Move Over Golf, Relationships Are Thriving on the Pickleball Court
Is business a serious game? Absolutely! And it can be fun, too. What better time to explore that whimsical side than summertime in the U.S.?
This month’s Future of the Business World podcast guest, Ava Weissman, has been pitching her 501(c)(3) nonprofit to Wharton Global Youth for a while now. It wasn’t until we met her in person during her time with Leadership in the Business World on Wharton’s Philadelphia campus in July that we picked up on the business themes – fundraising, networking, event planning and building relationships. Be sure to click the arrow above to listen to our conversation about Pickleball 4 a Purpose. An edited transcript appears below.
Wharton Global Youth Program: Hello and welcome to Future of the Business World, the podcast featuring innovative and impact-driven high school entrepreneurs. I’m Diana Drake with the Wharton Global Youth Program at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
We thought we’d have some fun on Future of the Business World this summer and hit the courts, the pickleball courts, that is. For those who haven’t played pickleball, it is a paddle sport that combines elements of tennis, badminton and table tennis. It’s accessible to players of all ages and skill levels and has become very popular in the U.S. and beyond.
Today’s guest, a recent student at Wharton Global Youth’s Leadership in the Business World program, loves to play pickleball — so much so that she wanted many others to experience the same joy. And that’s where the entrepreneurial mindset comes in.
Ava Weissman, welcome to Future of the Business World!
Ava Weissman: Thank you so much for having me. I’m so excited to be here.
Wharton Global Youth: I like to start by hearing more about you. So, tell us about yourself. Where are you from? Where do you go to school? What grade are you in? All the good stuff.
Ava: I’m from South Florida. It’s a small town — Parkland. I am going to be a rising senior, and my school is called American Heritage.
Wharton Global Youth: Your nonprofit is called Pickleball 4 a Purpose, and you profess to promote intergenerational connections, one paddle at a time. Tell us more about the origin of this organization and how it works.
Ava: Pickleball 4 a Purpose started last summer, and it started with playing with my grandma in the hot Florida sun. We’re always trying to be outside as much as we can. So, we decided to play pickleball together, and it was such a unique and amazing experience where I got to personally connect with my grandma in a way that I never had before. I wanted to share that connection with others.
And so, I started Pickleball 4 a Purpose. I like to [tell] the story of me biking to local stores, just trying to pitch the latest tournament to sponsors. I had my first tournament in September of 2024, and that led to the expansion that happens today, which [includes] 14 chapters across the world. We’ve raised $30,000 on behalf of all those chapters.
The tournaments work, where someone under the age of 21 signs up, and then a player over the age of 60 signs up. There doesn’t have to be any sort of knowledge of the other person, yet they sign up individually, and they’re paired based off of their shared interests. And then [there are] tournaments run by either myself or other students who are in charge of the chapters. Then the teams are made. There’s a whole pickleball round robin tournament, and the winner usually gets a prize. But all of the proceeds, which [come from] the sponsorships or the ticket sales, go toward either a youth or a senior charity.
Wharton Global Youth: You weren’t kidding. It’s literally replicating you and your grandma playing pickleball.
Ava: Yeah, it really is.
Wharton Global Youth: And what’s your grandma’s name?
Ava: Sharon.
Wharton Global Youth: Okay, so I need to see this. I mean, I can hear it, and it sounds really cool. I love the intergenerational piece. But can you describe a recent tournament for me and maybe some players that stood out to you, so that I have a picture in my mind?
Ava: The recent tournament that I ran in Florida was in February at Diadem Pickleball Complex. One that I want to highlight, that I love to share is Laura and Shirley. So basically, they both loved theater. They’re both in the South Florida area, and they came to the tournament. Laura already played before, but Shirley was a new player. They met there. They had such a good time together. All of the pictures we have of them laughing and smiling and today they meet every other week to play pickleball with each other. They’ve met each other’s families, they’ve hung out [outside] of the tournament, and they’ve created such a bond where I could visualize the impact that we were making. It made me feel so successful and so vibrant [about] what I was creating.
Wharton Global Youth: So, the purpose is obviously bringing together these different generations and also having fun. But there’s a deeper purpose here, right? And I want to talk about that, too. The U.S. Surgeon General has called loneliness an epidemic for our society, and I think that’s one thing that you’re trying to overcome is to tackle this loneliness issue, especially among older people? Why is addressing loneliness in society important to you? And what have you learned about the crisis and its effect on mental health?
Ava: Firsthand, I’ve obviously experienced my lonely moments. But when I [first] noticed it with the older generation was [when] I volunteered at senior homes. I was volunteering, and I saw the relationship I was able to form with some of the seniors there. And they expressed to me how without this youth connection, they felt very isolated. They were in their rooms a lot, and they didn’t have this sort of connection. Nowadays, with social media, kids are so consumed with their phones that they don’t see the full picture of trying to connect with other people. So, I thought that the only way to end this isolation was to create connections. And why not have intergenerational connections that make an impact on both the younger person and the older adult?
“In business, connections are what lead you to where you want to be. They are the doorway to success.” -Ava Weissman
Wharton Global Youth: Tell me more too about that intergenerational piece. Why do you feel that is fundamental to your mission?
Ava: I think it’s so fundamental because going back to my other point, people aren’t connecting the same way they were before. Giving people the ability to do so through pickleball, which is such a fun sport, and it is such an intergenerational sport — my friends play, but also my grandma and her friends play – so it’s the perfect opportunity to bring everything together.
Wharton Global Youth: Did you say [you now have] 14 chapters? I thought I heard you say you just started this — maybe last summer is when you started thinking about it. Can you talk about the progress you’ve made with the nonprofit? How has it grown so quickly? What are some of the strategies that you’ve used to turn this into a reality?
Ava: The main thing I’ve been able to utilize is connections. I think, in business, connections are what lead you to where you want to be. They are the doorway to success. And so, with all the people I’ve met through the extracurriculars, I’ve done – [for example], I’m very involved in Model United Nations. At the conferences, it’s an international space [that] allows me to meet new people and then pitch Pickleball 4 a Purpose to these kids who are like-minded [and] who want to start something. [I’m able to] open up and tell people about it and not be scared of rejection or the fact that they might not want to start it. [It’s about] meeting new people and creating new connections, and then also having an accessible way for them to start. I created a chapter playbook, which is essentially just a Canva document, but it gives you all the information needed to start your own chapter. It makes it a lot more automated, so I don’t have to train them in every single [aspect] of starting the tournament. They have it all on paper. They can report back to me, but it’s a lot easier and accessible for them to do.
Wharton Global Youth: Where are some of these chapters located?
Ava: One is right in Philadelphia, near you, near Wharton. There’s one in Ecuador, California and Los Angeles, Atlanta, and a couple in Florida. There’s one in Puerto Rico, and hopefully there’s one starting in Brazil soon. So, on the American continent right now. It’s exciting.
And again, these are all from connections you’ve made through Model UN and different students you’ve met along the way, right? Does the world play pickleball? I didn’t realize this was a global sport.
Wharton Global Youth: The thing that we’re trying to conquer right now is being able to adapt because, like you said, pickleball is very U.S.-centric. But there are sports that are very similar, like padel, which is big near me right now. It’s also really big in South America, and, of course, tennis – [sports] that people are more familiar with. So, if someone wants to start a chapter and pickleball isn’t as accessible to them, they can start it. But pickleball is picking up so, so fast. There’s a movie coming out with Ben Stiller soon that is highlighting pickleball, and it’s a comedy. So, we see it rising more and more. Making it so anyone can play in their own custom sport near them is easier for us. But we hope that pickleball continues to grow.
Wharton Global Youth: Could you talk more about your team of high school students helping you with this? It seems like it can be a lot of work putting on any kind of event and also building those relationships. How are your other team members enriching your effort?
Ava: In order to make everything flow correctly, someone is head of each chapter, and there are people who work under them, and there are people who work with me on the national branch. So, [we have] around 40 to 50 student volunteers in total. We’re working on creating an older generation advisory board, so it’s bringing together the intergenerational aspect in it. The volunteers and the people who help run the events are the key to the events, because without the people helping you, I would have gotten nowhere. Not only is their support so valuable, but having new insight and ideas that boost the event and things I wouldn’t have thought of [on my own] make it so that Pickleball 4 a Purpose can expand as fast as it can and flourish as well as it has.
Wharton Global Youth: Do you have an example of one of those ideas that you felt improved an event? I remember reading on your website about one of your team members who is focused on filmmaking and has a passion for the older generation and telling their stories. I’m wondering how that has played out?
Ava: I can highlight her right now. Her name is Bianca. She’s the vice president of Pickleball 4 a Purpose. Knowing myself, I love business. It’s so fun to me. But I’m not as creative in the arts and everything. Bianca gives me that aspect of knowing how important it is to bring in those elements, even to a sport. She introduced film to me, so now every single tournament is filmed. She takes pictures that we share with all the participants. And she also allowed me to understand the need for press and coverage on Pickleball 4 a Purpose for it to spread. So, she’s helping me reach out to local news stations to get the new next tournament on the news. She gives me that fresh perspective of the creative film aspect that I wouldn’t have had if I didn’t have her.
Wharton Global Youth: Well, right now, you have a platform. What is the next big thing for Pickleball 4 a Purpose?
Ava: Great question. The next big tournament is September 29 in South Florida. It’s on the website. We’re expected to raise $10,000 for the Florida Council of Aging that will help support senior legislation, and we’re presenting [the check] to the Florida Council of Aging on August 6., but the tournament is September 29.
Wharton Global Youth: You just left Wharton’s Philadelphia campus after three weeks studying Leadership in the Business World. I’m curious if you intentionally talked with your peers and instructors about aspects of your nonprofit? What business strategies are you taking way that you hope to put in motion?
Ava: LBW gave me such a great way of thinking, a new way of thinking, and it allowed me to expand my reach. First off, talking with the professors, the lectures that we had every day, allowed me to look into the center of what Pickleball 4 a Purpose was doing. We focused on elements where, as a kid, as an entrepreneur, I focus on the full picture. I feel like I’ve not been able to hone in on certain aspects, like core competencies, of what Pickleball 4 a Purpose [needs] to expand. Leadership in the Business World gave me the opportunity to do so.
And also, talking to my peers. In Leadership in the Business World, everyone is so passionate. They’re so motivated. I’ve never been around such a great group of kids [where] I felt like I belonged and that everyone else had similar ideas and similar goals as me. [I appreciated] the motivation that the other kids gave me — and the ideas. One of my friends had a trash business where he took out trash for people when they weren’t home. He gave me some interesting ideas that I could add to Pickleball 4 a Purpose, such as focusing on this Uber model, which is basically making things more accessible for people. I want to implement that into my website because of everything that we were talking about. [LBW] was an amazing experience for Pickleball 4 a Purpose — to become something that it hadn’t been before because of all I’ve learned.
Wharton Global Youth: Has your grandmother stayed connected to this whole journey of yours as you’ve developed your nonprofit?
Ava: Yes, she has. She comes to every single tournament in Florida that she can come to, and she’s been one of my biggest motivators. And she gets all her friends and her community to come to support and play. So, it’s a great way for us to continue to bond. And then I get to meet all her friends, and it’s just a big family.
Wharton Global Youth: I want to touch on one more thing that you already alluded to, but I think we could talk more about — the power of relationships and connectedness in the business world. We talk about this a lot, and I feel like this summer especially, I’ve heard different professors and different guest speakers talking about this value of networking and building relationships for a lifetime. Do you feel your nonprofit is helping you do that and expand your network as you think about your life after high school?
Ava: Of course. The best way to meet new people is to start something, and I think that’s what I did. I’ve met such amazing people. To give you an example, Blanca Ceballos, who I work very closely with, [and] I’ve donated to a couple of the senior organizations that she helps with. She’s very involved in the Miami community. Without her, I wouldn’t have had the guidance on who to target for Pickleball 4 a Purpose, how to know who to donate to, how to trust the older generation to come out and play. All the connections I made are because of Blanca, and she’s helped me so much. She’s guided me from making PowerPoints to pitch to people, to making posters for the tournaments. Everything she’s taught me is so valuable, and I’m going to continue to [pass] that on.
Another cool element of Pickleball 4 a Purpose is [passing it on]. As I am a rising senior and I’m going to college next year, [I plan to give] Pickleball 4 a Purpose to a new student to run [while] I am still part of it, but not as involved. So, creating even more connections for that student and to continue the cycle. I think that’s the power of any business — inspiring others as well.
Wharton Global Youth: Have there been any bumps in the road or on the court, as it were?
Ava: Yes. I would say the biggest thing for me is being a 17-year-old running a nonprofit. It’s hard to get sponsors to trust the message, and as we just did, become a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. That makes it a lot easier. But at the beginning, like I said, I had to bike to my local Carmelas [coffee shop] to ask them outside if they would consider donating, or to my orthodontist. The hardest part was getting people to trust the message. But I think that also gets easier as you progress — as I’ve hosted more tournaments and then expanded internationally. That makes it so people trust it more. But at the beginning, it’s always hard to get anyone to just give you money.
Wharton Global Youth: Do you feel like perseverance is what has helped you overcome that challenge?
Ava: Yes, perseverance is probably one of the closest traits that I hold to myself, because I could have easily just given up and not gone out every day and asked people and called people, but look at what it taught me and where it got me.
Wharton Global Youth: My last question for you Ava is: how’s your pickleball game?
Ava: I would say that I’m not the best pickleball player, and I’m definitely not like a self -proclaimed pickleball player. Actually, it’s funny you ask, because at the tournaments, I don’t play because I have to help run them. But all my friends are like, oh, let’s have a rally. Or when I meet an older adult, they want to play with me, too. And I don’t think I’ve ever beaten one of the people in the tournaments, just because of how they’re all really good. And so, I definitely should practice more with my grandma. But yeah, my grandma also kicks my butt too, so I would say I’m an okay player.
Wharton Global Youth: Well, you’ve done great things with pickleball, so we’ll give you that. All right. Let’s end with our lightning round. Try to answer these questions as quickly as you can.
Tell us something about you that would surprise us?
Ava: When I was 12, I started my own sneaker business.
Wharton Global Youth: One moment at Leadership in the Business World that will stay with you forever?
Ava: Getting Angela Duckworth to sign my copy of Grit.
Wharton Global Youth: When was the last time you did something for the first time?
Ava: Going away by myself to LBW was the first time I ever went away alone.
Wharton Global Youth: What would you be caught binge-watching at midnight?
Ava: Probably Love Island.
Wharton Global Youth: You are starting your own business-themed talk show. Who is your first guest and what is your first question?
Ava: I would say my first guest would probably be Oprah. And it would be, how did you overcome all of the barriers to get to where you are? Maybe a follow-up question would be, and what was your moment where you knew that you made it?
Wharton Global Youth: Ava Weissman, thank you for joining us on Future of the Business World.
Conversation Starters
What do you think of Ava’s business model? How is she showing off her entrepreneurial mindset?
Do you play pickleball? Would you participate in a Pickleball 4 a Purpose tournament?
What questions would you like to ask Ava Weissman? Post them here and she just may answer you!
Hero Image shot by: Aleksander Saks, Unsplash
Ava’s story about Pickleball 4 a Purpose truly struck a chord with me, especially the idea of connection across generations. For me, those connections have taken a very personal form with my grandmother, who has advanced Alzheimer’s and neurological challenges that make walking difficult. When she came to the U.S. recently, someone was always with her, partly because she loves to talk, even if the conversations often circle back to the same questions about what grade I’m in or what I’m doing. There’s something quietly meaningful about those repeated moments, a comfort that goes beyond words.
Because of her neurological condition, it’s important for her to keep her hands active, so we played catch with stress balls to help maintain her strength and coordination. Those moments taught me about the subtle but powerful ways relationships sustain us: the patience, presence, and consistency required to truly engage with someone else, especially when they face challenges.
That sense of steady, meaningful engagement has influenced how I approach my own form of networking. Like Ava, I’ve learned that building relationships is not about rushing toward a goal or tallying immediate benefits, but about cultivating a web of genuine connections that can grow into something larger. For my robotics team, this has meant reaching out to people who can offer real expertise and guidance, like Dr. Salisbury at Stanford, robotics application engineers at Eli Lilly, and professionals at AWS’s global robotics department. These conversations are thoughtful exchanges that provide valuable insight and opportunities for the team to learn and evolve.
Much like Ava’s chapters expanding Pickleball 4 a Purpose internationally, we share lessons and stories from our team’s conversations on our blog. Through this, the experiences we gather reach beyond our immediate circle, crossing borders and time zones, quietly helping others who are tackling similar challenges.
Those slow, steady moments with my grandmother — tossing a stress ball back and forth, one catch at a time — remind me how meaningful connections don’t happen overnight. It’s about showing up again and again, being present, and letting relationships grow in their own time. That’s something I carry with me when reaching out to mentors and professionals for my robotics team. It’s not just about what I can get right now, but about building something real that lasts and helps everyone involved. And in the end, it’s those small, consistent efforts that create the strongest foundations, whether on the pickleball court or anywhere life takes us.
When Ava said pickleball lowers the walls between generations, I immediately pictured a different court: our track infield on meet day. I’m a jumper-hurdler, but my PRs aren’t the point here. What I notice is who makes the meet work. Most of the people measuring boards, raking pits, and checking standards are decades older than me. I used to treat them like background. But those quick conversations, thirty seconds at the pit or a nod at the start line, changed how I compete.
One afternoon sticks with me. Wind chewing across the backstretch, heel taped, the sand in the triple jump pit just raked flat. My run-up kept stuttering, and I was landing past the board. An older official watched two attempts, walked over, and tapped the runway with the rake. “Half a shoe back,” he said, then dragged three short lines into the sand and told me to count them out loud on the last steps. I jogged back, breathed once, and went. The board met me instead of the other way around; the hop and step flowed, the landing felt quiet. Later at high jump he showed me a chalk mark trick for takeoff so I’d stop reaching. I didn’t hit a PR that day, but I left with a better setup and the feeling that I wasn’t out there alone.
Your intergenerational brackets gave me language for what I was already living: performance is a relationship. On paper, track is individual. In reality, my time only drops if I plug into the informal network around me. That’s also a business lesson. You’ve built a model where the “customer experience” is the conversation itself, and the product is belonging. And trust is the key if you want to improve. Track meets have the same flywheel when we actually talk to the people keeping the sport running. The loneliness piece you mentioned is real; you can feel it at practice when everyone is heads-down and no one looks up.
The best gains I’ve made didn’t come from a new drill or new spikes. They came from asking and listening. Your courts formalize that. Our infield could, too.
Me: Hi, my name is Brandon Lan, and I am endlessly grateful to the Wharton Global Youth Program for giving me an opportunity as well as a platform and voice to connect with those around me!
Wharton Global Youth: Hi Brandon, great to have you here. Tell us a bit about yourself and what you do?
Me: Well, to start off, I love soccer. I live, breathe, and do almost everything soccer. This love and passion has driven me to play continuously for nearly 10 years now and also reach out to those around me who also see soccer as the beautiful game that it is. Besides that, I am a rising junior attending Valley Christian High School located in San Jose, California.
Wharton Global Youth: Brandon, tell us a bit more about your enormous love for soccer.
Me: Well yes, a bit similar to Ava Weissman with pickleball, I work with those from my community that have not been able to fully develop their love for the game. For example, I have been spending my weeks at a nearby summer day care program coaching energetic kids. While I have yet to raise a grand 30,000 dollars, I still help out those around me whenever I can. Whether it be technical training like practicing dribbling, playing small games, or just passing the ball around to practice proper technique, the kids and I always have a smile on our faces while building teamwork and many other necessary skills. During the small games, I always join one team, and the kids on the other team always shout about how it’s so unfair that I’m joining in. Afterwards, I provide feedback to each individual helping to hone their skills to someday play for a local club team. Some might also say it’s as if I’m scouting for the next Lionel Messi!
Wharton Global Youth: So you’ve been helping out your community this way, Brandon, and we hope you continue down this path. One last question before we end this segment, how did you get into coaching others and what has been the most meaningful to you on this journey?
Me: I got into coaching others after I was coached by a family friend who was playing at a semi-professional level at the time. We would go to nearby soccer fields with his little brother and lay out simple cone patterns. We would practice taking the ball through these patterns and run around attacking and defending against each other, though I always lost because he was so much better. As for what has been the most meaningful, I think seeing others enjoy what I love so much has been the best part of it all. The smile on their faces reminded me of what enjoying my own childhood was really like. As a middle schooler, being coached by someone getting out of high school was life-changing, and it inspired me to mentor the even smaller children, similar to what Ava’s organization does to connect generations.
Wharton Global Youth: Thanks a lot Brandon, our community will continue rooting for you and who knows, maybe one day you’ll coach us as well.
Me: Of course! Thank you as well for this opportunity. While I haven’t been able to make nearly as big an impact as Ava Weissman, my hope is to someday scratch the surface of what she has accomplished, such as hosting my own tournaments, connecting my community, mentor a larger group of those around me, and finally, inviting tons of joy.
Cue audience applause. I walk off stage.
Although I do lack experience in business and starting large projects, one thing that I could say is that this is not an easy thing to do. A project I started some time ago was coaching others in the sport I was interested in. Initiating the project involved multiple emails back and forth and days of consideration, so much that it now makes me wonder how Pickleball 4 a Purpose had grown into such a global project. I have to admit, her skills in entrepreneurship and business are remarkable.
To talk a little about my project, it had its rough times, and was hard to sustain, especially due to the lack of interest in the sport in our town. Eventually, it ended without much activity, which I found unfortunate. I wished to spread the enjoyment the sport can provide, and further allow it to be better recognised by all. Ava mentioned how connections are the most important, but now looking back, I felt I didn’t make as many connections as required. However, since the sport was not beginner-friendly, I had second doubts to whether if I should convince my peers to join me. Nevertheless, I look up to her skills in bringing people together for a shared goal, and thank her for teaching me lessons and creating goals I can aspire to.
When I heard Ava wasn’t a skilled pickleball player, I realised skill doesn’t create the passion; passion creates the skill. Here, her passion, combined with her relationships and memories with her grandmother, had driven her. Ava didn’t need skill in pickleball to begin her business; she needed passion, which she had to an extent where she could start businesses. She was willing to give up her time to allow others to enjoy pickleball. Her interest and skill in the sport would undoubtedly have increased after initiating this nonprofit.
One thing I find I could have done was to expand nationally, even across countries, like how Ava had done. Not only that, her skills in intertwining loneliness and intergenerational concerns was memorable. She had tackled two similar but so different issues that coexist in our world, and created a solution that successfully eliminates them. Personally, I’m not someone who has the guts to start something big, which is why I admire Ava’s work on bringing countries, generations, and societies together.
Her project has taught me valuable lessons on business that I believe can assist me with my future pursuits. I look forward to this nonprofit growing in the future, and also am curious to see how it will flourish as it is passed down to younger leaders.