Pickleball comes alive on the north coast

Panama-based Jamaican businessman and operator of Yahh Man Restaurant in Panama City, Andrew Mesquita, is leading a charge to expand the playing of pickleball in Jamaica with a visit last week to introduce the sport and train coaches, over two days in Ocho Rios.

The Yahh Man-sponsored trip also included Natalie Hughes, director of social impact for the Pickleball Federation of the Americas (PFA), and the founder of Peace in Pickleball (PIP).

With the establishment of a Pickleball Association of Jamaica earlier, and the positive response to the sport during this recent promotion, it is expected that there will be increased interest and participation in the sport in the near future.

For two days, Mesquita led familiarisation and coaching sessions at Ocho Rios High School grounds for several coaches from schools in St Ann and St Mary.

The schools were also gifted with pickleball equipment compliments of the PFA, these included rackets, nets, and balls.

“We conducted workshops with all the physical education teachers, most of them from primary schools and high schools in the region, St Ann and St Mary, that’s where we’re starting off,” Mesquita told The Gleaner.

“Then we’re going to spread along Trelawny, Montego Bay, Westmoreland and come back around to Kingston, St Thomas, Portland, so we’re impacting all of Jamaica. We are spreading pickleball here in Jamaica like wildfire,” he added.

Mesquita was pleased with the response to the sport during the two days in St Ann.

“The response from the coaches was overwhelming, it was fantastic and we’re excited. We had about 20 participants over the two days from various schools; persons are excited,” he said.

“As it relates to the students, they were thrilled, they were enthused, they just wanted to play; even the teachers, they were so overwhelmed.”

POSITIVE IMPACTS

Mesquita described pickleball as the fastest growing sport in the world and has seen where the sport has positively impacted families, changing lives and communities.

“Pickleball is not just about exercise it is also a sport that helps with your emotional needs which is most important for us. After the schools, we go into the volatile communities, inner-city communities and introduce the sport to them. I don’t want Jamaica to be left behind; and I want to be a part of the change in Jamaica in whichever way I can.”

Coaches and PE teachers in St Ann, who were involved in the two-day workshop, were enthused with the introduction of the sport in the region.

Conrad Brown of Parry Town Primary and Infant School in St Ann said pickleball is new to him and his students, but the children who it was introduced to were already in love with the game.

“I’m looking forward to help spread it in St Ann and beyond,” said Brown, who is also coach of the St Ann cricket team. “And I’ll be playing it too because I love it.”

Meanwhile, Kymani Daley, PE teacher at Ocho Rios High School, also had a positive view.

“Many students were interested, they wanted to know how to play, they loved the feel of the rackets; it was all excitement during that time. They enjoyed playing it,” Daley said.

Daley said he is willing to build on what was done over the two days.

“I’m excited and I would be willing to spread that joy.”

Meanwhile, Hughes was pleased with the enthusiastic response to the introduction of pickleball to schools in the St Ann region but said the sport will go beyond schools.

“We’re not only doing initiatives for schools but [for] every single person in Jamaica we can possibly find that wants to play,” she pointed out.

“There’s a passion here not only about sports but [also] about new things. I find people are excited about something new and I’m excited about that because this is an opportunity to belong to a world community on every level.”

Both Mesquita and Hughes have left the island, with Mesquita pledging to return to Jamaica whenever necessary to see how things are progressing with the sport.

carl.gilchrist@gleanerjm.com