Meet the Rising Star Taking the Pickleball World by Storm
Hannah Blatt, Canada’s Brightest Young Talent, Opens Up About Her Goals of Pickleball Domination
At just 24 years old, Hannah Blatt has already led an inspiring sports career full of tenacity, talent and a relentless drive to be the best. Originally a professional squash player, Blatt made the difficult decision to step back and reevaluate her path. That fateful choice led her to discover pickleball, and she has since skyrocketed up the sport’s rankings at a meteoric pace.
Now, Blatt is one of the most buzzworthy and promising young talents on the professional pickleball scene. The Winnipeg native opens up about her introduction to the blossoming sport, how she balances her intensive training regimen with building her personal brand, and her lofty goals of becoming the #1 female pickleball player on the planet. Read on to get the inside scoop from this ambitious young phenom on the verge of international stardom.
1:07, How I Discovered Pickleball and My Instant Love for the Game?
I was previously competing professionally in squash and actually moved down to Florida to train full time with a top coach. After about 8 months, I decided I needed a mental break from squash - even though I had skyrocketed up the rankings very quickly. During this transitional phase, I discovered pickleball as a way to meet people and get involved in a fun recreational activity. Of course, coming from a serious racket sport background, I picked up the nuances of pickleball extremely quickly. Just 3-4 months after playing my first casual games, I decided to dip my toes into a few professional tournaments - and the rest is history! My timing couldn’t have been more perfect in terms of entering the professional pickleball scene right as interest was exploding. While I got a bit lucky, I’m also confident my athleticism and racket skills from squash/tennis transferred over nicely to give me an edge.
4:20, Pickleball and Florida
While Florida was my initial destination due to its great squash training facilities, it turned out to be an ideal pickleball hub as well! Many top professional players live and train in the area around Delray Beach, so once I committed to pursuing a pro pickleball career path, I was already embedded in an ideal community. The transition felt seamless - almost like pickleball manifested itself at the perfect time and place to keep me progressing in my athletic journey.
5:53, Maintaining My Canadian Roots
Although Florida feels like my second home now both training-wise and community-wise within pickleball, I make sure to spend quality time in Canada as well. I absolutely love summertime adventures back home at our family cabin, reconnecting with childhood friends and enjoying the amazing weather. I head back to Canada around 4 times per year - especially in the summer and winter months when I crave that nostalgic, cozy vibe. While Florida might be my current pickleball headquarters, Canada will always have my heart at the end of the day.
7:03, My Rigorous (But Rewarding) Balance of Pro Play and Brand-Building
Being a professional athlete requires an immense amount of discipline - there’s no denying that. My days are meticulously scheduled from sunrise to sundown to incorporate every training session, workout, meal prep and recovery activity. My lifelong passion for racket sports and background as a college athlete taught me invaluable time management skills that I leverage constantly. Now pursuing pickleball full time, my determination remains steadfast. I plan weekly schedules down to the hour so I can maximize time with my dog, my boyfriend, and other personal relationships without sacrificing professional progress. Recently, I even took the huge leap of quitting my marketing job to dedicate all efforts towards pickleball and my burgeoning personal brand. I handle all my own social media, digital content creation, sponsorship outreach - you name it! At times, keeping so many plates spinning is draining. However, I live for high pressure scenarios. I thrive under rigorous conditions and am constantly seeking new ways to challenge my capabilities. Am I exhausted? Of course. But do I love every deliriously busy second of this journey? Absolutely!
8:05, My Great Leap of Faith in Pursuit of Pickleball Excellence
For the past couple of years, I’ve been working in business development and marketing for a youth hockey organization. I cherished the chance to still be connected with sports - even off the court. However, over time I couldn’t deny the nagging voice telling me I needed to go “all in” on pickleball. Deep down, I knew dividing my time among different professional pathways was preventing me from reaching my fullest potential in any one area. So I took a gigantic risk, left the security of my job, and unequivocally committed to excelling on the pro pickleball tour. While daunting, focusing purely on pickleball has unlocked levels of personal greatness I’d never dreamed possible. Taking that leap of faith gave me the freedom to train relentlessly, create viral content, and establish partnerships that are taking my platform to unprecedented heights. I’m honored to wake up every single day with a singular goal in mind - becoming the most skilled, influential, record-shattering female in pickleball’s history.
10:36, My Hair-Raising Goals on the Path Towards Pickleball Supremacy
Of course the long-term dream scenario is securing that coveted #1 world ranking and remaining perched atop the pickleball throne for years to come. However, I’m a firm believer in setting achievable benchmarks that incrementally edge me closer to the top spot.
For 2024 specifically, my sights are set squarely on these milestones: get drafted by the MLP, win medals at major pro tournaments, break into the WPT’s top 20 women’s ranking, and become the #1 female pro player Canada has ever produced. I’m also fiercely committed to accelerating pickleball’s growth in my home country, where awareness still trails behind pickleball hotspots like the U.S. Beyond competitive objectives, I aspire to inspire athletic young girls and recreational players of all ages to fall as deeply in love with this fantastic sport as I have. If my journey and determination shows even one person that chasing your wildest dreams is possible with relentless work ethic - then I’ve succeeded at the most meaningful level.
With her meteoric rise showing zero signs of slowing down, there’s no doubt Hannah Blatt boasts both the skills and mindset to dominate women’s professional pickleball for years. We’ll be eagerly watching this fierce young athlete’s next steps as she continues blazing towards the peak of the sport’s pyramid. One thing's for certain - Hamnah Blatt is playing pickleball at a transcendent level that demands our utmost admiration and attention.
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