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Date: 9/6/2023
BELCHERTOWN — The Belchertown Police Association will host its inaugural pickleball tournament on Saturday, Sept. 30 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Chestnut Hill Community School, 59 State St.
Wilbur Quick is the treasurer of the Belchertown Pickleball Group and is also helping run the tournament for the Police Association.
He said, “We hope to have a great time and great weather.”
The registration fee is $35 per player, and you can register as an individual and you will be assigned a partner.
You can register with the Park and Recreation Department, for waiver and liability purposes, at belchertownma.myrec.com.
Registration ends on Sept. 19 or when there are 32 teams signed up.
The fee includes a t-shirt for all participants.
The first session is from 8 to 10 a.m. and the second session will be from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
There might be a session from 12-2 p.m., depending on the number of sign-ups.
Sessions will take place at the Jabish Brook Pickleball Courts and the Chestnut Hill Community School Pickleball Courts.
Teams are guaranteed to play five matches with group play will being the first three rounds and playoffs taking place in the last two rounds.
The first four games will be eight minutes long and everyone’s last game will be 10 minutes long.
“We do it with the timed version so that way we keep the whole thing on schedule because once that 8 a.m. group has done their five games, its going to be close to 10 a.m. and then I start the next group,” Quick said.
There will be prizes for the winners of championship matches as well as prizes for the team with the most creative name.
Proceeds from the tournament will go toward funding the new Belchertown Police Comfort Dog Program, which was recently approved by the Select Board.
Police officer Val Austin will be the dog handler for what will be an eight-week-old full-breed black Labrador upon arrival.
Austin will be at the event with the yet-to-be-named comfort dog puppy.
Police Chief Kevin Pacunas said the comfort dog program can help the community and is little to no cost for the town or department. Austin is responsible for some of the cost of the dog but fundraising efforts like the pickleball tournament will also ensure the dog has everything it needs.
Pacunas added, “It’s going to help with building trust in our community even just being out and about at community policing type events. Everybody wants to come up and pet a dog, it spurs conversation. It can be school incidents, mental illness calls, motor vehicle accidents, victim interviews where you have a victim that’s not sure if they want to talk. You bring the comfort dog in, and they start to feel more comfortable.”