Forest Grove launches Dash Paddle Bash pickleball fundraiser at Rogers Park

Forest Grove Parks & Recreation is using Rogers Park’s two outdoor pickleball courts for something the city has never tried before: Dash Paddle Bash, the department’s first pickleball tournament, set for Aug. 29-30, 2026, at 2421 17th Ave. The format is mixed doubles, round robin, with each team built around one male and one female player, and the city says the goal is to keep the event fun, friendly and competitive while still giving players a real bracket to chase.

The setup is built to pull in more than just the people on court. Forest Grove is splitting teams by age bracket and skill level, and it will award prizes to the top three teams in each division. Spectators can watch free from a designated bleacher area outside the fenced courts, and the city is adding food trucks, music and a kid zone with light crafts and activities. The city is clear that the kid zone is not childcare, so children must stay supervised. Each team member has to register separately through the city’s classes and registration system, and at least one cell phone number per team is required for court assignments, standings and match notifications.

The fundraiser piece gives the tournament its civic weight. All proceeds support the Fun For All Fund, Forest Grove’s fee-assistance program for qualifying residents. That fund can help cover recreation and aquatic classes, lessons, memberships, camps and other programs, so the tournament is tied directly to access as much as athletics. Forest Grove says prize donations, in-kind contributions, sponsors and volunteers are all welcome, which makes this look less like a one-off sports weekend and more like a community event the city wants to keep building.

The timing matters too. Forest Grove closed Rogers Park’s pickleball and basketball courts April 24-26 to paint new permanent pickleball lines, replacing the temporary taped lines that had been in place for several years. The city said those new lines were added in response to growing demand for pickleball, a sign that the sport has already outgrown the old setup. Add in Dash, the hummingbird mascot Forest Grove Parks & Recreation created in 2025 to reflect its community-first mission, and Dash Paddle Bash looks like a test of whether a smaller city can turn a first tournament into a recurring stop on local pickleball calendars.