From "kitchen" to "dink," there are plenty of words to learn related to the sport of pickleball.
And thanks to a recent pickleball tournament, more people in the North Okanagan will be learning all kinds of words, phrases and sentence structures.
The inaugural Raise a Paddle, Raise a Reader pickleball fundraiser took place at Vernon's Predator Ridge Racquet Club Saturday, June 21. The event raised funds for the Literacy Society of North Okanagan.
"It's the first one that we've held, and we had 13 teams register and that's 52 players," said Debbie Nurse, executive director of the Literacy Society. "We also had a successful silent auction on hand for those who wanted to increase their donation and support for the Literacy Society."
The fundraising target for the tournament and silent auction was $15,000. A total of $7,652 was raised, with some funds still left to count. Nurse had said that goal likely wouldn't be reached, only because it's the first ever tournament "and it takes time to build a following and for the community to understand what it's supporting."
And what was the community supporting? The Literacy Society's three longstanding programs: the Reading Together program that provides one-on-one support for Vernon School District elementary students; the after-school Skills Boost program that provides literacy and numeracy activities designed to boost confidence and enthusiasm for learning; and the Adult Digital Literacy program that helps seniors learn how to use digital devices with the help of volunteers.
The pickleball tournament is part of the society's Raise a Reader program. All of the funds raised will be topped off by the province and Vancouver's Decoda Literacy Solutions. The funds allow the society to offer its programs at no cost.
Nurse said the event went well and there was plenty of enthusiasm among pickleball players in a tournament that was all about having fun for a good cause.
