A prison gate with a key inside the lock.
Coach Angelo Rossetti leads a pickleball program at MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution. Shutterstock

Pickleball program at Connecticut prison providing inmates with 'healthier outlook on their future'

The MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution (MWCI) in Suffield, CT is a far cry from pickleball heaven, but America’s fastest-growing sport is regularly being played by inmates there.

Pickleball in prisons is gaining more and more notoriety nationwide, and Connecticut Public Radio’s Eddy Martinez recently shed some light on the special program being offered at the maximum security facility.

Coach Angelo Rossetti runs the program inside MWCI on behalf of the Pickleball for Incarcerated Communities League (PICL), a national organization which equips correctional institutions to provide play and instruction to help rehabilitate those serving time.


Martinez explains that Rossetti "coaches without judgement," and that genuinely resonates with prisoners who enjoy hitting the court.

"One of the inmates, a 20-year-old male, had said to me: 'You mean you don't see me as a criminal?' And I replied: 'No, I see you as a person,'" said Rossetti. "Most of them were very athletic; they were far better than I thought they would be."

Inmate Caesar O’Neil appreciates that Rossetti treats everyone with respect no matter their criminal history.

"You see one person show a little empathy, and that little empathy went a very long way," mentioned O’Neil, who’s serving a 120-year sentence for two murders. "I'm grateful for that every day."

Good vibes aside, Rossetti acknowledges the obvious risks involved in this kind of work.

But, he still pushes forward knowing the overall good it can do.

"Sometimes you gotta put yourself in an uncomfortable position to make a difference in someone's life," he shared. "If that's what it takes, then I'm fine with that."


PICL Director and Co-Founder, Sarah Gersten, who coaches alongside Rossetti, is a firm believer in bringing America's fastest-growing sport to the masses behind bars because, as Martinez writes, "it makes sense from a public safety point of view."

"One of the biggest benefits I see to the PICL program is reducing that sense of loneliness and isolation," she explained.

The Programs and Treatment Director for the Connecticut Department of Correction, Eulalia Garcia, is adamant that MWCI's pickleball program, which was launched in 2017, has incredible value.

“We've seen more positive interactions with other individuals from our participants that are participating in pickleball; we've seen a healthier outlook on their future,” she explained. “It's something that they value, that they look forward to, that brings them happiness and motivates them to be better.”

Click here to read the full story from Martinez.