Flynn Crosthwaite is all set to head into a third weekend of PPL Challenger action.
He’s on Team Thaddea Lock – and says he is grateful to have been picked by her.
“I couldn’t ask for anyone better to be in that role for our team, coaching and mentoring us,” he tells Pickleball 52. “She’s so good for us and I’ve really enjoyed the weekends so far. They’re really intense with lots of games, but yeah, I’ve really been enjoying them.
“Our team, besides being some really talented players, are also amazing off the court and we really get on. It’s just a lovely team dynamic.”
This was his first year entering the draft, and he says he didn’t know what to expect – but he certainly didn’t expect to get picked second.
“I was waiting in the morning, refreshing Instagram to see if I was going to get picked. And then when I saw it was second pick, I was really happy – then I saw Thaddea’s logo in the bottom corner and that really made it special.”
He had first spoken to Thaddea only a week before, at the Paris Open, and recalls: “As soon as I spoke to her, I realised what a credit to pickleball she is, and she does so much for the game here in England and Europe and all across the world.”
He goes on: “Especially for our Challenger team as well, she’s so dedicated to it and really puts a lot of time and effort into making sure that we feel comfortable – just a really good leader and helping us with pickleball and other stuff as well.”
It’s perhaps no surprise that like Thaddea, Flynn hopes to promote pickleball to a broader demographic. After he stopped playing football last year, he’s been able to focus more on pickleball when he’s not at his day job in the construction industry.
“I’d like to just introduce the game to more and more people and just show them how inclusive it is and how much the community is such a big part [of it], and it’s such a good way for people to stay active, and the people that are involved in it, it’s really welcoming,” he says.
“It’s literally for everyone. For me, I started playing it and then I was like, ‘Actually, I’m hooked on this!'”
