West Seattle pickleball tournament raises funds, closes indoor season

The final whistle on Westside Pickleball’s indoor season came with a wider payoff than a bracket sheet. Rally on the Rock drew 132 players to Nino Cantu Southwest Athletic Complex on June 6, and the day doubled as a fundraiser for the West Seattle Fund and Chief Sealth High School Athletics.

That combination of turnout and dollars made the event more than a seasonal capstone. Westside Pickleball used the tournament to close out its indoor league year on 12 outdoor courts at SWAC, a venue that Seattle Metro Pickleball Association says is now the biggest pickleball site in Seattle. In a local scene where court access often decides who keeps playing, the event showed how amateur pickleball can function as neighborhood sports infrastructure, not just weekend recreation.

The format reflected that same practical approach. Rally on the Rock was a non-sanctioned round robin with playoffs for gold, silver and bronze, and it included mixed doubles for players 15 and older along with a youth division for ages 8 to 14. Skill levels ran from under 3.0 through 4.0, and brackets could be combined if needed. The registration rules also leaned on self-rating, treated DUPR as a guideline rather than a hard gate, allowed waitlists and partner flexibility, and offered tournament T-shirts for players.

The event also marked a broader shift in who gets to be part of the West Seattle pickleball story. West Seattle Blog reported that some of the 130-plus players were youth competitors 15 and under for the first time. The fundraiser also delivered direct support to Chief Sealth International High School Athletics, including two $2,000 scholarships donated to the Class of 2026, while student-athletes and coaches volunteered at the tournament.

Rally on the Rock is part of a longer build that started in October 2022, when Rosina Geary, Nancy Rust and Amy Greger launched Westside Pickleball League. Seattle Metro Pickleball Association says the league began with eight courts and 64 players at Chief Sealth High School, then expanded to 11 courts and 88 players. Since then, 411 registered players have helped raise $15,000 for local schools and another $14,600 for the West Seattle Fund for portable nets and gym rentals.

The numbers show why the June 6 tournament mattered beyond one afternoon. West Seattle’s pickleball base has grown into a recurring funding engine, and the close of Westside Pickleball’s fourth year of play, with year five set to begin in the fall, suggests the circuit is still widening its reach. Last year’s Rally on the Rock drew about 150 players, and PickleballTournaments.com listed 165, so this year’s 132-player field still landed as a substantial turnout for a community-first event built around access, competition and local reinvestment.