PickleBarn hosts charity pickleball tournament

MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) - Just three weeks after opening, Mankato’s PickleBarn hosted its first major event Sunday.

The court partnered with McDonalds of Mankato to host the Ronald McDonald House Charities Pickleball Classic.

“It goes beyond the actual tournament, that what these players come together for is beyond the game, it’s to support members in their community,” said Trisha Anderson of Partners for Affordable Housing.

The charity aims to give the friends and family of people getting medical treatment a place to stay while away from home.

Partners for Housing also had some representatives in attendance, who said that the cause is one that hits close to home.

“My connection goes back 35 years ago when my brother was sick and was going through cancer treatments, and we had to stay at the Ronald McDonald House in St. Paul, one of the original houses so that we could all stay together during the times that he was going through treatment,” Anderson said.

The event had brackets for all skill levels, with regular competitors filling in the advanced bracket and local community members learning how to play with veterans of the sport.

For the owners of the newly opened pickleball facility, courts full of community members giving their all is a sight for the ages, and they said that the tournament was a great opportunity to spread their favorite sport while supporting a cause they believe in.

“It’s been absolutely amazing. Colleen and the whole Ronald McDonald crew has made it so easy to run this here, and it’s just so fun to see like the joy on people’s faces when they play pickleball and especially for a charity event we’re just so happy that we were able to host it,” said PickleBarn owner Sidney Elofson.

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