Second annual Dink4Choice pickleball tournament returning May 3-4

COMMUNITY NEWS

Support for women’s reproductive rights is a generational passion for the Goettman-Christopher women.

Carol Goettman, 90, of Galloway Ridge, volunteered with the Planned Parenthood affiliate in Springfield, Ohio, back in the 1960s and has worked for reproductive rights ever since. Her daughter, Elizabeth Goettman Christopher, was inspired by her mother’s values, and her daughter, Caroline, 25, is now a registered nurse at the Chapel Hill-Planned Parenthood Health Center.

On May 3 and 4, all three women will ensure the success of the second annual Dink4Choice pickleball tournament. The first Dink4Choice held last year exceeded expectations — 128 players and more than $15,000 was raised for the local Planned Parenthood South Atlantic affiliate.

Elizabeth said she was thrilled by “so much community support, even though I was new to town and didn’t know that many people.” Elizabeth, who moved to Chapel Hill from Chicago in 2022 “to have better luck with the weather,” was also new to the game of pickleball. She volunteered at a pickleball tournament in 2023 and considered hosting a tournament in support of Planned Parenthood. Jen Johnson, one of our local pickleball ambassadors, endorsed the idea.

Elizabeth’s mother and daughter thought it was a great idea, too. Daughter Caroline moved here shortly after graduating from the University of Miami in 2021. She said “I always wanted to work at Planned Parenthood. I thought it would be an amazing thing to do.” Now, she said, “I love working there. It’s the best thing ever in my life.”

When Caroline was 9 years old and visiting her grandmother, she asked: “Grammy, what are all the posters and stickers about Roe v Wade and Planned Parenthood about?” She remembers her grandmother explaining matter-of-factly that sometimes women aren’t ready to have a child and should have the right to decide when they do. Caroline said that sounded sensible to her.

Caroline is also a devoted pickleball player, although not playing as much this year because she is working full-time and in school to earn a Women’s Health and gender related nurse practitioner degree. In last year’s Dink4Choice Caroline won the advanced women’s bracket. This year she’ll be playing with her younger sister, Lily.

The next generation is involved, too, as a number of younger grandchildren will be selling homemade baked goods (including pickleball cake pops!) and freshly made lemonade.

Grandmother Carol is proud of her daughter and granddaughters: “They bring so much to the cause.” She said she keeps “wanting to retire” since she’s been “involved for so long” but felt compelled to attend both the recent rallies in Pittsboro. She said, “I believe young people right now are more interested than they have been for a long time. Not just women’s issues, but all sorts of things. I’m so glad to see that.”

Jane D. Brown taught in the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media for 35 years and has lived in Chapel Hill since 1977. This reporter can be reached at: Information@TheLocal Reporter.press.