The first pickleball test match? New Zealand set to face off against Tonga’s 32 best players

Jill and Steve Norman, the driving forces behind pickleball's growth in Hawke's Bay. Photo / Warren Buckland

The woman who has helped drive the growth of pickleball in Hastings will get to represent New Zealand for the first time this week.

Jill Norman, whose sporting career has included representing Hawke’s Bay in volleyball and squash, these days stars on the pickleball courts.

On Wednesday, she will play for New Zealand in what’s believed to be the first pickleball test match anywhere in the world.

Auckland’s Remuera Pickleball Club will host the test between New Zealand and Tonga, who are sending over 32 of their top players for what both teams hope will become an annual event.

Norman and her regular partner at Hastings Pickleball Club, Helen Henry, were among the first players named to the inaugural Kiwi team.

New Zealand team manager Ritchie Rhok-Okesene says:

“Jill Norman is considered as a legend of the sport in New Zealand, she’s won multiple titles.

“She’s a senior now, but she’s a legend, and therefore to include her in the New Zealand team is important.

Norman and Henry combined to win silver medals at the Australian Championships last October in their grade, for over-60s.

In Auckland, though, the pair could have to face players one-third their age.

“Helen and I don’t know who we will be drawn against, but it’s an open-age event,” said Norman.

“I think it’s going to be a power game, they are well known for playing that sort of game.

“We’ve dominated the over-60s and won a few medals over the three years we’ve been playing together. We’re quite experienced, and we move pretty well for 60-year-olds.

“I’m looking forward to it, it’s going to be cool.”

Rhok-Okesene says the fact that Norman and Henry could have to play much younger opponents was not an issue.

“This is a skill sport, and we’re talking about two players who have been at the pinnacle of the game.

“They are one of the eight women’s doubles teams I’ve picked, and they’ll hold their own against whoever they’re playing. Whether the Tonga team put up two 60-year-olds or two 20-year-olds against them, it won’t matter.

“They’re in the team because they’re both capable and good players.”

Norman was a B-grade squash player and also played some tennis, but since discovering pickleball during a holiday in the USA with her husband in 2017 she’s become hooked on the sport.

She helped form the New Zealand Pickleball Association, and with her husband, Steve, founded the Hastings club at 707 Sylvan Rd the following year.

Starting from a base of around 15 players, the club has been booming post-Covid.

The number of players has grown over the past year, and the club is about to enter a new phase, expanding from nine to 16 courts as well as installing lighting.

“We’re seeing new people every week; in the last year it’s really taken off again,” Norman said.

“It’s the ideal sport, it beats them all. It’s for everyone.

“It’s still in its infancy in New Zealand, but I think in the next five to 10 years it will grow exponentially.”