Warping Point has long believed that pickleball is more than a sport, it’s a tool for community building, personal well-being, and shared joy. That belief found a perfect match in Wayside Chapel, a religious establishment rooted in service, fellowship, and faith-led outreach.
Together, the two organizations collaborated to launch the Wayside Smash Pickleball Tournament in Bucyrus, Ohio, a first-of-its-kind event that brought sport and purpose together in a refreshingly simple way.
The collaboration wasn’t just about organizing a tournament. It was about planting the seed of a sustainable, healthy extracurricular activity in a community that values connection, health, and spiritual growth.
Warping Point donated a full suite of premium pickleball equipment, paddles, nets, and balls, to make the event possible and to ensure the sport could live on beyond a single day.
Held at Wayside Chapel, located at 2341 Kerstetter Rd in Bucyrus, Ohio, the tournament served as a community-wide introduction to the sport. While many attendees had never held a paddle before, that wasn’t the point.
The event wasn’t structured around high-stakes competition or rankings, it was built around participation. It offered locals an easy entry point into a sport that’s accessible, affordable, and fun for all ages.
Our decision to work with a church was no accident. Wayside Chapel’s history of outreach and its trusted presence in the community made it the ideal host for a grassroots sporting event.
As a space that brings people together in faith, service, and support, the chapel already served as a hub for local engagement. Pickleball, as it turns out, shares some of those same values, connection, humility, respect, and teamwork. It was a natural fit.
The tournament’s true success wasn’t measured in points, but in participation. Parents played alongside their kids. Seniors coached teens. Neighbors who might normally only exchange nods at the grocery store found themselves sharing a court. The laughter was loud, the learning curve short, and the community spirit undeniable.
Our organization’s role wasn’t limited to dropping off equipment and stepping back. Our team was hands-on in ensuring the event went smoothly, offering basic instruction to new players and encouraging an atmosphere of light-hearted fun.
But the real goal was to leave something behind, a reason for people to keep showing up, long after the tournament wrapped up.
That’s why the equipment donation mattered. With the gear now permanently housed at Wayside Chapel, the court won’t go quiet. Locals can organize weekend matches, families can drop by for casual games, and new players can continue to discover a sport that asks for very little but gives back a lot.
There’s something quietly powerful about a church being the birthplace of a community sports movement. Faith-based spaces like Wayside Chapel are already trusted sanctuaries, places where people seek growth, peace, and belonging. Pickleball, in its own way, mirrors that energy.
It brings people out of their shells. It asks them to be present, to engage, and to share the space with others, no ego, no pressure, just play. In many ways, the game itself offers a modern-day parable of connection.
For us, this initiative is one of many aimed at expanding pickleball’s reach in a meaningful way. Rather than chasing visibility through flashy sponsorships or headline-grabbing events, our brand is focused on embedding the game into everyday communities, the kind of places where the real change happens.
The Wayside Smash Pickleball Tournament may have been a first for Bucyrus, but it won’t be the last. With the chapel’s continued involvement and the equipment now available year-round, the event has sparked a rhythm, one that could lead to regular games, youth programming, and deeper partnerships.
As for brand, Warping Point already looking ahead, not for the next big event, but for the next right one. The next place where paddles, purpose, and people can come together, quietly, meaningfully, and with lasting impact.