The North Shore Coalition Against Substance Abuse will host an adult Pickleball tournament at Gold Coast Pickleball Club on Friday, April 4, from 3 to 6:00 p.m.
Tickets are $80 and the money raised will go towards helping to cover the costs for the weekly pickleball program CASA hosts on Friday. The idea for a fundraiser came after observing the success of the weekly program, according to Sean Trager, CASA’s co-president.
“The offshoot of that is that we had such success with pickleball on Fridays that we thought we would have a tournament to help cover the cost of the upcoming year,” Trager said. “If a kid learns that they can engage in a healthy, positive behavior on a Friday night, and have community, friendship, support, all that stuff in one, that's much more effective than just lecturing them.”
The program has been running for approximately a year and has sold out every week, according to Trager. Geared towards middle and high schoolers, it was designed to give kids a safe place to go to where they could compete and socialize in an environment that was free of drugs and alcohol.
“Our mission as a coalition is to help create sustainable environmental and behavioral changes to reduce youth substance abuse. We have a multifaceted approach, but teaching kids to engage in healthy physical activity in a safe space is a great starting point.” Trager said.
Trager added that he hopes that in the years to come, the middle school kids participating in the program now will retain the behavior and give back as they progress through high school. Trager explained that CASA does not have infinite resources to rent out the facility every week due to being a small, grassroots local coalition.
He added that the coalition wanted to cover enough expenses to make it affordable for the teens and parents.
The program operates on a nominal fee structure, $20, to cover costs, with CASA subsidizing the other $20 of the cost to ensure accessibility. After observing the popularity of their weekly events, the idea formed to host an event open to adults to help raise money for the program.
“I am thrilled to be part of the upcoming pickleball tournament,” Bruce Kennedy, treasurer of CASA said. “Which not only brings our community together for some friendly competition but also helps sustain our Youth Pickleball Friday Night events with North Shore CASA.”
Trager said that since this event is geared toward parents, it would help create awareness and generate some revenue. “This is a good investment of our capital, right?” Trager said. “This is what we want to get to raise funds for.”
For more information on CASA’s pickleball program or to get involved, visit their website at NSCASA.org or contact them at NorthShoreCASA@gmail.com.
