A “fun charity” pickleball tournament is being planned and organized by Cambie secondary students this Saturday (Jan. 18) - and the public is invited to watch, buy raffle tickets for prizes and check out the concession stand.
Linda Wong, the sponsor teacher at Cambie secondary for the third annual Play for Hope tournament, reiterated the word “fun” but she acknowledged pickleball can get competitive.
But the charity aspect, with all proceeds going to the Canadian Cancer Society, is near and dear to Wong and to Maya Parmar and Alexandra Mejia, the students organizing the event.
The tournament was started in 2023 by two students who were doing it as a Grade 12 project. At that point, Parmar and Mejia were involved in helping out.
But the next year, they took over the leadership of the event with Wong's encouragement.
Cancer is something that many families are dealing with, Parmar said, and organizing this tournament brings her closer to her grandfather who is currently struggling with cancer.
For Mejia, it’s also meaningful as she lost her grandfather to pancreatic cancer.
“For me, it was just a great way to honour him and feel that I could get closer to him,” she said.
Wong has also been hit hard with cancer – she has lost three sisters to the disease – and she’s been involved with the Canadian Cancer Society for more than 30 years.
“It was nice to do this (tournament) to bring together the students, my school and my passion for pickleball as well as to fundraise for the Canadian Cancer Society,” Wong said.
And the collaboration between Wong, Parmar and Mejia has been like “puzzle pieces” fitting together, Mejia added.
They've also rallied about 30 volunteers to help out with the tournament.
'Great' pickleball community
Not only are they helping fundraise for a worthwhile charity, but both Parmar and Mejia said they’ve loved working with the pickleball community.
Parmar and Mejia tried out the sport last year and admitted they weren’t great at it, but they still enjoyed the experience.
“It’s a great community and it’s very welcoming and so we really enjoyed it even though we weren’t that good at pickleball,” said Mejia.
“I’ve never met such an easy group of people to get along with,” Parmar added.
Last year, the tournament raised $8,500, and this year’s goal is to raise $10,000.
The public is invited to watch the tournament as well as to take part in the raffle, which closes at 3 p.m., and to buy treats at the concession stand.
Raffle prizes include donations from Trail Appliances, Richmond artist John Beatty and Steveston Seafood House.
The women’s round-robin and playoff matches take place in the morning and the men’s in the afternoon. The women’s playoff game is expected to start around 11:30 a.m. and the men’s at 3:30 p.m.
There will be 96 contestants in the tournament, but all spots are already filled with a waitlist.
In anticipation of the tournament, a “Wall of Hope” has been created at the school where those participating can make a dedication to someone they’re playing for.
The tournament itself will be run by the Richmond B.C. Pickleball Association’s vice-president Dave Yan.
To donate directly to the Play for Hope fundraiser, click here.
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