It was not quite the 500 games they set themselves to be played to raise money for a great local charity, but it was a great effort by hundreds of pickleballers over the weekend.

In the end result, the event did make thousands of dollars for the good work of the Pink Angels, the Orana-based charity that provides practical, financial, and emotional support to breast cancer patients and their families throughout Dubbo and the outer Western regions.

The Pickleball 500 was a three-day community fundraiser held from Friday to Sunday, October 16-18, at the Dubbo Pickleball Centre at Elston Park. Organised by Greg King, the event aimed to complete 500 x 15-minute games across 10 courts to raise $10,000 for the Pink Angels.

“Sadly, we could only manage to get 335 games played, our biggest disappointment being Saturday, a day that we had forecast that we could comfortably host more than 150 over the 10 courts just didn't happen,” a spokesperson for the club said.

“Overall, the result was very pleasing and, when all the numbers are in, we should see more than $7000 going to help our Pink Angels,” they added.

The event also showed the growing strength of the game, only introduced to the central west in recent years, in stark numbers.

“Whilst we didn't get the 500 doubles games completed, it was pointed out that we did get more than 1300 individual players playing a role in the 335 doubles games.

“A huge ‘thank you’ goes out to the Western Pickleball Club, along with the Pink Angels, who played such a supporting role over the three days also,” the spokesperson added.

The good work of the fundraiser was also down to number of local organisations, including your favourite free weekly newspaper!

“The efforts put forward by Dubbo Photo News providing so much reporting support is immensely appreciated and deserves to be recognised, also The Blue Gum for the supply of the pink pickleballs, Chemist Warehouse, Monster Signs, Radio stations 2DU/Zoo FM, and Triple M,” the spokesperson said.

“Along with various small businesses and sporting clubs that are so important to our community, and finally, a huge ‘thanks’ to the many who organised the many groups that mustered up and had a crack at what is a fantastic, fun, and exciting new sport,” they concluded.

The club has also promised a full report on the event once they correlate the payments and final result, they emphasised.