Pickleball tournament coming up is raising funds for Spectrum

Spectrum is hosting their first Pride Pickleball Fundraiser Tournament and Player Clinic in Canada on May 18.

It’s set to take place at RIM Park in Waterloo, thanks to a donation from the City of Waterloo that covered the rental costs of all 12 courts.

All the money raised during the event will benefit Spectrum’s programs and services that support 2SLGBTQ+ individuals. They have volunteers coming from Pickleball of Waterloo Wellington Region to help out during the event.

“The specific programming that we are hoping to use this for is to continue running our sports and recreation opportunities for the 2SLGBTQ community in Waterloo Region. so specifically transgender and nonbinary folks really face additional barriers in sports,” said Troy Dettwiler, the sports coordinator for Spectrum.

“All of the programs we offer right now for sports are free to our community.”

Spectrum is aiming to raise about $5,000 during the pickleball tournament this May.

Dettwiler said the event is open to players of all skill levels and the tournament is just for fun.

They have prizes donated by small businesses in the region, most of which are pickleball gear which they will be doing random draws for.

“This is open to all people in the community, this is not just a rainbow event or people that are part of the rainbow community. We are actually hoping for people from throughout Waterloo Region are going to come and help support this event,” said Dettwiler.

The event is for ages 18 or older.

More information about the Pride Pickleball Fundraiser Tournament can be found on Spectrum’s website.