On Sunday, April 21, the pickleball club hosted their first charity tournament. Students and staff came out to play as singles and doubles. Others came just to enjoy the event.
“We had a pretty concrete sign-up system beforehand…so everyone had to pay two days before the tournament,” said Dana Karim, junior. “I think that was around 40 interested students and teachers.”
Organizers hosted the pickleball tournament to raise money for the Just1Mike charity. Just1Mike was formed in honor of Michael Brindley, a student at Hinsdale Central who passed away due to a sudden cardiac arrest in 2016. After his death, Just1Mike helped Central provide EKG screenings for all students every two years.
“That is why we get the EKGs that come to our school,” Karim said. “[Just1Mike is] one of the organizations that funds those EKGs.”
The tournament had both a competitive and non-competitive section. The winners of the competitive section were Shreyas Girotra, junior, and Sabil Musabji, junior. The winners for the non-competitive section were Anthony Barakat, freshman, and Grant Pang, freshman.
“It was fun and competitive,” Girotra said. “My partner and I worked really well together, and I enjoyed being a part of such a beneficial charity.”
The participants greatly enjoyed themselves.
“I played doubles with my friend Hashim,” said Adam Izhar, sophomore. “I really enjoyed it because we got the chance to play [with] many people and had a fun time…while having a break from school and homework.”
The tournament also had a costume contest.
“We wanted…to encourage people to dress in silly outfits and wear colorful clothes,” Karim said.
The pickleball club was just founded earlier this school year.
“We’ve been planning it since January…[and] we were approved [in] November,” said Sara Izhar, junior. “We didn’t actually start our club officially until about January.”
Students wanted to form a pickleball club for both recreation and to support different charities.
“I play tennis and pickleball on the side, and I know a lot of students here want a place where they can play recreationally or competitively with their friends,” said Alina Patel, junior.
Going off of the success of the tournament, the club is planning activities for next semester. So far, they hope to have a Halloween bowl and a turkey bowl in the fall.
To stay updated on the pickleball club, click here.
