West Seattle booster club adds student-only division to pickleball fundraiser

West Seattle’s second annual Paddle Battle Pickleball Tournament will return May 31 to the Nino Cantu Southwest Athletic Complex, giving the neighborhood a full day of amateur play from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and a new path for West Seattle High School students to compete for their own championship.

The WS Booster Club is running the fundraiser to benefit West Seattle High School student-athletes and athletics programs, and the event page says players of all skill levels are encouraged to enter. The presenting sponsor is Murder Hornet Hot Sauce, adding a local business stamp to a tournament built as much for school support as for competition.

The biggest change for 2026 is a student-only division, added by popular demand. Registration for student teams is listed at $30, and students will also be allowed to enter non-student divisions if they want a different bracket. That gives West Seattle High athletes a more direct role in the day while keeping the field open to parents, alumni, neighbors and other amateur players who want to fill the courts at SWAC.

The format matters because Paddle Battle is no longer just a one-off neighborhood idea. The inaugural tournament was held June 1, 2025, when nine teams took part and organizers said they hoped to make it an annual event. The second edition now turns that hope into a repeatable fundraiser, with West Seattle High School itself promoting the tournament on its own calendar and reinforcing the link between pickleball and school athletics.

The choice of venue also fits the sport’s growth in West Seattle. Nino Cantu Southwest Athletic Complex has already served as a pickleball site for local fundraising and league activity, including Westside Pickleball League efforts that helped pay for pickleball lines on the SWAC tennis courts by January 2023 and raised another $14,600 for the West Seattle Fund to cover portable nets and gym rentals. In that setting, Paddle Battle is part of a larger push that has steadily turned SWAC into one of the area’s key pickleball gathering spots.

For West Seattle players looking for a low-barrier entry point, the appeal is simple: a single-day tournament, a school cause, a student championship bracket, and a local court complex that already has a pickleball history.