Ballycastle Pickleball Club

Fab morning of pickleball at the BPC mini tournament held at UUC Sports Centre on Saturday 🤩. Thanks to the organisers and all who took part - looking forward to the next one! 😊🏓

We will be running a 3 week Beginners Course, starting on Monday 15th June!! Limited places available. Message or email if you would like to register (over 18s only)

Ballycastle Pickleball Club Donates £1,000 to BraveheartsNI Charity

Members of Ballycastle Pickleball Club have raised and donated £1,000 to BraveheartsNI, highlighting both their community spirit and a deeply personal connection to the cause.

The funds were raised through a Christmas Raffle held during their end of year party. It was decided to support BraveheartsNI as for one of their members the charity’s work is especially close to home.

Mandy, whose son Ben was born with congenital heart disease, spoke of the life-changing support her family received from BraveheartsNI. Ben was diagnosed at birth with multiple complex heart conditions, including double outlet right ventricle, co-arctation of the aorta and two ventricular septal defects. At just five weeks old, he underwent a 12-hour open-heart surgery. He later required further surgeries at the age of 16.

Reflecting on their journey, Mandy described BraveheartsNI as “a tremendous support.”

“I don’t know how I would have coped without them,” she said. “Especially Clare and her daughter Shaelyn — a true braveheart who founded the charity. They’ve been there for us when we needed it most.”

BraveheartsNI was inspired and developed by Shealyn Caulfield in 2014 when she was just 14 years old and admitted again into the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH) in heart failure. The charity provides practical, emotional and peer support to families navigating the challenges of congenital heart disease. The organisation works closely with parents and young people, offering guidance, advocacy and a strong sense of community for those facing often overwhelming medical journeys.

Club Chairperson Niki Heverin said the decision to support BraveheartsNI was unanimous once members heard Mandy and Ben’s story.

“Pickleball is about friendship and community”, Niki said. “When one of our own has experienced such challenges, and when a charity has made such a difference to a local family, we wanted to show our appreciation in a meaningful way.”

Clare Caulfield from BraveheartsNI thanked the club for its generosity, noting that donations like this help sustain family support services, awareness initiatives and vital resources for children and adults living with heart conditions.

The presentation of the £1,000 cheque served as a reminder that behind every fundraising effort lies a story — and for Ballycastle Pickleball Club, it is one of resilience, gratitude and community support beyond the court.

Ballycastle Pickleball Group Picture - Kevin McAuley. McAuley Multimedia Ltd

A huge thank you to Michael McDaid and his lovely wife Helen from Celtic Pickleball Store who treated members and guests to 4 hours of top notch coaching this weekend at Ulster University Sports Centre! 😊👏👏👏. Two thoroughly enjoyable sessions, and quite a workout! 💪 Our thanks also to Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council who recently awarded our Club a grant of £1,000 from the Sport and Wellbeing fund, enabling us to subsidise the cost of this coaching for our members 🙏

A few pics, including some great action shots, from our latest Club tournament, which took place on Saturday. Great craic! 😍 Congratulations to our medal winners, and thanks to everyone who took part and made the event such a success 🤩👏

🏓 Due to popular demand, we will be running another 4 week Beginners Course, starting on Tuesday 29th July!! Limited places available. Message or email if you would like to register (over 18s only) 🏓

BPC goes from strength to strength 🤩 Following the success of our members at the Ulster Open, we had a fantastic evening on Monday against the lovely Mosside group in the home leg of our first ever friendly 🏓😊. Our brilliant BPC team managed a clean sweep in a series of exciting games, with amazing rallies and great skills on show 👏👏👏And then, to top off a fantastic week, we have just welcomed our 70th member to the Club! 🎉🎉🎉

A fantastic weekend for BPC at the Ulster Open in Craigavon 🤩! Eleven of our members competed across various categories, resulting in two players reaching the quarter finals after winning all games in their groups and three members winning silver medals🥈!!! An amazing achievement, especially as those three medallists have only been playing for just over 6 months! Well done, you guys, and to everyone who played - you certainly did us proud! 👏👏👏😁🥳

**Limited spaces available**

Our recent taster sessions have proved very popular. This 4 week course is perfect for beginners to try the fun sport of pickleball.

Once you complete the 4 week course you can join in our many club nights to develop your game & the bonus is that your membership is included until 1st Oct.

Prepare to be hooked! Our recent new members have said they’re addicted.

Ballycastle pickleball club is growing, come join us!
(Only open to adults at this time)

**Pickleball taster tonight 8-9pm**

Due to last minute cancellations we have 3 places available! Sheskburn recreation centre.

Please message asap if you’d like join us.
(7-8pm session FULLY BOOKED)