On Saturday afternoon the only place to be will be the Noosa District Sports Complex 31 Butler St Tewantin, home of the Mighty Noosa Pirates Rugby League Club.
Spokesperson for the Pirates Rugby League cub Tim Burger Secretary, has the good news. As the 2025 season comes to an end across Sunshine Coast, Pirates are quietly setting their sights on a monumental achievement: getting eight teams into the finals. Three senior and five International Junior teams.
The teams to make the finals are Senior A Grade, Reserve Grade and the Open Women’s team. International Junior Teams, U13 Girls who finished up unbeaten and the Minor Premiers. The U14 and U15 Boys, U15 girls, and U17 Boys all finished third on the ladder in their respective divisions.
The Mighty Noosa Pirates will be at home on Saturday with two senior games and one junior game. The U17 boys kick off at 2.45pm against Kawana, followed by the Reserve grade men at 4pm, up against Stanley River. This will be followed by the main game of the day, Pirates vs Kawana, at 5.30pm. For the Pirates it will be the biggest game of the season: and we are all hoping for massive support from our locals to help push them over the line.
Now to our amazing Junior International. Kicking off the weekend the U15 Boys will travel to Beerwah to take on Gympie, 6pm Friday. This will be followed by the U15 Girls taking on Caboolture Yellow Girls at 7.10 p m in Beerwah. Then the U14 Boys play on Saturday, taking on Caboolture at Beerwah, starting at 11am.
Our U13 Girls get the weekend off, being the minor premiers This will see them head straight into the Prelims next weekend: the Open Women also kick off their final series next weekend. It’s great to see how the Noosa Pirates have built a strong winning culture at the club from A grade right through to the junior teams, thus making it one of the strongest clubs in the region.
On watching the performance of the International Juniors right through-out the season it gives one, good feeling for the seasons ahead. Then it is only right that we should extend a big well done to all club people involved. What happens today for them will be what happens tomorrow for the club.
Pickleball.
There can now be no question about it. It is without a doubt, Pickleball is now the fastest growing sport in the world. Growth of the sport in America is out of control and the Pom’s and the Kiwis are both screaming for more courts to be built. So, what is now happening back home in Noosa?
Now, with some people looking on Noosa as an international tourist resort, one with a massive increase in tourist visitation, it is way behind regarding the sport of Pickleball. With the grand total of two courts, those in council must become aware of the sport and do their homework. To place information regarding this sport in our tourist brochures, could be an added attraction for visitors- but with just two courts?
Information just received from Ron Gatliff makes for interested reading. Last weekend, the Noosa Club conducted a ‘Come & Try Session,’ and it was a huge success, with new members joining on the day. We are now reaching towards 400 with more joining every week. The demand is clear. Noosa now urgently needs another eight dedicated courts.
With the venue presently being shared, it means less availability and waiting list: and now other regions are already head of us. Hervey Bay has 15 courts, Bundaberg has 11 (with 4 more on the way), and Yeppoon has 12 courts. Meanwhile, the Mooloolaba Tennis Club, is currently awaiting council approval to start building courts. In the USA the sport has exploded with over 30 million players now in the game. In the state of Florida some venues have 150 plus courts available!
With support, we can create facilities that will benefit locals, attract visitors and strengthen the community. We would be able to accommodate larger groups, including schools, corporations, Government bodies, tourists and community sessions.
Another interesting point regarding the growth is several months ago, the average age of players was 34 yrs, but this is now experiencing a massive drop as more of the younger set are taking up the sport. Now for the fourth year in a row overseas, Pickleball is America’s fastest growing sport.
One of the surprises of the game in the USA is Texas: it has now become something of a hotspot for the sport, with two cities now in the top six. Houston 70 facilities and the now famous Austin Pickleball Ranch (with all modern cons) 33 facilities.
Data from other countries shows that the sport, once unknown outside the USA, is now also gaining popularity in their major cities. For example, Toronto in Canada now has 65 facilities, Ottawa 53, and Singapore in Asia, also has 53.
As Aussies come to realise that Pickleball is the perfect sport for all ages and fitness levels, all indications tell us that the game has immense potential for growth. Good luck for all involved in the promotion and marketing.
News flash.
In what we can class as a news flash – Colin Jones spokesperson for the Noosa Outriggers, informs us, he has received the following results from the World Outriggers Championships in Brazil.
‘’Great results so far by the Aussies paddling at the championships. So far Australia holds 4th place overall behind Tahiti, Brazil and New Zealand. Noosa Club stalwart Rainer Hopf, paddling for his native Germany came forth in his division. Felicity White paddling in the 50 women’s, bagged a silver medal. Fellow Aussie Jessica Crowe also took silver in the OC1 for 19-Year-olds. We are still waiting for junior champ, Lachlan Burnett Cherry to take his place in the OC1 for the 16-year-old boys. After having the honour of being one of our flag bearers. We hope he can do himself proud.
