Not Just Pickleball
At half past six, Michael Plansky, CEO and founder of You’re With Us!, walked to the center of the crowd gathered at the Wellesley Country Club. People enjoying the mini-burgers and catching up with each other quieted down. As Michael expressed gratitude to all the guests and teams making this event possible, the most amazing pickleball night started.
However, it was not just one pickleball night. It was the first large-scale event for You’re With Us, a non-profit organization that seeks to create more inclusion opportunities for young adults with disabilities. The evening was a product of the sponsors’ generous support and the planning team’s dedication to creating a sense of belonging for ALL.
Not Just Pickleball: The Inaugural Inclusion Event
“[The vision is] to create an inclusive environment with something that everybody can play.” Michael Plansky said.
The crowd picked out their racquets and entered the court, where Paul Fairchild, the director of racquets, and Mette Sigmunstad, the senior racquet professional from Wellesley Country Club, were standing on both sides of the court, showing people the techniques of pickleball.
“You need to keep the ball low, or I can spike the ball from above.” Mette said as she raised her racquet.
The fifty players were then rearranged into three levels across four courts. Some were observing the pickleball in their hands for the first time in their lives, while others jumped right into a competitive game.
Without needing any further introductions or icebreakers, the energy of the players on the blue and green courts was palpable.
In an interview with Michael Plansky, he revealed the early vision of the event. "Inclusion," he said. While conceptualizing the event, he made the vision prominent to the team that the event would bring together ALL - mentees of different abilities, mentors, employees, sponsors and supporters - in the same room, doing something fun.
And his vision and the team’s work proved to be a massive success.
It was the first pickleball experience for Michael Sampson. Before tonight, he had not tried any sport, and his pickleballer mom wanted him to take this opportunity and give it a shot. “The best part of tonight is to meet with other people and play pickleball - and it was fun!”
Brian Manning expressed his fascination with watching others play, and, accompanied by his father and other participants, he also ventured into his first pickleball game. Brian had a delightful time chatting with Michael Plansky. Even though he had met with Michael a couple of times, his excitement to meet Michael remained fresh.
Brian Manning and his father at beginner court
Michael Sampson at beginner court
On the other side of the court, Caroline was sitting at the advanced-level bench, watching her brother-in-law engage in a tough battle with three other experienced pickleballers. “My brother-in-law went to college with Joe Sharkey. We are here to support him and also to support this wonderful organization.” She describes the night as fun and entertaining - a great opportunity to meet new people while playing pickleball.
It did not take long for the beginners to start looking for opponents on the intermediate courts, and the originally arranged pairings gradually blended together. The courts were vibrant.
“It is just so fun to see that some players are beginners and some are advanced. They are playing together and are still having a lot of fun.” Mette Sigmunstad was organizing the beginner and intermediate courts all night, correcting players' moves, matching them, and offering advice. “A lot of happiness, smiling, and laughing!” She cheerfully commented.
The night not only brought together pickleballers regardless of their abilities and levels but also enabled the You're With Us!’s community to unite for the first time in the post-pandemic era.
“Most of our work is virtual. Even when I started it was during the pandemic, so I didn’t get the chance to meet everyone in person. It is really nice to see everyone get together.” Callie Braudis, the regional coordinator for the MetroWest area, expressed her joy to finally meet with the co-ops that had been working with her everyday, and her mentees Brian Villani and Matt McGlaughlin.
Brendan McManus
As an active participant of You’re With Us! and mentee of Joe Sharkey, Brendan McManus was thrilled to meet with his old friend Joe, and described the reunion as “exciting, awesome, and amazing.”
Ruby Humes added her perspective as one of the Boston Regional Coordinators from You’re With Us!. “In our daily work, we are doing a lot of connecting mentors and mentees (through emails), but here we are able to build the entire You’re With Us! Community - there are a bunch of participants here and a lot of families that I haven't met in person yet.”
Employees who had never met each other in person introduced family and friends they had brought with them. The mentors and mentees, who may only communicate through emails, sat on the sidelines and chatted. Friends reunited, updated each others’ lives, and supported their shared community.
You’re With Us! has always believed that “social connections are a basic human need that ALL deserves,” and all its participants, mentees, mentors and supporters alike, have a profound impact on people around them. And the evening just proved that a simple game of pickleball can promote inclusivity and build community.
Not Just Pickleball: The Challenges and Teamwork
Conceptualizing and executing an event requires meticulous planning, especially for an inaugural event. For You're With Us!, the event was not only about the vision of bringing people together, but also getting the word out, soliciting sponsorships, and raising money to create more inclusive opportunities for the future.
As part of the fundraising team of You’re With Us!, Katelyn Lyons disclosed some stories behind the scenes of the event. “Starting every event from scratch, you really have to think about - OK, who’s my audience and how do I reach them?”
For Katelyn, the most challenging part during the planning stage is reaching out to the various communities - not only the organization’s own community of mentors and mentees, but also new groups of pickleballers and supporters.
As the event planning was underway, the team quickly realized they were not reaching as many communities as they hoped. When the email click-through and response rates weren't what they expected, everyone on the team brainstormed ways to rewrite outreach, refine the registration page, increase social media exposure, and reach out to potential participants through phone-calls.
Banner listing all the sponsors
“We had a lot of people that actually showed up close to the event because they saw different posts on social media.” Michael, the CEO, spoke about it.
Meanwhile, Joe Sharkey, Director of Development and Community Engagement of You’re With Us!, took on the responsibility of fundraising for the event. Connected to members of the Wellesley Country Club, Joe utilized his connections and contacted businesses and companies about You're With Us! and the event.
Thanks to Joe, the event and the organization are finally supported by different levels of donations, including the Flutie Foundation for Autism, Royal Bank of Canada, Beacon Wealth Management, Claudia & Jay O’Brien, Camp North Star, Hoop Works, and Twelve Points. The generous support of sponsors was critical to the success of the event.
“Everybody worked together to put it together, raised the money to make it possible, figured out the format, communicated effectively, and got the word out. There is no way we can do it without the whole team.” Michael concluded.
Not Just Pickleball: Next Step with You’re With Us!
“We believe that there is good in the world. And just by doing the good and welcoming the people who may not look like you, that you may not have met in your community before - that’s the You’re With Us way. Whatever you’re doing as a group, if you see someone doing something on the sidelines, just say - Hey! You are with us.” Michael Plansky said as he wrapped up the evening.
Join You’re With Us! for their next fundraising event - the Flutie 5K on October 29th in Natick, MA. It will be another incredible day for people of all abilities to run, walk or roll. The funds raised at this event directly support social inclusion opportunities for young adults with disabilities.
Everyone benefits from a sense of belonging. Sign up for the Flutie 5K at YWU team.
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