Matthew Hazlehurst is crowning his first year of playing competitive pickleball in an incredible way – by joining Team Wales at the 2025 European Pickleball Championships.
“I’ve never visited Rome despite wanting to for many years so getting to represent your county in a sport you love and to also be a tourist finally definitely adds to the excitement of travelling,” he tells Pickleball 52. “In terms of expectations, I don’t really have any for myself since it’s still my first year of competitive pickleball and I’ll be going up against some of the best in Europe, so for me it’s just a big test of my own skills and a good benchmark for the next year of tournaments.”
Matthew started playing pickleball after joining a Newport Live program that was designed to help young men who struggle with various situations get back into community and sport by playing a different sport each week. One of those weeks was pickleball and he was instantly hooked, joining his local club in Cwmbran, and going to his first training session in March 2023.
Just over a year on, he headed to Telford for the Welsh team trials.
“The day of the trials was a great day of pickleball where I got to show off my progress and test the results of my training down at Cardiff Met and it was fantastic to play against some new faces including some helpers from England who were at that next level in terms of skill. The facilities in Telford were fantastic as it was the first time playing on a pickleball purpose-built court which sparked many conversations about how we absolutely needed one down south in the near future.”
He adds: “With most of the squad being from the south of Wales I knew the majority of faces at the trials; even those from the north were familiar from events like the Dragon ladder league and the Welsh Nationals. It was nice to get more acquainted with those I hadn’t interacted with much until then but it was also great to meet new players who lived in England.”
And he’s just launched his own pickleball coaching business in south Wales, which he describes as “a real motivation booster”.
“The level 1 [coaching] course was brilliant with Sam Basford and Rob Williams, two pillars of British pickleball. While I had a little bit of experience coaching in a few sports, I definitely learnt new tips and tricks that I’m using in my sessions down in Cwmbran for Torfaen Pickleball Club.
“I’ve always liked coaching, making a positive change in someone’s games and seeing them develop over time. I’d love to come down to a tournament just to cheer my students on and be there the first time they get a medal!”
