On Monday afternoon, six Aiken High students gathered outside for the school’s first-ever Pickleball Club meeting. The “wacky” racket sport has been rapidly increasing in popularity across the U.S and in South Carolina, where there are currently 799 pickleball courts.
Ben Lacy and Beth Eberhard from the Southern Pickleball Academy joined in on the first meeting. One of the SPA’s main goals is to help spread pickleball throughout Aiken’s middle and high schools, as well as other schools throughout the Southeast.
“I’ve seen the impact that tournaments have on smaller and midsize communities,” said Lacy. “If you have a thousand players coming into town, that’s a really good benefit for the city.”
Meeting participants had a chance to get a feel for the game equipment while getting playing tips from Lacy and Eberhard. “It takes a special skill to be a basketball player or a tennis player or soccer player,” said Eberhard, “but anybody can play pickleball and it’s a lot of fun.”
Aiken High is hopeful that South Aiken High School will also start a club, allowing their students to compete against each other.
The benefits of pickleball seem to go beyond physical exercise. “It’s engaging, it’s social,” said Eberhard. “It’s just got everything that our kids need.”
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