Coshocton Pickleball Club holds family event
To help introduce the sport of pickleball to families, the Coshocton Pickleball Club held a family event on Sept. 24 at Kids America. Rachael McCreery, pickleball director at Kids America, said, “The event focused on bringing families together to learn how to play and to see how much fun they could have together playing.”
McCreery said 19 adults and 21 children attended the event and that about 30 volunteers from the pickleball club were there to help. A new program will be starting at KA soon for children who want to play pickleball.
The event also featured a “Battle of the Badges” where players from the Coshocton Fire Department, Walhonding Valley Fire Department, Coshocton County Sheriff’s deputies and National Guard members from the armory played against each other. “Many of them had never played before and the deputies were playing wearing their heavy belts. The children enjoyed cheering them on,” McCreery said.
Many of the people had never touched a pickleball paddle before the event and several came back the next day to play more.
“We had lots of prizes, too. Every 15 – 20 minutes, the song ‘Happy’ was played and everyone danced for a prize,” McCreery said. “At the end of the day, we had Papa John’s pizza for everyone.”
“We were ecstatic about how well the day went,” she said. “It was such a perfect day – better than I ever dreamed it would be. The whole club pulled together and we had all 10 courts going. Each team had their own coach. Everyone had such a great time. The families loved it. We were excited to introduce the sport to families and show them how it can be played as a family.”
McCreery said what really stood out to her was acknowledging the local heroes. “It was absolutely wonderful how the kids interacted with them. There was so much comradery – I’ve heard nothing but great responses.”
To learn more about playing pickleball, visit the KA website or email McCreery at coshoctonpickleball@yahoo.com.
