Every Friday since the beginning of the 2024 school year, you will find competitive students playing a fair game of Pickleball. Pickleball club is a new addition to Morgan that meets every Friday after school at the Morgan Tennis Courts. No experience is needed and paddles are provided. You have the option to create your own teams and play with all different players. Students have been thrilled to be a part of this new, popular outdoor activity added this school year.
The Pickleball sport has grown tremendously over the last couple of years. The amount of people playing Pickleball has increased over the years. The amount of people playing in the US currently are 48.3 million adult Americans, nearly 19% of the total adult population, have played Pickleball at least once in the past 12 months.
Its remarkable growth in popularity can be attributed to its accessibility, vibrant community, and the numerous advantages it provides. Pickleball was invented in 1965 by Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell, and Barney McCallum. They created the sport for some summertime fun for their own kids, and then it got popular around the country. Pickleball has impacted society by offering a wide range of health benefits for seniors, impacting them physically, mentally, and socially. Pickleball got popular over the past few years due to people wanting a new sport to play outdoors that doesn’t involve a lot of rules or direction.
Mr. DiStefano and Mr. Madura created this new club at the beginning of the 2024 school year for students interested in the sport. Mr. DiStefano, a new teacher here at Morgan, enjoys playing Pickleball in his free time. This past summer, he joined a club ran out of New Britain, CT that met a few days a week throughout the summer. He met a lot of new friends that are his teammates from joining the club and is very grateful.
Since I started getting into the sport this past summer, I’ve played it ever since, and it’s really fun” Said Mr. DiStefano. Mr. DiStefano’s goal when bringing this club to Morgan was to share his experience for the sport and the enjoyment he has while playing it.
“This club is a fun way for students to learn about a unique sport and be active outside of school and in the community, said Mr. DiStefano.
Senior, Rachel Spaziano, a member of the Pickleball club, started playing the sport this past summer along with her friends and finds it super enjoyable. “I am very competitive, so being able to express myself shows how dedicated I am’’ said Rachel. Rachel is thrilled this club was brought to Morgan this year.
There are around 32 students that come out to play each week. Mr. Madura and Mr. DiStefano highly recommend playing with different people and making the club super competitive. “My favorite memory is the first meeting and seeing how many people were interested and how much enthusiasm people had for the club” said Mr. DiStefano.
