WOMEN’S PICKLEBALL ASSOCIATION AND
MONMOUTH PICKLEBALL CLUB RAISE $13K
FOR THE FIRST ANNUAL PFC. JAMIE RILEY
PICKLEBALL FUNDRAISING FESTIVAL
M
embers of the Monmouth Pickleball Club came out in full
force to support The First Annual Pfc. Jamie Riley Pickleball
Fundraising Festival. The Monmouth Pickleball Club,
based in Red Bank, NJ, was formed in 2016 and includes
nearly 200 members. Sadie Reilly, a USAPA Ambassador, member of the
Monmouth Pickleball Club and founder of the nonprofit Women’s Pickleball
Association (WPA), developed the idea for the fundraising event. The event
was named in memory of Army Pfc. Jamie Riley, who died earlier this year
at the age of 21 in an Army training accident in Texas. Jamie’s mother,
Carolyn, is also a member of the Monmouth Pickleball Club.
To show their support for Carolyn and to honor Jamie, over 110 members
and friends of the Monmouth Pickleball Club turned out on a fabulous sunny
fall day to play in the event. The day started with everyone gathered for
the national anthem and a formal salute to Jamie by the Fair Haven Police
Honor Guard. Fair Haven Mayor Ben Lucarelli and Jamie’s family followed
with opening remarks. Dwight Macock, President of the Monmouth Pickleball
Club, who also helped organize the event, told the crowd, “Today’s event
is very different from a normal tournament. Because of the reason we are
gathered here, it will be a day you remember all of your pickleball life.”
The fundraising event included a morning of men’s and women’s doubles
matches and a full afternoon of mixed doubles on 12 courts of action-
packed pickleball.
The Women’s Pickleball
Association organized dozens of volunteers
to set up the courts, collect gifts for a silent
auction, produce and sell memorial t-shirts
and solicit donations from local merchants
and pickleball manufacturers. Engage,
Franklin, Gamma, Mueller Sports Medicine,
Paddletek, Pickleball Athlete, Pickleball
Central, PPR, ProLite, Selkirk and other
industry leaders stepped up to support the
event with donations. Sadie said, “It was
wonderful to see the local pickleball community come together to support
a member whose family suffered such a tragic loss. The response by the
volunteers and participants was overwhelming. Everyone came together to
make it a memorable day on the pickleball courts.”
All of the hard work paid off as the Women’s Pickleball Association
raised more than $13,000 through tournament entry fees, donations, t-shirt
sales and lively auction bidding. Of the money raised, $5,000 was donated
on behalf of Pfc. Jamie Riley to ThanksUSA, which funds need-based
scholarships for military families. More than $8,000 was donated to the local
Fair Haven Knollwood School to support its 8th grade trip to Washington,
DC, to study the history and government of the United States.
US OPEN PICKLEBALL
CHAMPIONSHIPS
AND COLLIER COUNTY
WORK TOGETHER TO
IMPROVE THE MECCA OF
PICKLEBALL!
T
he home of the Minto
US OPEN Pickleball
Championships will be
rewarded with plenty of
upgrades over the next few years. The
County Commissioners unanimously
voted to invest $23 million into East
Naples Community Park to help improve
the overall pickleball experience.
Improvements to the park include
updating the power and wi-fi, adding 10
additional courts (bringing the grand total
of Deco Turf courts for everyday play
to 64), building a welcome center that
includes bathrooms, showers and a pro
shop, along with long-term plans to build
a multi-use Championship Court.
Commissioner Donna Fiala said, “Much
of this is long overdue for this park and
as the US OPEN grows, we need to
grow with it. I am so excited for these
improvements to get started.”
“This is great for the US OPEN but also
very much needed for the 400+ players
who show up every day to play here,” said
US OPEN co-founder Terri Graham. The
improvements will also benefit the local
Southern Tropics tournaments as well
as additional pickleball programs taking
place at the park throughout the year.
The Pickleball Capital of the World will
be bigger and better than ever in the
years to come.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 |
MAGAZINE
17