WESTFIELD — The city’s Parks and Recreation Commission voted on Sept. 9 to give Ben Kochanski permission to reserve the eight fenced-in courts at the Municipal Playground to run a pickleball tournament from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 5, with a rain date of Sunday, Oct. 13.
Kochanski introduced himself as a Professional Pickleball Registry-certified teaching professional and coach who has run tournaments in the past. He said he recently moved to Granby, Connecticut, from New York, and just started coaching at Dill Dinkers, an indoor pickleball facility in Simsbury, Connecticut.
“I think the courts are amazing. We should show them to as many people as possible. It’s a great thing to show off Westfield,” Kochanski said.
He said he’s run five or six tournaments in the last year, but this will be his first since moving to the area. He plans to use Team Reach, a pickleball app in which people create groups, and use the groups to post events.
“That, in pickleball, is the main way to get information out. This has been posted now in 15 or 20 team reaches, including Westfield pickleballers,” he said after the meeting.
On a flyer advertising the event, which is called “Addicted to Pickleball: New England Classic,” two different types of events are listed. One is a “4×4” teams tournament in which captains register for their teams of four players, two men and two women per team. Partners rotate through the tournament. Teams compete in a round-robin and are then seeded into a playoff for the championship. The cost for the team event will be $40 per person.
In the second event, people may also register by themselves as an individual and rotate partners, with total scores determining a “king of the court” and “queen of the court.” The cost to register will be $20 per person. Kochanski said the two events will be at different times, so people may play in both, depending on how many register. Registration is available at bit.ly/ATPNewEngland with a deadline of Sept. 25.
During the discussion at the meeting, Commissioner Jane DeBarbieri worried that regular pickleball players would show up at the courts that Saturday, not knowing they had been reserved for a tournament.
Kochanski said his goal is to spread the word in the Westfield pickleball community.
In response to another question, he said he will be putting on the tournament as an individual, and the fees would go to support the expenses of the tournament, including equipment and prizes.
“I just love to do it,” Kochanski said. “People that play pickleball are really connected to one another. Events like tournaments grow that community.”
Commissioner Ken Magarian asked if it was a good idea on a prime Saturday to shut down those courts for the whole day. Kochanski said depending on how many players register, he may not need all eight courts from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. He is looking for 40 players.
Commissioner Michael Tirrell said the tournament should be treated the same way the board would treat a softball tournament at a public park. The commission then voted unanimously in favor of the tournament on Oct. 5, and a rain date on Oct. 13.
High school pilot
At the same meeting, the commission approved Westfield Technical Academy using the pickleball courts on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons through the end of October in order to participate in a pilot program of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association.
Westfield Tech is one of four schools in Western Massachusetts that will sponsor pickleball as a “club” sport this fall, playing matches against each other. Teams will be coed, and matches will include team, doubles and mixed games.
Kyle Dulude, athletic coordinator at Westfield Tech, who teaches ninth grade gym, recruited six ninth-graders for the team. Six other students volunteered, for a total of 12. Ronald Nadeau, an instructor in the school’s manufacturing shop, will be the coach.
Dulude said the MIAA will evaluate how the season goes to determine if there is enough interest to fully sanction pickleball as a competitive sport in future years.
