Riverbend CEO Pickleball Charity Event: The Riverbend CEO program is inviting community members to play in a pickleball tournament on October 17 and 18, 2025, at Glazebrook Park in Godfrey. The event will help high school students raise money to start their own businesses through the program.
Supporting Student Entrepreneurs
The Riverbend CEO program helps area high school students learn about entrepreneurship by developing and pitching their own business ideas. Funds raised from the pickleball tournament will support both individual and class business projects.
“Each fund is for our own separate business,” students said. “Closer to the winter and the spring, we’ll start developing our own businesses. We’ll write up a business plan. We give it to a banker and kind of pitch our idea to them. So basically, the funds go to each of us, and they’ll help us. They’ll also help with our class business that we all work together to create.”
Tournament Details
The tournament will run from 6–9 p.m. on Friday, October 17, and 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, October 18, with a new bracket each day. Participants can sign up by October 10. The cost is $15 per player or $30 per team.
“It’s all fun,” said one Riverbend CEO student. “There are prizes. We literally just want everybody to have fun.”
Learning Beyond the Classroom
Students in the program tour local businesses and speak to entrepreneurs to understand how businesses operate. Many students joined the program to gain a head start in entrepreneurship or prepare for business studies in college.
“We’re ready. We want to start everything,” one student said. “We’ve just been everywhere. I feel like every day is different. It’s never the same. And it definitely doesn’t feel like class, like I’m sitting in a classroom, bored, trying to fall asleep. I definitely like going. It just makes the day feel productive.”
The pickleball tournament is a key step for students to get the funding and experience they need to succeed in their future businesses. Students encourage interested players to form teams and register soon.
News in Brief: Riverbend CEO Pickleball Charity Event
The Riverbend CEO program will host a pickleball tournament on October 17–18 at Glazebrook Park in Godfrey. The event raises funds to help high school students start individual and class businesses. Registration is $15 per player or $30 per team, with a sign-up deadline of October 10.
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