R3 Sport finished the Premier Pickleball League season as they started it – on top of the table.
And Emma Wrixon – who joined the team midway through the season – played an important role in the women’s doubles, despite being ill with flu the week before.
“It was a very tight three sets in our second fixture,” she recalls.
But she was ready to play regardless of feeling under the weather.
“I was prepared to play, I was expecting to, but I knew that if [team manager] Karen [Crawford] thought I wasn’t ready or wasn’t well enough, then she’d obviously not make me play because that’s not fair on anyone.
“She’s so good at looking after our welfare and making sure that everything’s best for us rather than just wanting to win – obviously, that’s a bonus, though!”
Emma joined the R3 team midway through the season after shining in the Challenger competition for Purple Pickleball.
“There was some pressure because they’ve been performing really well and you don’t want to join a team and let them down and for that to change,” she says. “But at the same time, I play a lot with Lauren Gosling anyway. We came fourth at the Nationals this year together. So that was an area of comfort – I knew how to play with her and we played together a lot.
“I knew everyone else on the team already. I knew everyone was lovely. They’re such a great team dynamic that they made me feel so welcome that pressure soon disappeared.”
And the R3 team are now preparing themselves for next month’s final at Hurlands – and Emma, who lives not far from the venue, is looking forward to it already.
“They’ve got a show court with stadium seating, so it’s going to really create an amazing atmosphere,” she says.
