Tournament Raises $12K for Student Veterans and Campus Recreation Center

A man in dark shorts, a T-shirt and hat lunges for a shot during a game of pickleball. Image by Ed Brennen
Master of Education alum Andy Weijer '94 hits a backhand during the recent Homecoming Pickleball Slam, a tournament that drew 180 players and raised nearly $12,000 for student veterans and the Campus Recreation Center.

10/23/2024
By Ed Brennen

Despite living in nearby Dracut, Massachusetts, Diane Pitta ’82 had lost touch with her alma mater since earning a bachelor’s degree in health education from UMass Lowell more than 40 years ago.

That’s changed recently, thanks to pickleball.

“Pickleball has drawn me back to the university,” said Pitta, who started playing drop-in games at the Campus Recreation Center last year after getting an alumni membership.

During Homecoming Weekend, Pitta was among 180 alumni, faculty, staff, students and community members to participate in UML’s second annual Pickleball Slam. 

Two women in visors and sun glasses smile while holding pickleball paddles outside. Image by Ed Brennen
Alumni Pat McGuirk '84, left, and Diane Pitta '82 finished second in their women's division at the Homecoming Pickleball Slam.
The daylong tournament, held on the sun-splashed outdoor tennis courts, raised nearly $12,000 for student veterans and the Campus Rec Center.

“It’s a win-win for the university,” said Pitta, who teamed up with alumna Pat McGuirk ’84 to take second place in their women’s division. “It drew somebody like me who had been disconnected from the university for so long, and it raises money, which is fantastic.”

The tournament was organized by Registrar Mai Nguyen, UML’s unofficial pied piper of pickleball, in collaboration with Meghan Jordan, the rec center’s associate director of competitive sports.

The top three teams in each of the 11 divisions (four women’s, three men’s and four mixed) received medals that were designed by sophomore engineering major Patrick Hartman and 3D-printed in the Lawrence Lin MakerSpace.

Five women celebrate near a pickleball court outdoors. Image by Ed Brennen
Tournament organizer Mai Nguyen, foreground, celebrates with fellow medal winners in their women's division of the tournament.
Tournament sponsors, meanwhile, donated nearly $3,000 worth of pickleball paddles, sports gear and gift certificates for medalists and raffle prizes.

The Pickleball Slam was part of a successful Homecoming weekend that saw the UML hockey team sweep Colgate University at the Tsongas Center — 5-2 on Friday’s “Pickleball Night” and 2-1 on Saturday night. The tournament also coincided with the annual Jennifer’s Run/Walk 5K, which raises scholarship funds in memory of Jennifer D’Amour ’98.

Chancellor Julie Chen is a regular at Sunday morning drop-in pickleball games at the rec center, but she was a spectator for the tournament.

Two women and a man look at pickleball paddles that are wrapped in plastic. Image by Ed Brennen
Alumna Shauna Salem '18, '19, right, looks over pickleball paddle prizes with her mom, Pat, after they won their women's division.
“It’s great to see so many people out here from both the university and the surrounding community,” Chen said. “It’s nice to have all this energy — and to have alumni come back and see the campus if they haven’t been back in a while.”

Shauna Salem ’18, ’19, a former distance runner for the River Hawks, teamed up with her mom, Pat, to win their women’s division. 

“I haven’t been back for Homecoming before, but it’s great to have a tournament like this where I went to school. It makes it fun,” said Salem, a Dracut native who earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and a master’s degree in pharmaceutical sciences and now works at Pfizer.

A closeup photo of a pickleball medal 3-D printed from plastic. Image by Ed Brennen
The Pickleball Slam medals were designed by sophomore engineering major Patrick Hartman and 3-D printed in the Lawrence Lin MakerSpace.
Her fiancé, chemistry alum Mike Harris ’18, played in the men’s tournament later in the day.

Andy Weijer ’94, who earned a master’s degree in education from UML and now teaches math at Lawrence High School, played mixed doubles with his wife, Danielle DeTora. They picked up the sport last year at the Campus Rec Center. 

“We’ve made a lot of really good friends through pickleball, and it keeps me active,” said Weijer, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force who appreciated that part of the tournament proceeds went to student veterans.

“We wanted to give back to the young men and women who serve our country,” said Nguyen, who played in the tournament while also leading a team that managed the brackets, tabulated results and handed out medals. 

A woman in white hat and red T-shirt hits a shot while her pickleball partner looks ahead. Image by Ed Brennen
Assoc. Director of Competitive Sports Meghan Jordan and her husband, physical therapy alum Sean Jordan '14, play in the mixed doubles tournament.
Pitta met her husband, business alum and retired Lowell Fire Chief Edward “Skip” Pitta ’81, as a student at UML. 

McGuirk, a retired teacher and administrator at Greater Lowell Technical High School, earned a master’s degree in educational administration from UML. She is married to James McGuirk ’69, a member of the UML Athletic Hall of Fame. While the couple plays together at the Campus Rec Center on Sunday mornings, Pat teamed up with Pitta for the Pickleball Slam. 

“We’re here to support Mai and UMass Lowell,” McGuirk said. “It’s a fabulous tournament.”

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