Towards the start of the 2024-2025 school year, five BVH students and staff members introduced the fostering of the pickleball club on campus. The club’s goal is to promote overall friendship between students with different skill levels. BVH Co-President Michelle MacGaffey expresses her thoughts on the sport Pickleball.
“My Co-President [Aaron Hernandez] and his friends become closer through playing pickleball, and I always have so much fun. There is never a dull time playing and I want to share that experience with everyone,” MacGaffey said.
MacGaffey shares that playing pickleball with friends assists them when building deep friendships. Since pickleball has benefited her as she has been able to learn something new and enjoy it with friends, she hopes others at BVH get to experience this as well by bringing this to the BVH community.
“It is such a fun activity. It is [a] really easy [sport]; anyone can do it, learn it, and be good at it, and it also brings people together […] because it provides great opportunities to meet new people and build relationships,” MacGaffey said.
MacGaffey shares that participating in pickleball is a very enjoyable experience. It is simple, so anyone has the ability to learn it and to be good at it, which brings people together. BVH Pickleball Club Advisor Benjamin Chan, discusses about pickleballs growing popularity.
“I think pickleball is becoming a lot more popular and I think it is good because anyone can play it. It is not as intense as other sports. It is a lot of fun, so there are students who really like it and they want to get other people to participate. I think that is great and I want to support them [Pickleball players],” Chan said.
Furthermore, Chan believes it is a positive outlook as it makes people keep up social connections and has an inclusive aspect when playing. According to both Chan and MacGaffey the sport is less intense than most other sports and therefore allows a smoother transition when learning the sport. MacGaffey shares her reasoning of wanting to foster the club to BVH students.
“I decided to create a pickleball club with my Co-president because we played pickleball during the summer, and we started playing with some of his friends. Which [then] inspired us to form a club, to also bring joy to others,” MacGaffey said.
MacGaffey and Hernandez realized that pickleball brought them and their friends closer together and wanted others at the BVH community to build connections that way as well. The new pickleball club provides opportunities for students to learn a new sport and interact with their community. MacGaffey goes on to explain the mental mindset you need to have while playing pickleball.
“The idea of working together and having a good mindset is especially important in pickleball because you usually play with a partner. It is important that you work with them and you are able to communicate and have a positive mindset. I feel those are skills that you can apply to your everyday life,” MacGaffey said.
The concept of cooperation and positive attitude is important in pickleball, where playing with a partner requires effective communication and an optimistic mindset. These skills can also be incorporated into other aspects–academic wise–in life. MacGaffey shares more about how playing pickleball works and can also be effective physically as well.
“At a time on one court there’s at most four people, it is two people on one side and two people on the other. Moreover, the [courts] we are planning on going to have a lot of courts [which allows] people to rotate. [Which is] good, especially if you’re really getting into playing, it can honestly be physically exerting,” MacGaffey said.
Pickleball Club will be using the BVH tennis courts since they have multiple courts available for students, allowing more movement to players, especially when the game intensity increases and becomes physically exhausting. Moreover, they plan to promote their club by making a social media account. Nevertheless, promotion is vital when establishing a club, Hernandez goes on to explain how he and his group plan to promote.
“We have started a social media account @bvhspickleball that is growing slowly in followers, and we are going to try to have a few more meetings to inform [more] people about the club. Soon, we are planning to start competitions amongst ourselves as well,” Hernandez said.
Moving forward, the club plans to hold meetings twice a month on Thursdays to better the chances of others learning about the club. The meeting dates will later evolve into monthly competitions where people in the club will play against each other and hopefully expand and invite other pickleball clubs from different schools to join. Nevertheless, the club did face a handful of obstacles along the way, MacGaffey shares her biggest concern forming the club on campus.
“I was worried nobody would [want to] join and think ‘what the heck is pickleball’ but the only obstacle is the logistics of it or simply finding a time [that] works for everyone and organizing a place outside of school. This [includes] making sure that people can get there and [also making sure] that we have enough paddles and materials for everyone,” MacGaffey said.
To overcome this challenge she plans to use her time management skills and her communication skills to receive enough materials for everyone. MacGaffey gives advice to students on BVH campus regarding students who may be hesitant to join the club.
“If people feel hesitant about joining because they don’t know how to play pickleball or they have never tried it, [that should] not stop [one] from joining. Most of the people in our club have never played pickleball before but it is a kind of place where if you want to learn, we are happy to teach you. Everyone in the club is super welcoming. Overall, it is a really nice, fun, enjoyable environment to be in,” MacGaffey said.
