As the teacher for the first Sports & Entertainment Marketing class at Murphy High School, Julie Hughes needed something that could get students out of the classroom and tie together everything they learned for the first few months.
Enter an unlikely solution. Pickleball. Or, more accurately, Harry Hearne, an avid pickleballer who convinced the class to get in on the fast-growing sport.
“Mr. Hearne came to talk to the students last week about the history of pickleball and how it started in the ‘60s, and took off from there,” Hughes said. “He asked the students, would you have wanted to be around in the beginning of baseball, like when it first started taking off? A lot of my kids who played baseball said, ‘Yeah, that would be so cool.’ You actually are in that position with pickleball.”
Though this activity was about sports, Hughes sees this as a class that appeals to everyone. It’s not just about sports but also entertainment, how it’s promoted and how to attract people to certain activities.
Hughes students initially proposed a kickball tournament, but she wasn’t interested. She remembered watching her niece and nephew play pickleball in elementary school, and her students were open to giving that sport a try.
She contacted Meredith Davis, career development coordinator for Cherokee County Schools. Davis put Hughes in touch with Hearne, and the idea took off.
“Mr. Hearne is unbelievable,” Hughes said. “He’s putting all of this together.”
While Hearne recruited volunteers, led the kids through basic skills and put the tournament together for both of Hughes’ sections of the class, the students did the rest. They thought about everything that would go into marketing the event.
Students created mock tickets, logos and even medals for the winners. They also thought about where to promote the event and how much to charge potential spectators for admission.
The tournament took place on the courts next to Murphy Health & Fitness on Nov. 9, and the students appeared to be enjoying themselves. Hearne gave pointers before the tournament began, and some volunteers even helped Jordan Oliver, who is in a wheelchair, to participate.
“I’m learning this stuff as I’m going,” Hughes said. “And know so many thing to improve in the future to improve on this. I think the kids like that. They’re enjoying the class, and I think this ties it all together to where they can say, ‘OK if we were having this as a real tournament what would we charge people, how much money would we charge to pay for the rest,’ all that good stuff.
“I totally plan to continue this.”