Blair’s newest varsity sport: pickleball

You’ve probably heard the cloink of a pickleball paddle sometime before, or seen the tennis courts being redrawn into pickleball-friendly spaces. It’s likely that you personally have picked up a paddle once or twice and hit around with a couple of friends. This is all because pickleball is growing at an unprecedented rate. It has taken the country by storm in the span of a few years, reaching both the elderly grandmas and the middle-aged tech gurus. In fact, it has now reached Blair students.

Starting strong

This July MCPS announced the addition of pickleball as a varsity sport, giving the popular sport a deserving home amongst the rest of Blair’s diverse set of teams. Previously, Blair's pickleball team functioned as a less serious after-school club for students interested in learning the game. 

Now that the team is official, how is Blair doing in its first year? 

The team practices every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday after school from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Head coach Beth Sanchez says that they have been training with a high intensity. “They’ve been running a lot of drills, training hard, and improving as pickleball players,” she says. 

Junior Joaquin Contreras-Rushing, one of the more advanced players on the team, has some insight into how the team’s season has started. “We’ve only played one game so far [as of Sept. 25], but we’ve started off strong,” he says. “We beat JFK 5-0, so we kind of destroyed them.” 

With 20 players on the team, Blair is one of the largest teams in the county. Apart from the camaraderie that a large group brings, Contreras-Rushing also discussed his confidence in the team’s future success. “I personally think we’re the best team in the county,” he says. “From what I’ve heard about other teams, it sounds like we are a strong competitor to win the county championship.” 

Contreras-Rushing also says he appreciates the resources that Blair has allocated to pickleball in its first year, allowing the team to feel more confident and supported when they play. “It means a lot to me [that Blair has given us this gear],” he says. “I’m no master at the game, but to see that Blair has done this is great. We have Pickleball DC on the back of our uniform and all our gear is sponsored by Joola. I think this is really strengthening the sport, especially among the younger generation.” 

Corollary competition

Sanchez agrees with Contreras-Rushing about the impact of the county’s financial support. But she also believes that another important action from MCPS was declaring pickleball an official corollary sport. A corollary sport, as defined by MCPS, is a sport in which there is a relatively even ratio of participants with and without disabilities. Examples of already existing corollary sports in MCPS schools include bocce ball and allied softball. 

“That inclusivity [that comes with corollary sports] is really important, including all of the students,” Sanchez says. “It's giving access to varsity sports to students who may not have access to playing a varsity sport in the traditional sense.” 

Overall, Sanchez says the team environment has lived up to MCPS’s definition. “I think we’re growing a lot,” she says. “What’s really important to us is the team aspect and the community aspect, and the students are really understanding the purpose of corollary sports. They're being very inclusive and they’re working really well with each other.”

Team environment

Senior Malaika Wande says that the corollary aspect was a dream come true for her. “So I wanted to be in a varsity sport, but I had missed the deadline,” she says. “That was until I saw a flyer for pickleball online … When I got accepted, I was really happy because I finally got into a varsity sport, which was my dream since ninth grade.” 

Wande says she loves the environment on the team and how accepting they have been to people of different skill levels. “Everyone on the team is great,” she says. “It’s like a big family.” 

Similarly, Contreras-Rushing, who says he got into the sport after learning how to play from his firefighter uncle, thinks the best part of the sport is simply having fun with others. “It's just an awesomely fun sport to play,” he says. “You get to go out to the court with your friends and just enjoy.” 

Junior Andrew Sutich used to joke about joining the team until he got to experience the joy of the sport. “At first I was joking about it, but then I thought it might actually be fun,” he says. “I have a background in tennis, so it came easily to me. Now I enjoy it a lot because I get to play with my friends.”

For the coaches and players, this enjoyment and camaraderie is more than they expected from a first-year team. Apart from being focused on the road ahead, the team is more concerned about creating a welcoming environment for all students. Now when you hear all that cloinking by the courts, you’ll know exactly what it means.