A nonprofit group is using racquetball to provide a positive outlet for youth across Baltimore.Who knew hitting a ball against a wall could be so much fun? Racquetball Revival is helping to make the sport accessible to anyone who wants to play."Many kids are not exposed to racquetball. You don't see it on television. It's not a major sport that you hear about anywhere on the news, but kids that try racquetball, they love racquetball," said Leon Thomas, racquetball coach at White Marsh Recreation Council and executive director of Racquetball Revival.Thomas pours his heart and soul into getting more youth to fall in love with the sport. Racquetball Revival helps raise money to pay for equipment, weekly lessons and competitions for as many youth as possible."Every kid needs something that they can go to (and) say, 'That's my thing.' They need something to look forward to, and racquetball can be that," Thomas said. Thomas started with just one child, but now he has 43 who range in age from 4 all the way to 18."It's just fun to hit the ball, take a little anger out on the ball," said Keshawn Letchman, one of Thomas' students.Keshawn's mom, Ria Stephenson, has watched him excel so far and become good enough to be the 25th-ranked player in Maryland, which has opened up scholarship opportunities."Being a single mom, you look for avenues and it is not available to you. Try something different because I would be the first one to say it is not what we expected to be, and he took off," Stephenson said. He's not the only one seeing the benefits of the sport. Audra Jones brings her son, Max, to racquetball lessons every Saturday. He has autism and finds joy in playing. "It's been great to have Max be able to participate with other kids and just a regular sports environment, and for him to be able to learn some discipline and also just some basic athletic skills," Jones said.When it comes to coaching the youth, Thomas said it's about so much more than the skills they learn on the court, it empowers them off the court, too."It's more than just racquetball. We talk about schoolwork. We show that we are concerned about their academic success," Thomas said. "If you can play racquetball, there's not a lot you can't do and so it builds confidence in kids to know that if they can play racquetball, there's a lot of things they can do off the court and have success in it also." Thomas' long-term goal is to open a racquetball facility in Baltimore that will meet the needs of the community with mentoring suites, meeting spaces, racquetball courts and more. He said that there are no tryouts for his racquetball squad, everyone is welcome. Lessons and group play are held at Northeast Regional Recreation Center. For more information to sign up, visit the following website.