Former Eagle to host pickleball tournament for charity in Sea Isle

Former Philadelphia Eagle Connor Barwin is heading down to Sea Isle City for a second year in a row to host the Make The World Better Pickleball Tournament for charity.

The event is from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the pickleball courts on 42nd Place across from the marina. The fun will continue with an after-party at Dockside on Park Place. The rain date is Sunday.

Proceeds go to Barwin’s charity, Make The World Better (MTWB), which the former Eagles linebacker founded with his mother, Margaret Bailey, during his first season playing for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2013.

According to the Make The World Better Facebook page, the event last year spurred tons of interest in the tournament.

“After the inaugural smash hit of the summer last year, the demand for sponsors and teams for this year’s event has been so high, that we are sold out of individual teams and only have a few sponsorship opportunities left,” according to a Facebook post from MTWB.

    Former Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Connor Barwin (Photo courtesy of philadelphiaeagles.com)
  

Anyone interested in sponsoring the event or would like to be put on a waiting list for a team can send a DM on social media at https://www.facebook.com/mtwbFoundation.

Barwin is currently working in the Eagles front office as the head of football development and strategy. His 10-year NFL playing career included four seasons with the Eagles from 2013 to 2016.

Last year, the former Eagle spoke about his foundation.

“It all goes back to my parents,” Barwin said in an interview with SeaIsleNews.com. “MTWB is an acronym for Make The World Better, but it’s also an acronym for my parents: Margaret and Thomas William Barwin. So, they inspired me to do this.”

Barwin, raised in Detroit, is passionate about giving back. He witnessed firsthand the importance of how one person and one playground can have on a community. He credits his giving back sensibilities to his family upbringing.

    Retired Philadelphia Eagle Jason Kelce and his wife, Kylie, get into the tourney for a good cause in 2023.
  

The charity “believes that all communities prosper when all people have access to high-quality, accessible, fun places to gather,” according to the charity’s website.

Last year, now-retired Eagles All-Pro and Pro-Bowl center Jason Kelce and his wife, Kylie, joined the Barwins for the pickleball fundraiser.

The Kelces have a summer home in Sea Isle. Like the Barwins, they too are active in fundraising efforts.

Kelce’s fundraiser, “Team 62,” is part of the Eagles Autism Challenge, an annual fundraiser for the Eagles Autism Foundation at the Ocean Drive bar and O’Donnell’s Pour House in Sea Isle each June. Kelce will be there for the fundraiser again on Wednesday, June 26.

The last two years, Kelce’s brother, Travis Kelce, the All-Pro and Pro-Bowl tight end for the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, attended the autism fundraiser. Jason has invited Travis to join him again this year.

For tickets to Connor Barwin’s Make The World Better Pickleball Tournament click: https://mtwb.ticketleap.com/2024-make-the-world-better-pickleball-tournament/dates/Jun-22-2024_at_1100AM

    Pckleball signup.