Pickleball is rapidly becoming a growing sport with more than a 1000% growth since 2013. With the growth we are seeing courts popping up in communities everywhere or tennis courts are being modified into pickleball courts. With this rise in courts I have seen an increase in my participation numbers during our paddle and racket unit at the middle school. We recently completed our paddle and racket unit before Christmas break, which consists of badminton, pickleball and table tennis. Students learn the rules of all 3 activities and then choose 2 of the 3 activities to sign up for with another partner to compete against other teams in the activities they choose. Not only have I seen a rise in participation for the pickleball activity, but I also noticed kids already having good skills and knowledge of the game because they play it outside of school on courts in their community or have gone to the new Pickle Palace and played it in Cedar Rapids.
We are currently finishing up the semester with a basketball unit. During this unit they work on passing, dribbling and shooting skills and have had a chance to play in some competitions like, knockout, 3-on-3, hot shot and also did basketball golf. Hot shot is a competition that was done back with middle school used to have activity period. They have 30 seconds to try and make a shot from 5 different spots on the floor. Winner is the one with the most points or fastest time making a shot from all 5 spots. Winners from the hot shot competition were awarded a snack of their choice by Mr. Kauder.
