signal that demand has already outgrown the old setup.