Providing physical activity for students, the Pickleball Club gives students the opportunity to play the sport before class, ensuring that they get the body movement that they need.
According to Pickleball Club advisor Christine Nenstiel, the club wanted a way to “get kids up and moving,” and to have “a little fun start to the day in a club format.”
The club is currently meeting every week on Monday during Red Zone in the gym.
Seniors Alyssa Winebrenner, Ronan Carolan and Claire Jalboot first had the idea to start the club after playing the game during the previous summer. “We got together almost every week to play,” Jalboot said.
According to Carolan, after practicing throughout the summer the group thought it would be “a good addition for the school clubs.”
Winebrenner said she hopes to eventually meet outside of school hours, but that is still up in the air.
“Hopefully in the future with Thon, we could maybe start some sort of pickleball tournament to get people involved,” Carolan said.
According to Nenstiel, this club is a great place to meet new people and create some new friendships.
“Stop by, it’s a great group of kids. Everybody is welcoming, everybody is all about meeting new people, hanging out, moving together, and just having a good time,” Nenstiel said.
The Pickleball Club welcomes anyone with skill sets ranging from never having played before to seasoned players.
“I think just come out. Even if you are not good at pickleball or have never played, it’s pretty easy to pick up and it’s definitely a lot of fun with your friends,” Jalboot said.
After proposing the idea of this club to Nensteil, she happily agreed to be the advisor.
“It’s a group of great kids, I’ve had experiences with all of them so I was happy to help and give them a place to be able to do this.” At first, they did not have many expectations for this club and were unsure what to expect for what was to come.
“I didn’t think there was going to be that many people joining to be honest,” Winebrenner said. “I thought it was going to be 40 people max signing up and that was it.”
According to Carolan, they have over 100 people signed up for the pickleball club. “We are going to have to see who shows up. We are overwhelmed right now,” Carolan said.
According to Nenstiel, she was not sure what to expect, either.
“The kids had a vision and they’re running with it. I think that they’re pleasantly surprised with the amount of people that have signed up,” Nenstiel said.