The Upper School Club Fair displayed all the diverse clubs Woodward has to offer. It included many returning clubs but also a lot of notable new ones, including the Pickleball Club. Pickleball is a sport played with a racquet where a plastic ball, the pickleball, is bounced back and forth on a net on a court. McLeod Scott ‘24 and Keira Collins ‘24 created the club and Spanish teacher Mr. Evan McDonald is the sponsor.

The club’s origin story traces back to last year’s soccer season. Mr.Evan McDonald, also known as Profe, is McLeod and Keira’s soccer coach who also weighed in on the matter.

“It was on our team bus for soccer after one of our games,” Keira said. “Yeah, that’s how it happened. And we did it with, like, Profe, and he thought it was such a great idea; and we thought it was such a great idea.”

Pickleball is a sport that can be easily picked up with some practice. Keira  explains how she was introduced to it.

“I learned from McLeod and then she taught me over the summer with these two guys,” Keira said. “That was my only experience of it.”

Sports are a fun way to let out energy and compete with friends, but not all sports are very accessible. Tennis, Keira expresses, takes a plethora of practice to become skilled at, so pickleball provides the balance of playing/competing with friends but without the intensity

“It’s like tennis and I wasn’t very good at tennis,” Keira said. “Pickleball is like a small version of tennis and it’s easier.”

For a majority of the members of the Pickleball Club, it is their first time playing. Take, for example, Chance Dixon ‘26, who has been regularly attending meetings. Chance is a baseball player and had no experience playing pickleball before the last meeting.

“None really, but you know, I’m a fast learner.,” Chance said. “You know, you put in the work, become one of the greatest. You gotta have that mentality.”

Along with Chance, Aidan Beall ‘26 is also a pickleball newbie. He gladly shares his early experiences with the game.

“From my first time playing pickleball, I  dominated,” Aidan said. “I was actually the king of the court. I’m not lying.”

Chance and Aidan are in the same pickleball boat. No experience does not equal no fun though. Chance described how it can lead to many new opportunities.

“Pickleball is just a great experience, you know?,” Chance said. “You meet new friends.”

Pickleball Club meetings are held in Champions Gym during lunch from time to time and the club is open for anyone to come play. Additionally, McLeod has plans for the club as the year goes on.

“We might start doing, like [pickleball], after school,” McLeod said. “If people want to play, we can go to the tennis courts and do it.”

Pickleball clubs are a cause much bigger than our mere school. McLeod wishes to connect pickleball clubs from other Atlanta schools.

“We’re gonna make tournaments with other schools,” McLeod said. “We talked to Westminster because they also have a pickleball club. So we’re gonna, like, make a tournament here and whoever wins the tournament here will go to Westminster.”

On Wednesday, Sept. 14, the Pickleball Club had its second meeting. Chance excitedly left a positive rating on his experience.

“[It’s] gotta have a ten out of ten,” Chance said. “If the scale was higher, it’d have to be higher.”