Pickleball’s push to reach a younger demographic is really gathering pace with Suffolk leading the charge to get our sport on school curriculums.
Mel Wakefield from Active Suffolk – who plays pickleball at South Suffolk Pickleball Club – invited PE teachers and students for a taster session at Suffolk 1 Sixth Form College in Ipswich last week.
Mel (pictured above, right) was supported by South Suffolk Pickleball Club founder Sue Nichol (above, left), Pickleball England’s Suffolk representative, Christina Barham, and Spicy Pickleball founder Mollie Knaggs, who led the coaching.
It’s hoped that the event gives PE teachers and other school staff a positive experience of pickleball and will encourage them to spread the word to pupils by including it in PE lessons and perhaps make it a permanent addition to the curriculum or extra-curricular clubs.
As an added publicity boost, the sessions was also attend by camera crews from BBC Look East and ITV Anglia who produced reports for the Eastern region local evening news.
“It’s fantastic to see so many people here wanting to learn about the sport,” said Mel. “I work in Sports Development for children and young people and wanted to find a way to get pickleball into my role at Active Suffolk. So I thought, ‘Let’s try to get it into schools by inviting staff and representatives from across the region.’ I’m really happy to see such a big turnout.”
Elsewhere, Bryan Saunders from Swindon Pickleball Club led the first after-school pickleball club at Commonwealth School last week, with 20 children participating. Afterwards, PE staff from six nearby schools were introduced to the basics of the game and had some competitive games.
Bryan said: “The level of engagement and interest by all PE teachers was amazing with many planning to introduce Pickleball into their schools in the near future.”
Val Vladea led a taster session at Leeds Sport’s secondary PE conference last Tuesday, and West Midlands Regional Director Michael de Groot gave over 50 primary-age children their first pickleball experience at a Sport Legacy Games hosted by Sport Birmingham (pictured above).
LUV Pickleball ran two sessions at a school for pupils with special needs in Lancashire. The school’s Head of PE told session leaders that he plans to buy net and paddles as the students and staff are now “hardcore pickleball converts.”
