While Hartselle High School sports have always been lauded for their rigor and success, perhaps none are so unique as the brand new Pickleball Club.
Pickleball is a fairly easy sport which twines together parts of tennis, ping pong and badminton in order to create a fun and simple game. Played on a badminton court, players (either in groups of two or four) hit a plastic, perforated ball back and forth using rackets. The game is scored similarly to the other games it draws its inspiration from. Despite the similarities, it has its own special qualities which make for an exciting activity.
Hartselle High’s Pickleball Club was started this year by junior Taiki Peterson and senior Camille Speering, who serve as president and vice president respectively. Speering says “Taiki and I started the club because we realized how popular pickleball was this summer! We figured making a club would allow anyone to be apart of something and would ultimately bring the students and community of Hartselle together in a fun afternoon activity.”
The Pickleball Club’s first tournament occurred on Oct. 1. The winner of the tournament received an Oliwia’s Shave Ice gift card. This is just one example of how the club has been generously sponsored and boosted by Hartselle locals. As Speering says “We already have a great amount of support from businesses.”
For anyone interested in participating in future tournaments, join the GroupMe listed in the group’s Instagram bio (@hartsellepickleballclub). Both students and teachers are welcome to join, and not just those from Hartselle. In fact, Peterson says “We already have members from Decatur, Cullman and Priceville, so I just want to stick around in the North Alabama area and possibly grow.”
When asked to leave a bit of parting advice, Peterson says aptly “Whack on.”
Written by Abigail Winsett
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