Pickleball has become the fastest growing sport in the United States recently, and has finally made its way to AHS!
This tennis-meets-ping-pong sport made its way to the Atoms when several students started the Annandale Pickleball Club a bit over a month ago and joined an unofficial initiative with other Fairfax County Public School teams.
The Pickleball movement at AHS was started by a trio of Atoms athletes: Sophomore Emily Field, junior Cole Cardwell, and junior Ricky Nguyen.
“I originally started this club when I saw a post on Instagram informing me of the deadline to enter the FCPS league,” said Field.
As AHS slowly embraces this new, fast-growing sport, players are reminded that the club is not technically affiliated with AHS, meaning it is not an official club or a part of the athletics program.
This situation should not shy away those interested, however, as the club already has around twenty players, all from AHS, it can be a fun extracurricular students can add to their resumes.
“My favorite thing about the club is getting to play pickleball with my friends and meeting other people from different schools,” said Nguyen.
The reason for the team not being an official club is due to the rules and regulations around the Virginia High School League (VHSL) which organizes athletic and scholastic competition between public FCPS schools.
The founders preferred to avoid the paperwork and complications that would come with making pickleball an official Annandale High School sport, and decided they would rather have it be more of a fun activity to do with friends rather than an investive competitive school sport.
“I really like that pickleball is a stress-free club. With my school affiliated sports, I often feel overwhelmed but our Pickleball club is not the most structured which makes it very stressless,” Field said.
In a push for more growth and expansion of the club, the founders are working with Activities Director Bryan Harris and Athletic Director Brandon Sutphin to include pickleball on the list of Sunrise Activities.
Adding pickleball to the rotation of Sunrise Activities will fuel the growth of the new AHS activity as well as help to expand the sport in FCPS as well as with VHSL.
For means of growth, the club has landed a sponsorship with Engage Pickleball, a pickleball equipment company from The Villages in Florida. They also wish to seek sponsorships with popular restaurants in the area.
“We’ve sent out some emails to popular food places like Crumbl Cookie and Chipotle,” Cardwell said.
Unfortunately, these businesses have not yet responded to the club, however they are not at a loss as Engage Pickleball has agreed to give AHS players a discount on their gear and have their logo displayed on the team’s jerseys.
The club practices 1-2 times a week at pickleball courts in the area, working on an overview of the rules, technique, and etiquette while also providing an opportunity for friends to come together and play a sport to help get to know each other better.
“Our club will help create valuable bonds between the students, and has an uplifting environment where everyone is welcome,” Field said.
These practices help the team improve for their play in the FCPS Club Pickleball League tournament with other FCPS schools, where they most recently played against the West Potomac Wolverines and will next play against the Mount Vernon Majors. Other schools in the league include, but are not limited to, the Justice Wolves,Woodson Cavaliers, and Hayfield Hawks.
As the Atoms become more comfortable with each other and the game, they are also adjusting to the speed of play from other schools at their matches.
“I have found that there are lots of pickleball sweats, and I do not like them,” player junior Andrew Banks said.
As the Atoms push to find strong success in the FCPS Club Pickleball League tournament, they hope to continue to help the growth of pickleball as a sport, but also promote the growth of participation at AHS and in FCPS as a whole.
“My goal for the club is to bring more students to athletics, encouraging them to join one of Annandale high school’s sports teams,” Field said.
The Annandale Pickleball Club emphasizes that anyone can play the sport as most of the players have never played or are new to pickleball.
Pickleball is a great sport for beginners as it is very accommodating to one’s skill level. It can range from being easy-going and unserious to extremely competitive and skill-focused; however, no matter the skill level, players can expect to get a great workout and meet new people!
If you are interested in joining the team, follow them on Instagram @annandale_pickleball, and reach out to any of the three club presidents for more information! Go Atoms Pickleball!!
