Pickleball "success team" helps special needs students at Massachusetts school grow on and off the court
STURBRIDGE - Pickleball is exploding in popularity and one school in Massachusetts is getting a lot more out of the sport than the average player.
Tantasqua Success Team
Tantasqua Regional High School in Sturbridge has a group of players with special needs, ages 18-to-22. They're called the Tantasqua Success Team and they get to play at PickleballU in town for free.
Their weekly visit is more than just a game. The students are developing skills to use in their daily lives.
"It's a lot of fun and it's great exercise too," student Donald Parkes told WBZ-TV. "I also love hitting the balls over the net with this paddle."
"Get them active"
"The purpose of my program is to get these kids out in the community, get them active through work skills and leisure skills," said Meagan Rice, a special education teacher as Tantasqua.
"It's not just that we leave school and come to play pickleball. We had to sign up, we had to sign waivers, we have to check in when we get here. So there's a lot of communication that goes into it. We have to make sure that we're talking to each other so that we learn the rules and we don't miss balls or points."
The students can't wait to come back every week and they're proud of what they can do.
"I just like playing with my friends," said a student named Avery.
"A very social sport"
"It's so easy to learn and easy to pick up and it's a very social sport," PickleballU owner Scott Sargent told WBZ.
The group is planning to organize competitive games next summer, with Sargent promising use of the courts free of charge.
"The success team comes in and we watch them play, have a great time, you see the smile on their faces," he said. "They just love pickleball and they love coming here and it makes it all worth it."
Five towns send their students to Tantasqua Regional High School - Brimfield, Brookfield, Holland, Sturbridge and Wales.