Life Lessons from Pickleball™
Meet Shelley and Sher, the dynamic duo, who found more than just a sport on the Pickleball court - they discovered how Pickleball was weaving its magic, creating connections, boosting confidence, and sprinkling their lives with amazing joy. Inspired by their own personal transformation and the contagious enthusiasm of their fellow players, they knew this was more than a game. Join them on their weekly podcast as they serve up engaging conversations with people from all walks of life, and all around the world reaching across the net to uncover the valuable Life Lessons from Pickleball™.
Life Lessons from Pickleball™
E105: Suryaveer Singh Bhullar: Growing Pickleball Across India
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How does a filmmaker from Bollywood become one of the key leaders helping grow pickleball across India, and what happens when a sport built on joy, inclusivity, and community begins changing lives across an entire country?
In this episode, we talk with Suryaveer Singh Bhullar, president of the Indian Pickleball Association, about his remarkable journey from player to national leader in one of the fastest-growing pickleball movements in the world. Suryaveer first discovered pickleball during COVID in 2021, when a friend invited him to the courts and he immediately fell in love with the game. What started as personal passion quickly grew into something much bigger. Today, he helps lead pickleball across 26 states in India, with more than 10,000 serious registered players and a vision to make pickleball one of the biggest sports in the country.
Suryaveer shares how his background as a director, producer, and filmmaker in Bollywood has shaped the way he promotes the sport, builds excitement, and thinks about making pickleball more engaging for viewers as well as players. He also talks about the Indian Pickleball Association’s work to bring pickleball into school curriculum, launch national interschool championships, build high performance centers, certify coaches, and create real career opportunities through pickleball for players, coaches, and officials. Along the way, he reflects on the role of the Global Pickleball Federation, the dream of seeing pickleball in the Commonwealth Games and eventually the Olympics, and the powerful stories of young players whose lives are already being transformed by the game.
This is an energizing and inspiring conversation about pickleball, India pickleball, Indian Pickleball Association, Suryaveer Singh Bhullar, Bollywood, youth sports, school pickleball, international pickleball, Global Pickleball Federation, inclusivity, community, leadership, and the life lessons that remind us it is never too late to start, that sport can open doors for anyone, and that pickleball has the power to bring people together across every age, background, and stage of life.
📘 The Expanded Edition of Life Lessons from Pickleball™ is now available on Amazon
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An uplifting collection of short reflections and life lessons inspired by our podcast conversations with people from around the world. Through stories of community, empowerment, and joy, the book offers inspiration both on and off the court. about community, empowerment, and joy through the game of pickleball.
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Welcome And Book Announcement
Speaker 2Hi, I'm Shelley Maurer And I'm Sher Emerick
Speaker 1Welcome to Life Lessons from Pickleball, where we engage with pickleball players from around the world about life on and off the court. Thanks for joining us.
Speaker 2Before we get started, we have something really exciting to share. Our book, Life Lessons from Pickleball, is now available on Amazon, and a portion of every sale is donated to Operation Paddle Lift.
Speaker 1Your purchase helps deliver paddles, nets, and resources to underserved communities around the world.
Speaker 2Thank you for being a part of Growing the Game We All Love. Now let's jump into today's episode.
Meet The Leader Growing Pickleball
Speaker 2Welcome everyone to Life Lessons from Pickleball. Today we are so honored to welcome Suravir Singh Bula, the president of the Indian Pickleball Association and one of the key leaders helping grow pickleball across India. It also brings a unique background from the film world, where he has worked as a director, producer, and filmmaker in Bollywood, adding another layer to a story that already spans sport, leadership, and big vision.
Speaker 1Servier, you're helping lead pickleball in one of the most dynamic countries in the world. Take us back. How did you first come into pickleball?
SpeakerHi, hi, Shelly. Hi, Cher. Well, I I uh it was during the COVID time that I got uh introduced to a sport by a friend of mine. It was in 2021, and he mentioned that he plays a sport called pickleball. And uh it kind of tickled me that there was a sport called pickleball, and I was very curious to know what that was. And uh it took me a few days to get convinced to go with him, and one fine morning he picked me up from home and took me to the courts to play pickleball. And I think I haven't stopped playing ever since. So yeah, so my journey did start more as a player, and uh I don't I think it just organically got me into the administration part of the sport. I never uh you know aim to be where I am, never worked towards uh, you know, an ambition to be where I am. I think it happened very organically, and I think that's the whole beauty of uh where I am today because uh it's not politically driven, it's uh totally passion driven, more as a player who wants to do something good for the sport.
Speaker 2So cool. In fact, you've you've said you would play 24-7 if you could.
SpeakerYeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2So it we did you know, did you know pretty early that this was a sport that would grow in India? Or did it take some time or what?
SpeakerYeah, in fact, when I when I did uh pick up the sport, I realized uh this was a wonderful sport. It could be uh picked up by anybody at any age. And uh initially when I started playing, there were a lot of uh people my age who were playing, you know, in their 50s and the 60s. And uh I did initially think this was more a sport for people past their prime or retired, but then we saw some kids walking in from nearby apartments, we saw uh a lot of other, you know, parents bringing their kids and coming to play. And then I think uh in the ne in in about last uh two years, I've seen so many youngsters picking up the sport. Uh, not just people who are coming from tennis, but we've seen you know children coming in as a first sport, pickleball as a first sport. Uh that got me thinking that okay, this is something that's gonna become big in India. It has the potential to be the second largest sport after cricket. And uh yeah, that kind of fueled uh our passion to do a lot more. Today the IPA is uh you know working in 26 states of India, and uh we have uh more than a thousand 10,000 players registered with us as serious players. We probably have a few blacks who are already playing recreationally, and hopefully, we should slowly convert them into some serious players, also. So, yeah, I do believe that in India at least pickleball is going to become a huge sport.
Vision For Schools And Grassroots
Speaker 1So, what is your vision for pickleball?
SpeakerI believe for any sport to grow, it has to, you know, be a part of the school curriculum. So as of now, we are working towards uh getting pickleball uh in included in the uh school curriculum in India. And uh we've also recently announced an interschool national level pickleball uh championship. So I believe that once the sport goes into the school, I think it's going to be really explored in India. And that's the way it'll I'll be able to you know take it to the grassroots. So my vision is to you know take the sport into the school.
Speaker 2And are there any schools yet? Or is this a brand new campaign?
SpeakerNo, there are a lot of schools, in fact, are uh I mean that have pickleball. Yeah, they're already you know making pickleball courts in their campuses. A lot of schools uh are encouraged now because in the last couple of years we've seen a lot of young kids who have you know done exceedingly well at international level, and that kind of brings back a lot of pride for the school. So it is it is uh I think it's a movement that's already happening. This inter-school championship is kind of gonna you know just uh take it to the next level.
Speaker 2How did you get involved in the administrative side, IPA?
From Gujarat Courts To National IPA
SpeakerSo I I was I picked up the sport in a place city called Amdabas, which is in Gujarat. Gujarat is uh also the city a prime minister comes from, or the state rather, where prime minister comes from. And uh after a year of playing, and uh my my coach who Mr. Diraen Patel, who was at that time running the state body, you know, approached me and said, You have so much a passion, and you know, we need someone like you to you know get involved in the administration because it'll help. So, would you like to become president of the Gujarat State Pickled War Association?
Speaker 2Uh-huh.
SpeakerAnd uh I I had just moved to Amdabad from Mumbai. I had uh taken uh decided to shift to kind of slow down my life, take it easy. So I said, yeah, why not? You know, I have the time, let me get involved. And I became the president of Gujarat. And then uh after I took over in uh in less than a year from just two courts, we went to a hundred plus courts in uh in Ahmedabad. And uh then the I you know the IPA uh uh the people in IPA said listen, you're doing a great job in Gujarat, and you know, we'd love to replicate that model across the country, and why don't you consider becoming the president? Because the uh earlier president was all on his way out. So yeah, I said I like to take up a challenge. So I said, yes, why not? Let me do that. Part
Commonwealth Plans And Pro Pathways
Speakerof our vision is of course to get the sport uh into the Commonwealth games. We are in fact working with a team from uh the GPF, the Global Pickleball Federation, and we've uh kind of tried tried to get together all the Commonwealth countries and hope to get a Commonwealth Cup happening for pickleball. India is hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2030. So as the host country, we can't bring in two sports, two new sports. So by you know, kind of doing a Commonwealth Cup and showing um the countries and showing India that there are enough countries in the Commonwealth playing pickleball. We hope to convince them to get pickleball into the Commonwealth game in 2013. We're also working with the Asian Pickleball Association to do an Asia Cup for pickleball this year itself. But in uh we have about 18 uh countries in Asia who took take part in a in a Davis Cup kind of format for pickleball.
Speaker 3Wow.
SpeakerYeah.
Speaker 1So major events, it seems like major events and tournaments are really important in growing the sport.
SpeakerYeah, it they are. I mean, uh, the more uh tournaments uh that take place, the more players get interested. There's a lot of uh, you know, prize money coming into pickleball, I think more than there is in tennis or any other sport. And that's again uh encouraging a lot of players to come into pickleball. I think there are uh great career opportunities in pickleball already in India. We have a lot of players and a lot of people making a livelihood out of playing pickleball, out of coaching pickleball, out of uh officiating for pickleball tournaments. So now with IPA, we are trying to bring this all under a proper structured uh umbrella where we are offering certification for coaches. We've got uh a proper coaching curriculum for players. We've been setting up high performance centers under IPA. Uh so we have our first center of excellence in Amdabad, which is uh uh where we are training more than 150 people in Pickleball. We have a national coach, Sadireth Patel, who is uh heading this center. And we are uh we've already set up uh you know three more high performance centers across India. There's a proper structure now that has come in. The government is now you know looking at Pickleball more seriously. Our last meeting with they we even spoke about uh opening up some grants for Pickle Wall and uh yeah, I think they're looking good.
Speaker 2That is looking good, especially since you ended up spending so much of your own money. It's nice to have some uh outside funds coming in, right?
Speaker 3Absolutely, yeah.
Speaker 1Yeah, I'm like so much for taking it easy.
SpeakerYeah.
Speaker 1That's why you moved to Omnibus. Look at everything you've done. Wow.
SpeakerYeah, that's what I I always laugh about and joke with my friend that I actually came into uh came to Amdabas from Mumbai to slow down my life, but it's been like a clear ride ever since. Yeah.
Speaker 2That's so funny. So um the India Pickleball Association is a member of the Global Pickleball Federation. Yes. Yes. So we had Ruth Rosenchrist on for a Global Pickleball Federation, and can you explain what does that mean if you are a member of GPF? What does that partnership or is it a partnership or what is it?
SpeakerNo, GPF uh is obviously the single uh largest uh international federation. We do know that there are a couple of others in existence, but I think GPF is definitely the international federation that that uh uh is working in a proper way as per the uh IOC code of conduct. Uh IPA is one of the um class A members uh of GPF. So for any national federation, it's very important to be part of a world federation or global federation, and that's why it is important for IPA to be uh recognized by GPA. And GPF uh has a policy wherein only national federations of a country are given the membership class A membership status. So I believe there are very few countries in the world today who are national federations, and I think India is one IPA is one amongst them. Yeah.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah, it's fantastic. It's a it's amazing what you've accomplished in such a short period of time.
SpeakerI mean Yeah, I I do think back and I I look at you know 2021 January, and I I think four years it's been crazy. But I like I always believe, I believe that when you do something with with a pure intent and something which is not driven by ambition or politics, I think eventually something good comes out of it.
Speaker 2I agree, I agree. And
Filmmaking And Making Pickleball Watchable
Speaker 2I saw trailers of some of the movies that you've produced, which and they look fantastic, honestly, just the trailer alone. It's like, whoa, I definitely want to see those films. How were you always in production? What how did you get involved in that?
SpeakerWell, I was always crazy about um cinema and films, and uh of course in my growing up years it wasn't a very good profession to be seen in. My parents were never, you know, could were never supportive of that. Uh especially I come from a family of bureaucrats, and uh so yeah, for a long time I was in a very conventional business, but in five I think I decided that okay, I'm done. Now I'm not happy what I'm doing, and I'm going to, you know, follow what I want to do. And I shifted to Mumbai and I set up a production company and uh Yeah, I produced my first film in 2012, and uh it was actually um the film didn't do too well. I lost a lot of money in that film, and uh it was almost it almost got me bankrupt. But yeah, but I I didn't uh give up. I went on to make another film and uh that film did really, really well and you know brought me back. And yeah, so that's how my journey started. I've always wanted to make films. It's been something that you know as a kid I was very fascinated by. I've I've always been more inclined towards creative uh things than not really inclined towards the normal business or profession. So yeah, so films. I'm also a chef, so food is another thing I like. Yeah.
Speaker 2So you're a creator.
unknownYeah.
Speaker 1So has your film background shaped the way you promote, you've promoted and built pickleball?
SpeakerYeah, it does help. So especially when I'm sitting with my social media teams and new new youngsters, you know, who are into who are influencers and who believe they know it all. So I think I do bring in a little bit of uh, you know, calm and composure there, a little bit of structure in there. I help them with some some of my own ideas. And yeah, I think it's really helped a lot. I also look at uh I try to understand pickleball, how it's gonna be uh become you know more acceptable to viewers because as of now the biggest challenge we feel is uh is people love to play pickleball, but they don't like to watch pickleball. So so yeah, I think we need to we need to make pickleball um more entertaining. I do believe it needs to be a mix of uh you know uh uh sport and entertainment, at least initially, for people to start watching it. And uh I think with the IPBL league, I think we did a little bit of that this year. It was more of a show, you know, with a lot of you know lights and a lot of glamour. And uh I did I did see a rise in viewership, and I'm hoping that uh season two is gonna you know get bigger and better.
Speaker 2Brilliant. I love watching it, so it's hard for me to imagine people don't love it. I love playing it. I'd rather play it, obviously, but it is so much fun to watch.
SpeakerThat's what I I'd I'd rather play it than watch it myself, right? But I do watch a lot of pickleball because I I like to learn from watching. But if you give me a choice between watching pickleball and playing, I'll I'll any day be playing pickleball.
Speaker 2I know.
SpeakerSo if I don't play, I'll never be able to do what I'm doing. Yeah.
Rankings And Fixing Player Ratings
Speaker 2In fact, what level are you playing right now? Do you have duper?
SpeakerWe have duper, but we don't I'm not really been too active on duper, but I'm ranked number two in India in uh in 50 plus many.
Speaker 2You don't need a duper score, you're number two in India.
SpeakerYeah. I also won uh a gold at the recent uh World Cup in Florida, uh, in which I played the 4.5 men's doubles. Oh my god. We won the gold in that. Wow. I also won a gold in the Asian Championship, which was in 2022. So I so when I started playing, and we never had intermediate or beginner. So I I went into advanced straight away. So I've never played in that uh intermediate beginner level ever. Yeah. I think I I think I would be like a 4.5 to 5 between that and on a duper. Yeah. Oh, I think at least. Yeah.
Speaker 2Yeah, at least.
SpeakerI was talking to Tito about how you know the duper needs to be reworked because they definitely need to have an age category duper because definitely. But what happens is the club I which I have in Amdabad, which I own and where I play, I am the only uh player 50 plus player in the in the club. So I'm I'm playing with uh you know 18-year-olds and 16-year-olds on a daily basis. So obviously I don't win, and my duper keeps going down. Uh that that that is not a very fair uh way to assess it has to be age uh categorized. You have to have that category going. So let's see, let's see how it works.
Speaker 2It definitely has to happen.
Speaker 1Or and gender also. And gender.
SpeakerAbsolutely, yeah. It has to be gender and age-based. I mean, you can't have one uniform rating system wherein you're rating a 50 plus player with a 20-year-old, you know. It's not working that way, yeah.
Speaker 2Especially because even the tournaments, PPA even has age categories.
Speaker 3Yeah, and now they're moving on to the city.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. I'm 70, so I definitely want the 70s and 80s to be absolutely in there, yeah. Very cool.
SpeakerSo we recently had a uh had conducted a tournament here in Andhabad. It was called the Indian Masters, which was only for senior players. Um I was very, very surprised with the amount of 70 for 70 plus players who took part in that tournament.
Speaker 3Wow.
Speaker 2Isn't that excellent?
SpeakerWe had 28 players in 70 plus.
Speaker 2Oh, coming out there.
Stories Of Opportunity And Inclusivity
Speaker 2So you I think when we talked once before, you mentioned kind of a very sweet story of one of the players who grew up in a farm. And kind of, do you remember? Can you tell that story?
SpeakerThere's a girl in uh Mumbai who's who comes from a village, I think, and she's the daughter of a farmer. And uh today she is uh I think definitely among the top three pickleball players in the country. And uh she played uh our last IPBL league also, and uh she's done really well for pickleb for pickleball, and pickleball's done really well for her. I think she's uh it's helped her financially also in a big way. And uh she now even coaches kids in a village. So yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2Where is the village? In near Mumbai?
Speaker 3In Maharashtra.
Speaker 2In Maharashtra, yeah. Yes. My old stomping grounds, Maharashtra. Very cool.
SpeakerThere are a lot of interesting stories in India, you know. So so in our in our center of excellence, we have a lot of coaches who who have uh who come from really, really, you know, modest backgrounds and uh pickleball has really changed their lives. They're doing very well financially, they make a decent living from pickleball coaching. So I think it's in India it's something that's really changing lives, yeah.
Speaker 2And once all the schools take it on, I just can't imagine. I mean, it teaches so many things. In fact, let me ask you what are some life lessons that you've gleaned through your experience with pickleball?
SpeakerWell, in my case personally, one thing that I always tell everybody is that you're never too old and it's never too late. So that's what I've learned from pickleball. And I believe that uh any sport actually treats you, uh teaches you a lot of inclusivity. And I think pickleball more than anything is the most inclusive sport. I think I I have seen entire families who come to play pickleball. I have seen people from uh you know different levels of life. I mean, there's no rich, no poor, and uh everybody's you know, when they're on the court, I think it's one big happy family playing pickleball. So I think that's the beauty of the sport, it's inclusive, it's social, and uh I think anybody who plays pickleball is happy. I think I think it has it. Yeah.
Speaker 2So true, so true. It doesn't matter what our economic backgrounds are, or political persuasions or faith or anything else. Give me a paddle, give me a ball, let's get out on the court and have fun.
SpeakerAbsolutely, absolutely. And I mean, anywhere, anytime, you know, it's just so much fun. I think I think if I don't play pickleball, I think I come back home and advice and say, okay, you don't have a game in today, I can see it on your face.
Speaker 2The no game day face. That's really funny. That's good. So
Support IPA And How To Join
Speaker 2how can people do you need people to support IPA or you know what what can our viewers and listeners how could they be supporting?
SpeakerWe are looking at a lot of support. Uh you know, for any any sport to grow, there there is a need for financial support. And uh yes, we are uh definitely looking for financial support, but we do fall under the uh the CSR, which is uh I don't know what CSR term stands for in the US, but in India, so we we are um eligible for donations in the sense of not-for-profit uh entities. So we have uh started now talking to companies in India, corporates in India, and hopefully we are looking at a lot of uh put you know potential sponsors coming in. But yes, we are uh we are we need help, we need equipment, we need sponsors, we need uh volunteers, we need, you know, yeah, we need we need all the help we can.
Speaker 2Fantastic. Speaking of volunteers, do you have a team of volunteers across India working with you?
SpeakerYes, we do. So so we have like I said, we have twenty six states under IPA, and each state has its own uh state association. And every every state association has a minimum of seven members, and uh so that's almost 26 into 7. That's the number of people we have for part of IPA. And then under IPA, we have different teams, groups. We have like a athletes commission, which looks after player problems. We have a a posh committee, which is prevention of sexual harassment. So that looks after that aspect. We have finance committees, we have grievance uh redressal committees, we have tournament committees. So yeah, we've got a lot of people who are, you know, doing a voluntary work for IPA. And uh of course, we also have hired some professionals so who work on a salary. Uh because that is that is something really required. We need some full-time people. Yes, we are building an ecosystem, we are building a team, and uh yeah, things are looking really, really uh good. I you know, I work almost uh 16 hours a day. I'm a available on phone all the time. I've been traveling for the last one year. I've traveled to all 26 states, uh, you know, personally. And wherever I go, wherever there's a tournament, I go and I I play and I spend time there with people. Since I'm a player, I have a great relationship with all the players. Everybody, all my players in India, they they respect me and they I do believe they all like me.
Speaker 2I have no doubt. That's so cool. So, how can people find you online and the uh association too?
SpeakerWell, we have our website, which is uh ipaofficial.com, and we have our contact numbers and emails mentioned over there. And we are also on Instagram, where again you can reach out to us and yeah, these are the two public domains that we can be reached out on. Plus uh personally I'm available on LinkedIn and Instagram and yeah, I'm very easily accessible. I'm not one of those presidents who doesn't uh you know respond or doesn't is not easily available. In fact, I'm accessible to everybody here.
Speaker 2Wow, another reason why people like you. Yeah, because you're accessible. So for somebody who is brand new to the sport, maybe they're just discovering it there in India. What would you say to them?
SpeakerSo I always tell people that pickleball is an easy sport to pick up but difficult to master. So uh at the same time, it's it's a very personal choice. I believe you just play the sport. If you want to play it for fun, play it for fun. If you want to, you know, take it up seriously. We are there to help you. But just pick up a paddle and go and play because if nothing else is going to make you feel happy and healthy.
Speaker 2Indeed. Happy and healthy, yeah and feel young again, feel like you're in the recess of school, you know? Absolutely playing on the playground. Wow, thank you. Thank you so much, Servia. Really appreciate it. I know how busy you are, and the fact that you said yes, you'd be on the show and you took time to do this.
SpeakerI'm happy to be on the show with you. I'm happy that you you uh look at us, recognize us, the work we're doing, because it's important that uh people know about us and people know about what IPA is doing, and uh yeah, that's the only way I think we can all uh grow the sport together and take it to the Olympics.
Speaker 2Yes, that's our goal. Get in the Olympics. That's gonna be so exciting. Well, I thank you. Thank you so much for being on the show. Really wonderful. Thank you for you know about this. I think you know about this book. You're gonna be in volume two because this book, Life Lessons from Pickleball, is a sweet book with the first 80-some guests of our show. A little bit about each one and their life lesson. And it's just the sweetest gift, and it's great for tournaments. Uh, you know, little prizes for tournaments and just very inspiring stories, just like yours. So I just can't wait till we do volume two and we get you in that one.
Speaker 3Oh, I'm looking forward to that.
Speaker 2Thank you so much.
Speaker 3Thank you.
Speaker 2And thank you, everyone. Oh my gosh, share this. Share this with everyone you know. Look at how this game is going all around the world and changing lives and changing states and countries and villages and you name it. It's bringing life and joy and play to an amazing world. Thank you all, and we look forward to a new conversation next week. Bye-bye.
Speaker 1Bye-bye.
Speaker 2Bye-bye.
Speaker 1If you love our podcast, we'd be so grateful if you'd take a few seconds to follow or subscribe to Life Lessons from Pickleball. This ensures you'll never miss an episode and helps us continue these wonderful conversations.
Speaker 2On Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen, go to the show page and tap the follow button in the top right corner. And on YouTube, click the subscribe button under any of the episodes. Thanks so much. Hope to see you on the court.