Registration opens Wednesday for a pickleball tournament at Johnson Ranch Sports Club in Roseville that will raise money to keep the Sacramento Ronald McDonald House affordable for families of children being treated at UC Davis Children's Hospital. The Ronald McDonald House Charities Northern California Pickleball Classic is set for September 12 at the club's south campus, 2600 Eureka Road, with player check-in starting at 9 am and games getting underway at 10 am.
The tournament will be held at Johnson Ranch Sports Club-South, according to a Sacramento Business Journal announcement of the event. Players of the same gender register in teams of two, and registration costs $100 per team or $50 per player, with only one team member needed to sign the whole team up. Registrations run through the Scoreholio app, and payments are processed through PayPal, where the charge will appear on a credit card statement as “Game On NVZ.” Anyone with questions about the sign-up process can reach Jesus Mata at 916-272-1864.
What Players Get, and How the Money Gets Raised
Beyond the matches themselves, the event includes music, vendors, food and beverages, and a pickleball drop that doubles as a raffle. Two of the closest blue pickleballs to a target will win $1,000 each, five of the closest yellow pickleballs will win $200 each, and balls of other colors landing nearest the mark win raffle baskets. Winners of the pickleball drop do not need to be present to collect their prize, and tickets for the drop will be available from now through half an hour before it takes place, depending on availability. Every player who registers for the tournament also receives a swag bag containing a long-sleeve t-shirt, snacks, and other items.
The fundraiser matters because Ronald McDonald House Charities Northern California, despite carrying a globally recognized brand name, operates as an independent nonprofit that leans heavily on local support. Local McDonald's restaurant owners provided the organization's seed capital and still cover roughly 10% of its operating budget, but the national McDonald's Corporation provides no direct funding, according to SusanvilleStuff. That leaves community fundraisers like the Roseville tournament to fill the rest of the gap.
Why the Sacramento House Needs the Support
The Sacramento Ronald McDonald House sits near UC Davis Children's Hospital and operates a 38-room facility, comprising 36 single bedrooms and two apartments, for families traveling at least 30 miles for a child's medical care, according to UC Davis Health. Families staying there are asked for a suggested donation of just $20 per night, though no one is turned away for inability to pay. Since the Sacramento facility opened in 1998, the charity has served more than 20,000 families of pediatric patients undergoing treatment in the region, per the Carmichael Times.
Ronald McDonald House Charities Northern California also runs Camp Ronald McDonald at Eagle Lake, a 35-acre fully accessible residential summer camp in Lassen National Forest for children with special needs. The camp opened in 1992 and merged with Northern California McDonald's franchisees five years later to officially form the regional charity, according to North State Parent. Proceeds from events like the pickleball tournament help support both the lodging house and the camp.
A Fitting Home Court for the Cause
Johnson Ranch Sports Club has become something of a proving ground for Northern California's pickleball boom. The club invested roughly $500,000 in 2022 to convert tennis courts into a 28-court pickleball complex spanning its north and south campuses, making it the largest such facility in the region, according to Comstock's Magazine. The venue drew more than 1,450 amateur and professional players for the Association of Pickleball Players Sacramento Open in March 2024, and it is scheduled to host another major tournament, the NP Sacramento Classic, from September 25 to 27.
The charity tournament also lands amid a broader wave of pickleball investment across Placer County. Hoodline previously reported on a $17.9 million solar canopy project underway at Lincoln's McBean Park pickleball courts, slated for completion in May 2026. Together, the projects underscore how quickly the sport has grown in the region — and how that popularity is now being channeled toward causes like keeping the Sacramento Ronald McDonald House within reach for families facing a medical crisis. Anyone seeking more information about the September 12 tournament can visit rmhcnc.org or call the charity at 916-734-4230.
