I was asked to join a newly-formed charity called the Southern Pickleball Academy two years ago, with the mission of growing pickleball in our schools and in our communities. After a bumpy start and a few more bumps along the way (not unusual for a new organization) we are going gang-busters!
Here’s a few stats from the past year:
From August 2023 to August 2024 we donated pickleball equipment to 17 schools in Aiken County, including 8 high schools, 8 middle schools, and one elementary school.
This equipment included 57 nets, 474 paddles, 448 balls, 22 sets of court markers, and 8 rolls of tape.
We have held two New Player Clinics, including a multi-week clinic at Eustis Park for the teenagers at Helping Hands.
We provided pickleball sessions for three weeks of summer camp at Gregg Park and one session for a Quest Zone summer camp, introducing about 150 kids to pickleball.
We’ve held two fundraising events: A Valentine’s dinner/dance and a Dink-n-Splash.
We have held two major fundraising tournaments: last year’s Reindeer Games, and the Southern Spring Classic. And the second annual Reindeer Games is coming up on Saturday, December 7 at Dink'd, Augusta's new indoor facility.
In May, we held a free “Battle of the Paddles” high school tournament to highlight our Aiken County school pickleball clubs.
In July we held a Red, White & Pickleball event, gathering 430 pounds of canned food for the Golden Harvest Food Bank.
In August we had a “Back2School Scramble” youth pickleball tournament.
Also in August we also had a School Supply Drive for Oakwood Windsor Elementary, collecting a huge carload of school supplies for this high poverty school.
We have engaged the community with pickleball at 3 city-wide events: Earth Day, SEED STEM Day, and the Fall Fission Festival.
We have continued with our very popular monthly Pickleball & Pizza event, encouraging community members to try the sport, and have acquired Pizza Hut as a sponsor for this event.
Over 75 volunteers have logged 853 hours of service, serving as mentors for high school pickleball clubs, helping with community events and tournaments, working on fundraising events and other miscellaneous projects.
Additionally, our staff and board members have put in some 970 volunteer hours in meetings, administrative work, program development, and planning.
As we have worked through these programs, it has become abundantly clear of their need. One of our main missions with our non-profit Academy has been focusing the power of pickleball on our youth, many of whom struggle with loneliness and mental health problems. In 2021, the CDC reported that 42% of our students felt persistently sad or hopeless. One in ten of our youth had actually attempted suicide. Our youth are experiencing a mental health crisis. We want to help these kids become more active and form real social relationships by putting down their phones and picking up a paddle.
AND SO…
We have established a scholarship program to recognize area high school seniors who have promoted pickleball through their leadership and initiative. Putting pickleball leadership into the hands of your youth–it’s a win-win for our sport and especially for our youth. And drumroll please…thanks to an anonymous donor, we will be able to award up to five $1000 scholarships this spring! Information and applications are available at linktr.ee/spainfo or https://www.southernpickleballacademy.org/programs/scholarships
We have accomplished a lot this year, but the program we are most excited about is our youth pickleball program: First Paddle, sponsored by Mental Health America-Aiken. Not only are we teaching pickleball skills to these youth, we are also integrating life lessons and character development activities into its curriculum. Our kid-friendly mission statement says it all: At First Paddle, we will teach you pickleball moves and super cool ways to be a better person. Our big dream is that you'll love pickleball forever and use what you learn here to be amazing on and off the court!
Our own LBJ has been leading these sessions with skill and humor. We believe that First Paddle has the power to transform the lives of our youth, introducing them to a game that’s so much more than just a game. Giving these youth the skills not just to play pickleball but to live their best lives: that’s what drives us to do what we do!
Last January, our board set the following goals:
By the end of 2024, we will have
Finished supplying middle/high schools with pickleball equipment in the Aiken County Public School District; As of now, we only have one more middle school to go!
Developed a support program for pickleball in school programs; DONE!, and
Established a scholarship program for post-secondary education. Not only DONE but FULLY FUNDED, which was a 5-year goal!
Where do we go from here? We will continue to support the school and community programs we have developed, but our vision will expand to setting up chapters of Southern Pickleball Academy and First Paddle programs in cities around the southeast.
Your support has been vital in helping us reach our goals and beyond, whether through hands-on help at events, through donations, or by sponsorships. We deeply appreciate the help of our many volunteers and others who support our efforts.
And yet as we grow, we find that we would benefit from help in certain areas. If you believe in our mission and find you have the means to do so, I challenge you to step up your support. Do you have skills in organization, leadership, or accounting? How about grant-writing? Take a minute and fill out this brief volunteer application to learn how you can help.
Let's talk about how we can work together to grow the Academy into a sustainable organization that can be replicated beyond our county lines. Our youth are worth it!
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