NOVA pickleball tournament raises $2,870 for Alzheimer’s initiatives
Fifty-three players, two venues and a shared prize table pushed a Northern Virginia pickleball weekend past $2,870 for Alzheimer’s initiatives.
The 4th Annual NOVA Amateur Pickleball Tournament turned a Northern Virginia weekend into more than just a bracket grind. A field of 53 players, along with family members, friends and spectators, carried the event from Rolling Valley West Park to OneLife Fitness in Burke and helped generate more than $2,870 for Alzheimer’s-related initiatives.
That venue switch gave the tournament a polished, retreat-like rhythm. The outdoor opening at Rolling Valley West Park flowed into a controlled indoor setting at OneLife Fitness Burke, 9250 Old Keene Mill Rd, Burke, VA 22015, where play continued for the rest of the weekend. OneLife Fitness Burke lists an indoor salt water pool and group fitness classes among its amenities, and that club setting helped the tournament feel less like a one-off local bracket and more like a destination event with purpose.
The organizers kept the atmosphere warm and easy to buy into. Participants brought breakfast items to share, everyone received a mini portable speaker as a thank-you gift, and local businesses donated gift certificates that were handed out through random drawings. Lunch came from Spartan’s Family Restaurant and Dunya Kabob, a detail that mattered because it kept people around the courts instead of scattering after matches. Breezy conditions held after weeks of rain, and the weather cooperated enough to keep the weekend cheerful.
On court, the tournament split into beginner and intermediate divisions. Michele and Kyle Fletcher won the Beginner Division by defeating Eileen Kwak and Sean Buckley in the final. Al Graziano and John Rehberger took the Intermediate Division over Lindsay Kwane and Melissa Gezgic. The results mattered, but so did the way the event packaged competition and community into the same weekend.
That combination is what makes the NOVA model worth watching. The money came from registrations, sponsorships and raffle sales, a straightforward fundraising mix that supported a cause with real reach in Virginia, where the Alzheimer’s Association says 164,000 people age 65 and older are living with the disease and 561 million hours of unpaid care are provided. Plans are already underway for next year, and the blueprint is clear: give players a place to compete, a reason to care, and enough small touches to make the weekend feel bigger than a tournament.
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