FRESNO, Calif. – A Clovis North High schooler is paying it forward one tennis racket at a time.
17-year-old Jordan Pickett is serving up new opportunities for west Fresno’s Inspiration Park Boys and Girls Club.
“I played tennis for almost 8 years. I love the sport and I thought it would be a great idea if I could get other kids into it,” Pickett said Tuesday. Her ‘Raise the Racquet’ campaign is doing just that.
“We’re playing tennis with Jordan and some other people. We’re having fun,” 11-year-old Boys and Girls Club member Damian Wingfield said.
Pickett collected and refurbished more than 60 rackets for the club, with the goal of making a pricey pastime more accessible. She said they generally cost between $50 to $100 in stores, but can go up to about $300. In addition to the cost of equipment, many family don’t have access to facilities, such as country clubs, to play.
“I think it’s a great thing, because some of these kids don’t even know what tennis is, or you know never played it,” Krysta Parham of the Boys and Girls Club said.
The generous donation could also be inspiring the next generation of athletes.
“They loved it. It made me so happy. They just jumped right in. They said ‘I want to play. I want to play,’ One of them even said ‘I want to be a pro tennis player,’” Pickett said.
She said she isn’t going to be collecting any more tennis rackets at this time, but is hoping a classmate will carry on the cause.
Be the first to comment