By the time I retired last June, I'd been threatening to start a pickleball club at school for a couple of years. Unfortunately, the stars did not align: I was too busy, the activities coordinator was too busy, and the rec center attached to our school was unwilling to share space.
Since then, a couple of things have changed. Besides the fact that I'm no longer very busy at all (Hallelujah!), the activities coordinator offered the court on the school side of the fieldhouse if I was willing to do it on Wednesday when the teaching staff has meetings. I agreed, so he sent out a couple of messages on the LMS and added some info on the morning announcement, and today was the inaugural day.
Of course, I came prepared. Knowing my clientele and the time of day we would meet, I researched age-appropriate strategies, drills, and games. I brought my bucket of balls, some cones, the extra paddles a parent donated last year, and some Jolly Ranchers. I also borrowed a Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza deck from Heidi. (It's a good icebreaker, and the cards are like tickets for the winners of the mini-games and challenges.)
At 2:45, a group of ten seventh-grade boys voluntarily assembled. I knew eight of them. The court was in the middle of the unstructured after-school sports choice activity, which was a distraction as I led them through my own very structured activity. It wasn't flawless, but it worked, and at the end of the hour, the kids had a better knowledge of the game.
And now? I have lots of ideas for improvement. Of course.
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