The popularity of pickleball continues to soar, with Arizona being one of the most popular states to dominate the pickleball community.
With support from USA Pickleball, the National Pickleball League (NPL), the first and only professional pickleball league for Champions Pros age 50-plus, is hosting a one-of-a-kind charity event tomorrow in support of Play for P.I.N.K. and in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
From 5 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 12 Championship Weekend will kick off at the WaterDance Plaza in the Westgate Entertainment District.
Eventgoers can expect introductions to the game from USA Pickleball, exciting exhibition play from NPL Champion Pros, donation opportunities to pickle with the pros, a silent auction, giveaways, a live DJ and more.
Guests can enjoy the Thursday festivities in the WaterDance Plaza, before the NPL Championship matches begin on Friday morning. All six NPL teams (Austin Ignite, Oklahoma City Punishers, Indy Drivers, Naples JBB United, Denver Iconics and the Boca Raton Picklers) will compete for the Championship title with play at the new Chicken N Pickle.
“We’re all set to share the fun and excitement of showcasing NPL and the game of pickleball being played at the highest level, while simultaneously supporting Play for P.I.N.K. and raising funds for meaningful research,” said Michael Chen, co-founder of the National Pickleball League. “It’s an opportunity to get physically active and contribute to a common goal in support of everyone affected by this disease.”
Play for P.I.N.K. is excited to be gearing up this October for Breast Cancer Awareness Month and expanding into adult and youth sports, games and events to reach members of the community. Proceeds from the event will fund 16 researchers across the country, including Tempe researcher Dr. Joshua LaBaer, BSc, MD, PhD through the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
“We are deeply grateful for the support our lab has received from Play for P.I.N.K. We could not have done our research without it,” said Dr. LaBaer. “We study a form of breast cancer called triple negative breast cancer, which is an especially aggressive form of breast cancer that is more common among younger women, and which doesn’t respond to many of the modern therapies available for other types of breast cancer. How do we find therapies that we can we use to help these women? Most triple negative breast cancers have mutations in an important cancer gene called p53. Play for P.I.N.K. has been instrumental in helping us to study the effects of these p53 mutations and to understand how they lead to this aggressive behavior. These findings, which we have just published, will help us to find new targeted therapies that will help these patients.”
The event is free to the public, with opportunities to donate to Play for P.I.N.K. All guests are welcome to join the fun whether they are experienced Pickleball enthusiasts or first-time players, to get active and support this Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
For more information, visit nplpickleball.com/
