(CLAIR | Moorpark, CA) — Whatever you had planned for June 28, this is better: pickleball, catered meals, and prizes across eight courts. The catch is small. Register by Tuesday.
That is the deadline for the inaugural Pickleball Classic, the Paddles for Health Tournament, in Moorpark, June 28. Registration closes Tuesday, June 23. When it does, the brackets lock and the next shot at it is a year away.
You do not need to be good to claim a spot. Men's and women's divisions span skill levels from a polite beginner 3.0 up to the 4.5-and-above crowd who treat the kitchen line like sacred ground. There is a bracket for the ringer and a bracket for the friend who learned in April. Whatever your game looks like, there is a place for it.
This is not a quick afternoon hit-around, either. Play runs from 7:15 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. across eight courts. A full Sunday of competition, win or lose, for the price of signing up before the clock runs out.
The organizers also know nobody plays ten hours of anything on an empty stomach. The day comes with catered meals and refreshments, a hospitality tent called the Paddle Pavilion, three award celebrations, and gift bags. You came for pickleball and accidentally booked a full Sunday with snacks and a goodie bag.
And the cause behind it is no joke. The event belongs to the Adventist Health Simi Valley Foundation. Every dollar goes toward surgical equipment and new operating technology at the hospital. Adventist Health Simi Valley has built its name on robotic surgery, neurology, and cardiology. Your overhead smash is, literally, helping fund an even better operating room.
The sport fits the crowd. Pickleball went from a backyard oddity to one of the most-played games in the country. Courts across Simi Valley and Moorpark fill most mornings now.
The sponsor sheet is where it gets good. The hospital's own medical staff took the title sponsorship. Surgeons Dr. Jonathan Kurohara and Dr. Lisa Oki are top-tier sponsors, and Dr. Anand Mohan, Dr. Andrew Luckey, and Dr. Anandhi Narasimhan signed on too. Translation: the same doctors who might one day operate on you are out here funding the gear many of us will one day need.
The rest of Simi piled in behind them. The Rotary Club of Simi Sunrise, Price Ford Simi Valley, Tri Counties Bank, Ventura County Credit Union, and other local businesses fill the roster — banks, car dealers, senior living homes, and a hardware store among them. The sponsor list reads like a roll call of everyone you already wave to at the grocery store.
Steering it all is a foundation staffer fielding the questions. Jane Gecolea, an associate philanthropy officer, is the contact for players and sponsors at 805-955-6670. She is the person quietly making all of this happen.
Pretty amazing when you think about it. A serve in Moorpark becomes the high tech surgery equipment we need in Simi Valley.
The catch is still small, and the clock is ticking.
Brackets close Tuesday, June 23. If you would like to play and help, here is where you can signup: trellis.org/ahsv-pickleball-classic-2026.