Participants in a pickleball cultural exchange event which took place in China last year say the activity has created solid bonds between American and Chinese youths, leaving both sides with life-long memories that went far beyond their nationalities.
Last April, over 30 students and supporting staff from Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) in Maryland set off for China. The trip took in the three major cities of Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing, and saw a series of friendly exchange events and matches.
For Ryan Corkery, an MCPS high school graduate, the stop in the southern tech hub of Shenzhen was particularly memorable. He shared how the trip even had a profound emotional impact on him.
"I saw that my partner Harry had posted a big paragraph on his WeChat Moments. And that paragraph was saying how much fun he had, how like us meeting in that day. That day was, like one of the best days of his life. And we're riding back to the hotel on the bus, and I just start crying. And I was like, why am I crying? And it was just like the impact of all these people that we've affected, and each of them smiling when they see me, that has a direct impact on me," said Corkery.
The visit came following Chinese President Xi Jinping's 2023 pledge to bring 50,000 American students to China over a five-year period.
After returning to the U.S., Jeffrey Sullivan, director of the department of athletics of MPCS, wrote a letter of gratitude to Chinese President Xi Jinping, where he praised President Xi's vision and initiative.
Xi later replied to the delegation's letter, saying he was pleased to see that pickleball has become a new bond for youth exchanges between China and the United States.
According to Sullivan and other delegation members, receiving a reply from President Xi was a great honor to them, further confirming the constructive significance of this trip for friendly exchanges between the two countries.
"[We were] just extremely honored that he would respond and acknowledge the impact of pickleball diplomacy and what our student ambassadors were able to experience, and also the gratitude that we wanted to express to be able to hear that from him," said Sullivan.
"I think the fact that we got that letter from the President of China, I think that just speaks volumes to the impact of the trip. And that we really, truly were beyond successful in our mission, and which was to create those friendships and to make that experience worth something," said Corinne Howard, another MCPS high school graduate.
Ties between China and the U.S. are in the spotlight this week as U.S. President Donald Trump embarks on a three-day state visit to China at the invitation of Xi, marking the first such trip by a U.S. president in nine years. With the significance of the visit in mind, Sullivan stressed the importance of promoting people-to-people exchanges, highlighting the success of the pickleball activity.
"To me, at the root of relations between diplomacy and relationships between countries. It starts with one person at a time, one relationship at a time. It's got to build from a foundational base, and sports provide opportunities, I'd argue, better than anywhere else. And just think about how much better the world would be, if everyone took the opportunity to embrace and learn someone else's culture," said Sullivan.
American youths recall deep bond shared with Chinese contemporaries through pickleball exchanges
