This Saturday, September 30, a sport with a funny name will play out a serious purpose.

The Pink Project Pickleball Tournament hits White House’s Municipal Park Tennis Courts from 8:30-11 a.m., with proceeds benefitting The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. White House High School Seniors Mackenzie Jenkins and Sophia Ramirez created the event as part of their DECA project this year.

“The timeline worked out with Breast Cancer awareness month coming up,” says Sophia, daughter of Carlos and Sya Ramirez.

Both of Sophia’s grandmothers battled and beat breast cancer.

“It feels really good to know we’re doing this for breast cancer research,” she adds.

The Susan G. Komen foundation projects that breast cancer will impact 297,000 women and 2,800 men in 2023. It is a disease impacting many. While you can’t take treatment for your loved one, you can grab a racket and whack at that plastic, waffled ball.

“We wanted to have something everyone can do even if you’ve never played before,” says Mackenzie, daughter of Mark and Becky Jenkins. “It’s not hard to learn, so you can do it with your friends and for a great cause.”

Friends since the 8^th grade, Mackenzie and Sophia have lived out their high school experience side by side. From playing tennis on WHHS’ team to attending prom and participating in DECA every year, these two girls have many shared moments.

It was natural for them team up on this project, too.

Mackenzie, a student of the Health Sciences department, and Sophia, a student of the Business department, melded their skills together in creating this event.  It’s a project that will span over the course of this semester.

“This is our first written project for DECA,” says Sophia, “so there’s a lot more planning involved.”

“Normally, our DECA project is something we really just do the day of the competition,” says Mackenzie.

DECA, Distributive Education Clubs of America, is a non-profit organization “providing classroom teachers with enriching educational programs and resources to enhance learning. More than 227,000 DECA student members, teacher advisors, alumni and professionals around the globe join DECA each year to develop the next gen workforce.” (www.deca.org)

The Pink Project involves a 10-page paper and multiple smaller projects surrounding the Pickleball Tournament. The girls also had to gather community involvement — teams to play and companies to fund the event. Local businesses such as Colorado Grill, Tate Ornamental, Deja Moo Creamery & Coffee Co., and The Farmers Bank all jumped on board to assist in making the tournament possible. Individuals also stepped in such as Jeff Anderson, who printed their T-shirts.

There’s still room to get involved. Fifteen teams are signed up to compete in this friendly competition. Mackenzie and Sophia want even more, their desire being to raise more than their $1,000 goal.

“The donations don’t stop after the tournament is over,” says Mackenzie.

Indeed, the duo hopes this event will be the first of many for future generations of White House students.

“We chose The Breast Cancer Foundation partly because it allows students who come after us to link to our event and continue raising funds for cancer research,” says Sophia.

Mackenzie and Sophia have laid the foundation. Other students can build upon it, potentially creating a new kind of Blue Devil legacy.

Why not grab a partner and form a team, remembering who you are playing pickleball for? Ink in their names on your Pink Project t-shirt. Tighten your shoelaces and slap on a friendly competitive face. Pickleball is getting serious on Saturday ... serious about fighting breast cancer.

Want to get involved? Email Mackenzie Jenkins and Sophia Ramirez at BCRFPINKPROJECT@Gmail.com