GREENSBORO, N.C. — It seems like everyday we're seeing more crimes involving teens which makes it more important to provide opportunities for youth in the community during the summer.
Britt Huggins, Greensboro Parks & Recreation Youth Development Director, said it's one of their top priorities. He said they spend a lot of time trying to get feedback from the community to know what kids and teens are interested in doing during their summer break.
Huggins said they're hoping to give youth a chance to try something new and find a fun and safe outlet.
"What kind of back in our first summer you know from COVID and you know in the sense of where we have a lot more offerings than we’ve had in the past few years. So we’re really excited to get things kicked off this summer," Huggins said.
All of the sports clinics except field hockey are a one time fee of $25. Field hockey is new this year and free to anyone interested. This will include the equipment needed for the sport and Huggins said the kids will get to take that home with them.
He also said there is financial assistance available for anyone who needs it.
One of the sports Huggins said there's a lot of interest in is pickleball. Huggins describes the sport as a mixture of ping-pong, badminton and tennis.
"The rules are a little wonky at the beginning with the scoring and such that once you get it down it’s a lot of fun and I promise you you’re going to get addicted to it," Huggins said.
According to the a participation report from USA Pickleball, nearly 5 million Americans picked up a pickleball racquet last year and the sport has grown almost 40% in the last two years.
Huggins said he's seen that growth here too. He thinks it's because it's a fairly easy sport to play and something you can play for you whole life.
"It’s a growing sport and it’s a sport that’s coming and it’s some thing that we’re hearing that we need more courts, we need more access to pickleball in the community. So we want our youth to know how to play as well too," Huggins said.
Besides sports, there are also opportunities for teens that aren't into sports. There's the Teen Adventure Camp at the lake, STEAM activities at the Caldcleugh Center and the service learning camp.