A MCHS junior walks into the MCHS Pickleball tournament. He takes his racket out of his bag, the zipper echoing in the gym. He laces up his sneakers and heads to the courts. He can barely contain his excitement as he serves the first ball.

BPA will be hosting a new pickleball tournament at the Upper Campus on Nov. 23 at 3:30 p.m.

Pickleball is a racket sport similar to tennis, in which 2 teams consisting of one or two people use a paddle to hit a plastic ball over a net. This is continued until the other team is unable to return the ball.

The sport has gotten more popular over the last couple years because of how accessible it is. The equipment is normally quite cheap and several communities have open courts for the public to use.

According to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, “In 2022 there were 4.8 million players in the United States, in 2023 there were 8.9 million players,”

BPA is encouraging students to involve the community in this event.

“Bring anyone who can play pickleball, your grandparents, kids from other schools, anyone can come and play. It’s $5 per person, $10 per team,” says Senior Kylan Biddle.

Posters and information online have been sent out to inform students. There is also a google form that was posted by Dr. Jeff Pricket.

There’s also a waiver that is required to play that can be picked up in Mr Valenziano’s room.

This event was created to raise money for BPA and also get cans for the food pantry.

“So you can bring in four cans per team, and you would win an extra point in the first game, so that’s a good way to donate towards the food pantry as it is a good cause,” said Senior Grace Hunt.

The winner of the tournament will get a cash prize that’ll be determined on how much participation the tournament gets.

BPA encourages everyone to join the tournament and have fun while supporting their community and local high school.