Williamsville pickleball tournament draws 250 players for Make-A-Wish fundraiser

More than 250 competitive pickleball players turned Village Glen Tennis and Pickleball Club in Williamsville into a busy charity center this weekend, giving the two-day tournament the scale of a full amateur showcase. The event, staged May 16-17 at 162 Mill Street, paired on-court competition with fundraising for Make-A-Wish Western New York and drew added reach through sponsorship from Basil Family Dealerships.

The size of the field mattered as much as the cause. Village Glen’s tournament was built around the kind of turnout that shows how far amateur pickleball has grown beyond casual recreation, with enough players to fill a multi-day bracket and enough spectators and families to keep the club active beyond the matches themselves. The format also opened the door to people who were not playing, with basket raffles and donations accepted to help push the fundraiser beyond entry fees alone.

For Make-A-Wish Western New York, the benefit tied directly into a mission that stretches across the region. The chapter serves the western 17 counties of New York State and has fulfilled more than 3,750 wishes in Western New York to date. Local listings say it grants about 150 wishes each year, underscoring why a strong turnout at a single club can have real consequences far beyond Williamsville.

Village Glen also had the infrastructure to handle the load. The club operates as part of a two-club racket-sports setup in Williamsville, and a pickleball court directory lists it with six dedicated indoor pickleball courts. That kind of footprint gave the tournament the space it needed to bring in a large field while keeping the event under one roof, a practical advantage for a spring fundraiser built around short matches, steady traffic, and constant movement.

Russ Tringali, the assistant general manager, said the cause was an easy one for people to support, and the turnout backed that up. In a sport where clubs are increasingly using tournaments to blend competition, sponsorship, and giving, Village Glen’s weekend fundraiser showed how quickly amateur pickleball can mobilize players around a shared goal. The result was not just a packed draw, but a clear example of the sport’s organizing power in Western New York.