Pickleball serves up fun recovery and friendship

Glenrose supports sport to promote healing for brain-injury and stroke patients

Story by Landis Reichle | Photo & video by Evan Isbister

EDMONTON — On Thursday mornings you’ll find a group of friends rallying their way through recovery by playing pickleball at the Central Lions Recreation Centre. What makes this group special is that they all met at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital.

As he recovers from a brain injury, Ed Toy has found his recovery to be an eye-opening and humbling experience.

“For many of us — movement, coordination and the thought process associated with playing a structured game that we all took for granted during pre-injury times — may no longer be second nature. So, for me, this story is one worth sharing.”

For some of these friends, and likely most Albertans, pickleball has rarely been on their list of favourite sports, or even a sport they’ve heard of. In fact, before his injury, one patient vowed he would never play pickleball. But when it was offered by a recreation therapist for the group to try out, they agreed to give it a chance.

“These guys were in my other therapy classes, and we got really close,” says stroke-recovery patient Ray Martin. “We talked about trying pickleball, and here we are. It's working for us. It’s a good group of the right people.”

Recreation therapists at the Glenrose consider a patient’s past leisure interests and create opportunities for them to participate — which can mean finding ways for the patient to adapt — or to try something new.

Programs and individual therapies are offered to build their physical skills, improve their socialization, educate them about community options, improve their mental health and help them to manage stress. The end goal is to work with a patient’s current capabilities to support their long-term recovery after they leave the rehabilitation hospital.

“There’s a positive connection between recovery and socialization,” says Cindy Schulz, a recreation therapist at the Glenrose. “It's not just physical recovery, but it's also getting out of the house, finding people similar to themselves, who they can meet and connect with and enjoy a physical activity at their own level and make it fun.

“This group of men really clicked. They work well together and enjoyed participating in the Specialized Rehabilitation Outpatient Program in the Sport and Skill group, so we collaborated with the Central Lions Recreation Centre so they can continue socializing and improving their skills out in the community for the long term.”

Even though they’ve only been playing together for a short time at the centre, their efforts have been noticed by other pickleball players. At the end of their game, a player from another court remarked: “Your guys have really improved since they started coming here.”

Toy adds: “The others and I are grateful for the opportunities to participate and socialize, all of which assist and promote the healing process. Our recreation therapists’ goal of healing us, mentally and physically, is not overlooked — and is appreciated by all of us.”