Pickleball Round Robin Raises $3,000+ for Kids Club

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Just some of nearly 80 players who flocked to the high school gym to play Pickleball

March 19, 2023

By Barrett Seaman—

According to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, nearly 9 million Americans over the age of six played pickleball last year, which was nearly double the number that had played the year before. That explosion in popularity is matched in the rivertowns, where players flock on weekends and evenings to local courts, many of them makeshift, or borrowed paddle tennis cages. Local high school gyms offer easily convertible space; the Shames JCC routinely converts its gym into half a dozen courts. The Village of Tarrytown plans to build dedicated pickleball courts next year on the property of the Elizabeth Mascia Child Care Center off Sheldon Avenue.

Players join in a pre-game organized stretch

Seeing an opportunity to take advantage of the craze, the Kids Club of Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow, working with a local group of enthusiasts calling themselves Hudson Pickle, hosted a round robin tournament on March 19^th at the High School gymnasium. More than 100 signed up and nearly 80 showed up, paying an entry fee of $50. The event lasted almost all day, starting with novices and working on up through accomplished players toward the end of the afternoon.

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As Kids Club serves as an umbrella organization for many local charities that focus on children, the net proceeds of some $3,000 will go towards a variety of programs throughout the two villages.

The sport requires the same basic skills as tennis or paddle tennis, but with smaller, stubbier rackets and a slightly different scoring system. Kevin Brown, who with his wife, Tarrytown Mayor Karen Brown, has been playing the game regularly for five years, calls it “advanced Ping Pong.” There’s no table, however, and the ball is a perforated rubber sphere slightly larger than a baseball, that, when solidly hit, comes at opponents with impressive speed.

The Hudson Pickle t-shirt that came with the entry fee

All players at the Sunday event got free snacks and a handsome t-shirt with the Hudson Pickle logo, as well as the good feeling that comes with helping a noble cause.

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