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Pickleball: Can A Game Change Prison Culture?

A San Quentin resident just wasn’t fast enough to take on Warden Ron Broomfield (in black) and then-acting warden Oak Smith in the prison’s inaugural pickleball tournament. The event brought together unlikely teammates as incarcerated players and prison staff joined forces in a day that legislators and administrators hope is a harbinger of the future of rehabilitation.
San Quentin News
A San Quentin resident just wasn’t fast enough to take on Warden Ron Broomfield (in black) and then-acting warden Oak Smith in the prison’s inaugural pickleball tournament. The event brought together unlikely teammates as incarcerated players and prison staff joined forces in a day of fun and fitness, a harbinger of the future of rehabilitation.

Earlier this year, Governor Gavin Newsom announced an ambitious goal to transform San Quentin State Prison into the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center. There's a multi-million dollar plan to build a new facility focused on rehabilitation and job training. With it comes a promise to shift the culture of the prison and improve relationships between staff and residents.

The hope is for this to be a first step towards a bigger change throughout the prison system in California. We're kicking off the third season of Uncuffed with a story about one unlikely step toward this change — it involves nets, sweatbands, and paddles.

So it's not just about getting the ball over a net. It's about getting incarcerated people to the finish line of completing their rehabilitative goals and getting them back into the community with their families and friends in a more normalized setting, as opposed to a prison.
Steve Brooks

This episode was produced by Steve Brooks and Ryan Pagan with help from Greg Eskridge, Ninna Gaensler-Debs, Angela Johnston, and sound designer Eric 'Maserati-E' Abercrombie

This piece was brought to you by the team at Uncuffed. Our work in prisons is supported by the California Arts Council, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and donations from listeners like you. The producers fact-check content to the best of their ability. Content is approved by an information officer.

Follow @WeAreUncuffed on Instagram and Facebook.

Learn more, sign up for Uncuffed news, and support the program at www.weareuncuffed.org

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