Give Terri MacLeod some concrete, a net and a roll of painter’s tape, and there’s a pretty good chance she can turn it into a pickleball court.
That flexibility comes in handy when the goal is bringing pickleball to kids who may not have a court nearby, their own paddle or, in some cases, any idea what pickleball is.
MacLeod is the founder of Pickle with Heart, a Vero Beach, Florida-based nonprofit that uses pickleball to help young people, particularly those in underserved communities, build confidence, teamwork and life skills. The organization offers free clinics and programming, but learning the perfect third-shot drop isn’t really the point.
“I hope people understand this is not about developing the next Anna Leigh Waters or Ben Johns but rather building community and giving the youth an encouraging outlet,” MacLeod says.
How Pickle with Heart Got Started
The idea started in the summer of 2025, when MacLeod began teaching pickleball to youth in Belle Glade, Florida.
Before she could worry too much about forehands and footwork, she needed to earn their trust. She also quickly noticed that some of the kids didn’t have proper shoes to play in, so she organized a sneaker drive back home in Vero Beach. The recreation center provided paddles and balls, and MacLeod brought plenty of energy.
Soon, the kids were playing, laughing and discovering they were pretty good at this new sport. For MacLeod, the bigger win was watching their confidence grow.
When the clinic ended that August, she wanted to continue what had started in Belle Glade. The two-hour drive from her home made regular trips difficult, so she began looking closer to home and created Pickle with Heart to bring free pickleball programming to youth organizations in Vero Beach and throughout Indian River County.
It was a new chapter in a career that had already taken an unexpected turn. MacLeod spent 25 years working in television in New York City, including 16 years as a senior producer and reporter for NBC’s Access Hollywood. After leaving the show, she eventually began working at a youth homeless shelter in Newark, New Jersey, where she discovered how much she enjoyed connecting with young people. She later earned a master’s degree in social work from Rutgers University.
After moving to Florida to help care for her mother, pickleball became an outlet for MacLeod. Eventually, her experience working with youth and her love of the game came together.
A Different Kind of Pickleball Clinic
A Pickle with Heart clinic probably doesn’t look like a traditional lesson.
There are hula hoops hanging from nets, tennis ball cans filled with sand and arranged like bowling pins, and plenty of games designed to keep kids moving. MacLeod says favorites include King of the Court and Jailbreak, the latter of which can quickly lead to kids chanting its name until the next round starts.
The emphasis is on keeping things active and fun while allowing skills to develop along the way. Pickle with Heart’s programs incorporate sportsmanship, teamwork, leadership and healthy competition, with the goal of helping those lessons carry beyond the court.
“From conception, my intent has been to emphasize the prosocial skills picked up in playing a sport,” MacLeod says. “The youth love to be competitive and play hard, but the overall goal is fun and having them leave the court with a sense of accomplishment.”
Sometimes there isn’t even a pickleball court to work with. MacLeod measures and tapes out makeshift courts at agencies without dedicated facilities. The relatively small amount of equipment needed to get a game going is one of the reasons she believes pickleball works so well for the communities she serves.
The approach appears to be catching on. MacLeod says kids run onto the courts ready to play, and she sees their pride when a shot they’ve been working on finally lands in.
How the Pickleball Community Is Helping
Pickle with Heart has grown with help from people throughout the local pickleball community, and that support has been especially important for a young nonprofit without a large fundraising operation behind it.
To date, Pickle with Heart has not held a formal fundraiser. MacLeod has largely funded the organization herself, while donations and volunteers have helped stretch those resources much further. Local players have donated paddles, athletic clothing and lightly worn sneakers. Others have stepped onto the courts to help when clinics have grown to 30 or more kids at a time.
“The pickleball community wants to help when asked,” MacLeod says.
Professional players Marco Osorio and Alex Chanley helped MacLeod develop games and find creative ways to teach young players. Pickle with Heart vice president Mikita Orosz has helped with both teaching and developing the organization, and local clubs and organizations have contributed in other ways, including providing courts and recruiting volunteers.
Support has also come through partnerships. Pickle with Heart works with organizations including the Gifford Youth Achievement Center, Hibiscus Children’s Center and Feed the Lambs Enrichment Program. The nonprofit was also selected for the Agassi x JOOLA Let’s Play! program, which supports organizations expanding youth access to pickleball.
Together, those contributions have allowed Pickle with Heart to keep offering free programming without a large budget behind it. A donated paddle, a pair of sneakers, an available court or an extra volunteer can directly affect how many kids MacLeod is able to get playing.
One of her favorite examples of that community coming together happened when she brought more than 20 young people from Belle Glade to Grand Harbor in Vero Beach. Many had rarely ventured outside their community and had never experienced a club like it. Local pros joined them on court, club members volunteered, and the day included pickleball, a DJ and pizza.
For the kids, it was a chance to see high-level players up close and then share the court with them.
Creating More Opportunities Through Pickleball
Pickle with Heart is still a young organization, and MacLeod would like to reach more youth organizations and eventually develop a mentoring program that gives smaller groups of kids the chance to receive more advanced instruction.
As pickleball continues finding its way into schools and colleges, she also sees the possibility that learning the sport now could eventually open another door for some of the kids she works with, whether that’s making a high school team or pursuing a college opportunity.
For now, though, success can be much simpler.
It’s a kid making a shot they couldn’t make the week before. It’s an achievement medal they’re excited to receive. It’s a group running onto a makeshift court because they can’t wait to start playing.
As Pickle with Heart looks to grow, MacLeod hopes to find more volunteers, equipment support, financial contributions and connections with youth organizations that could benefit from its programs. The nonprofit’s website also now accepts donations, with funds going toward equipment and free youth programming.
But the bigger goal hasn’t changed from those first clinics in Belle Glade.
“Pickle with Heart means the game is about more than winning,” MacLeod says. “Pickle with Heart spotlights community.”
Sometimes building that community starts with little more than a paddle, a ball and enough painter’s tape to make a court.
