Milwaukee charity uses pickleball fundraiser to mentor local youth

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Milwaukee will put pickleball at the center of its first annual Paddles for Potential Pickleball Classic on Sunday, June 28, at Pickleball Kingdom in Menomonee Falls. Presented by Deloitte, the event will combine an open tournament, a pro exhibition match featuring Gina Cilento, raffle activities, trophy awards and a Bigs/Littles Best of the Matches competition built to connect the court with the nonprofit’s mentoring mission.

Play will begin at 9 a.m. at Pickleball Kingdom, N58 W14900 Shawn Cir., and the public can attend the championship event for free. Qualifying events ran through June 21, giving players a path into the main draw while keeping the final day open to spectators, families and first-timers who want to watch without needing to be part of a club lineup.

That format gives the fundraiser a wider reach than a standard tournament. The open bracket is set up for all experience levels, and the exhibition match gives the day a recognizable headliner in Cilento, a senior pro, APP multi-medalist and top-ranked competitive player. A 2024 Milwaukee profile identified Cilento as a Wisconsin pickleball pro who built her reputation after switching from tennis, which adds local credibility to a showcase designed to draw casual players as well as organized pickleball groups.

For Big Brothers Big Sisters, the event lands at a moment when demand for mentoring keeps rising. The agency serves Milwaukee and Waukesha counties and marked its 50th anniversary in 2025. Its 2025 annual report says former Littles are 20% more likely to attend college and 15% more likely to earn more income, which frames the fundraiser as part of a larger economic-mobility model rather than a one-night appeal.

The scale of that need is already visible in the numbers. BBBS of Metro Milwaukee served 1,074 youth in 2022 and 1,806 youth in 2024, while a 2024 report put the waiting list at more than 500 children. Paddles for Potential is one of the organization’s signature annual events, and this first classic is built to do more than fill courts for a day. It turns pickleball into a visible recruiting and fundraising engine, with a free championship, a local pro and a mentoring message all aimed at the same net.