Five years ago, many of you reading this may never even have heard of pickleball.
Today, wherever you look, you will hear it described as the fastest-growing sport in the world. It has even made its way into our homes with the recent release of The Dink.
Most of the conversation understandably focuses on participation, with more players picking up a paddle every year.
But something else is happening alongside that growth.
Pickleball is creating entrepreneurial opportunities.
As participation increases, so does the need for coaching, tournaments, leagues, venues, equipment, events and content. The sport is beginning to generate its own economy, including here in Wales.
One person who has experienced this journey first-hand is Matthew Hazlehurst, who some may remember as the Nasty Nelson specialist from the 2025 European Championships.
While many might assume his move into full-time pickleball was a carefully planned business decision, Matt sees it rather differently.
“I’d definitely have to say coaching,” he explains when asked about the first entrepreneurial opportunity he spotted.
“But for me, it was never an opportunity. It was just coincidence that the thing I enjoyed doing happened to be something that pickleball in Wales needed most… coaches.”
Sometimes an opportunity appears when something you love doing becomes something other people genuinely need.
When Pickleball Became the Job
For Matt, pickleball became his full-time role shortly after the European Championships at the end of 2025.
Before then, his future had been less certain.
“I’d completed a Sports Therapy degree, but I wasn’t doing a huge amount in terms of employment and was still figuring out what direction I wanted to take,” he says.
“As pickleball continued to grow, so did the coaching opportunities, and what had started as something I simply loved doing gradually became my career.
“Looking back, it wasn’t a single decision, but more of a natural progression as the sport developed around me.”
That progression has taken Matt well beyond simply turning up with a basket of balls and delivering a coaching session.
He has helped create the Welsh League, launched his Dreambreaker tournaments and coached players across Wales. Each venture has grown from identifying what the Welsh pickleball community needs and being willing to provide it.
The majority of his working week now revolves around coaching. That includes group sessions at Matchbox and private one-to-one lessons with players of different abilities.
Away from the court, he works with the Matchbox team on ideas for developing the venue and growing the local pickleball community. He also spends time planning tournaments, developing new concepts, arranging venues and trying to ensure that players have a good experience.
It is already a full-time job. It just does not always look like one from the outside.
What Players Do Not See
Most players arrive at a tournament, play their matches and go home.
If everything runs smoothly, they may never consider how much work was required to make that happen.
“There’s a huge amount of work that happens behind the scenes,” Matt explains.
“There’s a constant stream of logistics, emails, booking confirmations, answering players’ questions, liaising with venues and making sure everyone has the information they need.
“On top of that, there’s ordering equipment, purchasing everything needed to run events, marketing, planning schedules and solving problems before they ever reach the players.
“A successful tournament is usually the result of countless hours of preparation that most people never see.”
The visible part is spent coaching on court or watching a tournament take shape. Behind it are bookings, equipment orders, schedules, emails and problems that need to be solved before the players notice them.
There is financial risk, too.
“The biggest leap has definitely been committing to tournaments before knowing exactly how many people are going to enter,” Matt says.
“Once you’ve paid deposits and started committing money upfront, you’re putting a lot of trust in the pickleball community to support what you’re creating.
“It can be nerve-racking, but you have to believe in your events and trust that if you provide a great experience, people will come back.”
It is one thing to believe that Wales needs more pickleball tournaments. It is another to pay deposits before knowing whether enough players agree with you.
From ATPs to ATMs
So, can pickleball actually provide a dependable income in Wales?
So, can pickleball actually provide a dependable income in Wales? For Matt, coaching currently supplies the most reliable part of the answer.
“At this stage, coaching provides the most dependable and consistent income,” he says.
“It’s something that’s been steadily growing month by month, which is encouraging to see.
“The tournaments are also healthy when they come around and can be very successful, but they’re naturally more seasonal. Coaching provides the stability, while the events offer opportunities to continue expanding what I’m doing within the sport.”
Matt’s career is therefore being built from several connected activities.
Regular coaching provides stability. Tournaments can be successful, but are less predictable. The Welsh League helps to develop the competitive game, while Matchbox provides a permanent home for much of the work.
“One of the biggest advantages is having Matchbox locally, as it provides a permanent home and hub for coaching rather than constantly travelling between different leisure centres,” he says.
“That consistency makes a huge difference.”
A settled base means regular court access and gives players somewhere familiar to return to. It also removes one of the biggest difficulties facing many coaches in a young sport: trying to build a reliable schedule around whichever leisure centre has space available.
Is It Sustainable?
Matt has already made pickleball his full-time occupation. The more difficult question is whether it can provide a secure long-term living.
His answer is encouraging, but honest.
“It’s definitely getting closer to being a sustainable full-time career,” he says.
“I don’t think we’re quite at the point where everything is completely established yet, but we’re certainly moving in that direction.
“If pickleball continues to grow at its current rate, I genuinely believe it can provide a sustainable long-term living.”
That qualification matters.
The opportunities are real. Coaching income is becoming more dependable, tournaments can be successful and Matchbox gives the whole operation a stronger foundation.
Yet pickleball still has a young economy in Wales. Tournament organisers commit money before entries are confirmed. Coaches depend upon the player base continuing to grow. Much of the work takes place before anyone knows whether it will pay off.
Matt is not walking into an established industry. He is helping to build one while trying to earn his living from it.
For Matt, coaching currently supplies the most reliable part of the answer.
“At this stage, coaching provides the most dependable and consistent income,” he says.
“It’s something that’s been steadily growing month by month, which is encouraging to see.
“The tournaments are also healthy when they come around and can be very successful, but they’re naturally more seasonal. Coaching provides the stability, while the events offer opportunities to continue expanding what I’m doing within the sport.”
Matt’s career is therefore being built from several connected activities.
Regular coaching provides stability. Tournaments can be successful, but are less predictable. The Welsh League helps to develop the competitive game, while Matchbox provides a permanent home for much of the work.
“One of the biggest advantages is having Matchbox locally, as it provides a permanent home and hub for coaching rather than constantly travelling between different leisure centres,” he says.
“That consistency makes a huge difference.”
A settled base means regular court access and gives players somewhere familiar to return to. It also removes one of the biggest difficulties facing many coaches in a young sport: trying to build a reliable schedule around whichever leisure centre has space available.
Is It Sustainable?
Matt has already made pickleball his full-time occupation. The more difficult question is whether it can provide a secure long-term living.
His answer is encouraging, but honest.
“It’s definitely getting closer to being a sustainable full-time career,” he says.
“I don’t think we’re quite at the point where everything is completely established yet, but we’re certainly moving in that direction.
“If pickleball continues to grow at its current rate, I genuinely believe it can provide a sustainable long-term living.”
That qualification matters.
The opportunities are real. Coaching income is becoming more dependable, tournaments can be successful and Matchbox gives the whole operation a stronger foundation.
Yet pickleball still has a young economy in Wales. Tournament organisers commit money before entries are confirmed. Coaches depend upon the player base continuing to grow. Much of the work takes place before anyone knows whether it will pay off.
Matt is not walking into an established industry. He is helping to build one while trying to earn his living from it.
Building What Wales Needs
For all the risk and administration, coaching remains at the heart of Matt’s work.
He did not enter pickleball with a detailed plan to turn it into a business. He enjoyed coaching, and Wales needed more coaches.
The leagues and tournaments followed because players needed places to compete.
That may be the clearest lesson from his experience. Pickleball opportunities do exist, but they begin with contribution. Someone has to identify what the community is missing, put themselves forward and accept the work and risk involved in providing it.
Pickleball in Wales may not yet possess the commercial scale seen in the United States or some of the sport’s larger markets.
It now has coaches, venues, leagues and independent tournaments. It has players prepared to pay for good experiences and people willing to create them.
That is how a sporting economy begins.
Sometimes it starts with somebody enjoying coaching, realising that Wales needs more coaches and saying: “I’ll do it.”
The ATPs may attract the attention.
But behind them, slowly and cautiously, the ATMs are beginning to follow.
