After two match weekends, R3 are at the top of the Premier Pickleball League.
They’ve clocked up three wins and one loss, and captain Josh Bright is leading from the front.
“It was a dream start for our first fixture,” he says, looking back on the first weekend in Corby when R3 won both ties and seized top spot in the table. “We were hoping to carry that on – one out of two wins at the weekend.
“I’m happy with how the team is coming together!”
Certainly the squad is playing well and demonstrating some sensational team spirit, as evidenced by team manager Karen Crawford’s posts on social.
“We’re all friends off the court as well, even before the draft happened,” Josh explains. “We do try and have a team training, to get together and play some matches and just catch up.”
R3’s squad is now famously youthful, with the youngest of the lot, Lauren Gosling, named MVP of Match Weekend 1.
And Josh says that means that this season is a steep learning curve as players get used to show courts, referees and live-streaming as well as the rigours of top-class competition.
“It’s my first PPL season as well, so I’m learning on the job,” he says. “I always keep the vibes high – that’s a big thing for the team, with young players. Everyone’s young, everyone’s there to learn, everyone’s there to improve.
“If morale is high, everyone is bouncing off each other and the results will come.”
