DECA chapter project Fun4Funds hosted a pickleball tournament aimed at raising money for scholarship funds on Jan. 12 at the Parkland Recreation Center. The event was previously discussed in a meeting on Dec. 3, 2024, at which DECA students were encouraged to participate and register.
In order to organize the event, Fun4Funds founders senior Elle Naqvi and juniors Brian Listopad and Miles Sacks worked with the City of Parkland to obtain a permit to coordinate the event. The event wound up taking place in the indoor gym from 2-4 p.m., and four courts were made available for them to play on.
Tickets were sold prior to the event at $10 each, allowing the organizers to arrange the teams of two into random brackets before the tournament. Drinks and chips were offered, but participants were asked to bring their own paddles.
Players began by warming up, before being directed by Naqvi to one of the courts to begin playing against their opponents.
“The [pickleball] nets the Parkland-Rec provided to us, but we had everyone bring in their own paddles, and we do have our extra own supply, and we brought in the balls,” Naqvi said. “We had people sign up via a Signup Genius and we had people bring in $10 cash, and then we had to do a money collection envelope through the office.”
Those who lost and were dropped from the first bracket were allowed to play in five additional matches as part of a loser’s bracket.
“We lost the first round, but then we got into the loser’s bracket,” junior Eashaan Murthy said. “We did pretty good in the loser’s bracket, we won 11–6, and now we are going to try and win the full loser’s bracket. Me and Praneeth do very good together as a team. First game we were just a little rusty because we haven’t worked up, but as time went on we got better. I used to play [pickleball] during the summer a lot, but then I stopped, but it’s mostly a casual thing with my friends.”
The pickleball event allowed for people to get together and support a common cause while having fun. All the money is given to DECA and used in a general scholarship fund to support students. Florida DECA offers 10 scholarships that all DECA students can apply for. Out of the 10 scholarships, four are named after victims of MSD’s school shooting. The scholarships are awarded based on students’ activeness in the DECA program throughout their high school years.
“It’s going to get very competitive today,” Listopad said. “We lost our first game, but we won our game in the loser’s bracket. We were pretty decent together, but I would say I carried [my teammate] throughout the second match. [In pickleball] you don’t have to worry about any contact or people getting hurt. It’s a simple sport, everyone likes it and you can’t go wrong with it.”
In the final match sophomores Max Rodriguez and Justin Krameisen played against the winning team of juniors Spencer Edelman and Matthew Corn.
“It was fun playing with all my friends and my cousins,” Edelman said. “I played pickleball in the past and my uncle’s very good so he helped me, but just team effort [helped us win].”
The awards ceremony consisted of the first and second place winners getting up on stage to receive prizes. The first-place winners received trophies, and the second-place winners received gold medals; both had a choice of either a paddle or pickle jar signed by all the founders.
Through this event, Fun4Funds was able to raise $260 as organizing costs were low. The founders brought the DECA community together for competitive pickleball matches, while also succeeding in their mission of supporting education.
