ROANOKE, Va. – Professional pickleball players are helping Roanoke students discover that math can be as exciting as a fast-paced rally on the court.
Members of the Roanoke Shine, the city’s professional pickleball team, visited Hurt Park Elementary School on Monday to support an innovative program called “Pickle Math,” where sports and mathematics intersect to build student confidence.
The program, created by fourth-grade teacher Thomas Kivlan, combines traditional math instruction with pickleball fundamentals. Kivlan developed the initiative to encourage students to engage in offline activities while building enthusiasm for mathematics.
For students like Jaya Alexander, a fourth grader at Hurt Park, the program has transformed both her athletic abilities and her confidence in math. “At first, I did not know what pickleball looked like at all,” she said. “But now that it’s been a couple months, I can do everything.”
The impact extends beyond just learning a new sport. “With math I used to get sad like I can’t do this,” Jaya explained. “But with pickleball and my teacher was like ‘you got this,’ I was like okay yeah I got this.”
During the visit, the Roanoke Shine players played a demonstration game to show students proper techniques and gameplay strategies. The professional athletes then provided small group coaching sessions with students.
“It feels good,” Jaya said about learning from the professional players. “It feels like I learned a lot.”
The Roanoke Shine, which began competing this year in the U.S. Legends Pickleball League (USLPL), represents the growing community for the sport in the region.
Kivlan hopes to expand the program’s reach to other schools in the Roanoke area, building on its early success in combining physical activity with academic achievement.