Pickleball with a Purpose
Mike Howard is again spearheading the "Red, White, and Pickleball" canned food drive at the Virginia Acres outside pickleball courts on July 3 at 7:00 pm.
Last year we collected 430 pounds of food for Golden Harvest Food Bank. The pickleball community in Aiken has shown its generosity time and again--let's see if we can break the 500-pound mark this year!
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There will be a drawing for two "Pickleball With a Purpose" tee shirts as well as a brand new Friday paddle. For every 5 cans donated, you'll get 1 ticket; 10 cans gets you 3 tickets for the drawing!
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Come on, Aiken! Let's play pickleball with a purpose!​​
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All NON-perishable items welcome; non-glass containers preferred. Low sodium, low sugar, and whole grains, along with canned meats and seafood appreciated.
Welcome to the Academy
The Southern Pickleball Academy is a public charity dedicated to the growth of pickleball by investing in our students and communities while fostering desirable character traits of integrity, teamwork, resilience, patience, and sportsmanship.
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You can help when you invest your time, skills, and finances.
WHO WE ARE
The Southern Pickleball Academy is a community of people dedicated to growing and improving the sport of pickleball, both locally and regionally. The most important part of us is YOU. The time, efforts, and donations provided by generous people like you are what keep the Academy going. Ever since we launched the Southern Pickleball Academy in 2023, our main focus has been to improve lives through the ever-growing market of pickleball! Join us and be part of something that will last lifetimes.
WHAT WE DO
At Southern Pickleball Academy, we're building stronger communities by introducing youth to the transformative power of pickleball. Through our successful equipment donation program, we've provided over $20,000 in pickleball gear to local middle and high schools, creating new opportunities for students to discover this engaging sport.
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Our innovative First Paddle program goes beyond the court, combining pickleball instruction with character development activities that help shape confident, well-rounded young people. We're also investing in our youth's future through education, offering $1,000 scholarships for post-secondary education, with the next awards to be distributed in May 2025.
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As a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, we're committed to expanding our youth outreach because we've seen firsthand how pickleball can positively impact young lives.
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Want to learn more about our impact? Take a listen to our secretary, Cindy Ogden, on WAFJ's Difference Makers radio show, where she discusses the physical, social, and mental health benefits that make pickleball such a powerful tool for youth development with one of our friends, Cleve Walker.
