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This Girl Can – Getting girls interested in sport!
Last week Pickleball People were invited to support several secondary schools in the Newcastle-under-Lyme area to introduce 60 Year 9 girls to a number of different sports, including archery, new age curling, boccia (new to us!) and pickleball.
The “Newcastle Games” were aimed at pupils who do not see themselves as sporty, don’t get picked for school teams and have more limited opportunities to participate in sport.
It was a delight to help and to see the girls move on from “keepy uppies” to dinking within minutes and to be able to enjoy short rallies with enthusiasm by the end of the session.
It would be great if, on the back of this short introduction, some of the girls decided to take up pickleball just as Francesca, one of our regular young picklers decided to do a few months ago.
Francesca Can …
Francesca chose (with encouragement from her mum!) to learn pickleball as part of her pursuit of the Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award. The Award aims to empower young people to learn new skills and to overcome obstacles and build confidence and resilience.
One of the sections of the Duke of Edinburgh Award is a “physical section”. It entails the young person undertaking a sport, dance or fitness activity that requires a sustained level of energy whilst showing personal improvement over a period of several months. At first this was something of a daunting prospect for Francesca, whose natural talents and interests seemed more suited to academia and creative hobbies… until now!
Like many youngsters who do not necessarily enjoy PE lessons and the more traditional school sports e.g. netball and hockey) that tend to be on offer, Francesca was understandably a little hesitant about trying something new. However, she came along to one of our pickleball sessions and was amazed at how quickly she could pick up the game and enjoy it!
From strength to strength ……
Several weeks on, it is terrific to see not only how Francesca’s play has improved, but just as importantly, if not more so, how she has grown in confidence and self-belief.
Here at Pickleball People we are thrilled to see Francesca’s success and to support her with her Duke of Edinburgh Award. Could she be the first young person to choose pickleball for the physical element of her Award? We certainly hope she won’t be the last – few other activities offer the opportunity to participate with people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds – one of the reasons we love pickleball!
Rachel Adams
May 2023