More than a check.
The Hustle & Heart Fund is our athlete deployment fund: through ambassadors like Juan Ortiz, it funds and builds with people in the community, so athletes can train, travel and compete. Named for Tim Gruensfelder: all hustle, all heart.
Tim’s love of the game is part of everything this fund stands for. His story
How the fund works
We fund it, and we build it together.
The Hustle & Heart Fund works through ambassadors: athletes and coaches who grow a sport where they live. Money goes to athletes, and to the programs around them: starting them, coaching them and keeping them running. Each ambassador’s work becomes a lane, and every lane tells its story through its own campaigns. Programs are built on the Open Court Model: a host brings the courts, athletes bring their game, and supporters bring the funding.
01
Ambassadors buildAthletes and coaches like Juan grow a sport where they live, with clubs, organizations and coaches.02
The fund backs themFunding, plus coaching know-how, club relationships, volunteers and content that helps a program grow.03
Athletes play and competeCourt time, memberships, equipment and travel for the athletes in those programs.
Any athlete can apply for support, ambassador or not. We pay a vendor or program directly, or reimburse an approved expense. How ambassadors work, or apply for a grant.
The first lane
Chicago Pickleball: Wheelie Big Dills
The first lane is the Wheelie Big Dills. Our first ambassador, Juan Ortiz, is growing wheelchair pickleball across the Chicago area, and the fund backs him, the crew he plays with, and the clubs that make room for them. Its campaigns, in order: every week on court, the road to the US Open, and the Chicago Classic.
Meet the crew Read Juan’s story
Next: wherever our next ambassador is building. Know who it should be?
- $225covers court time for up to 15 athletes for a night
- 3clubs where the crew plays across the Chicago area
- 334Kviews in 90 days, 9 in 10 from people new to us
The desire to play is there. The cost can stand in the way.
It’s one thing to try a sport. It’s another to play every week, train every month and travel to compete, and in a wheelchair every step costs more. Here are the real numbers in wheelchair pickleball.
Equipment
$4,000–$6,000for a sport chair, and insurance doesn’t cover it
Sport chairs, protective gear, and repairs. We raise for equipment one athlete at a time, when an athlete needs it.
Training
$1,548a year of unlimited sessions for one athlete
Coaching, clinics, and practice space. Time to build skills and confidence, at your own level.
Travel
$1,000about one tournament trip for one athlete
Entry fees, travel and accessible rooms at tournaments through the season. The US Open, the last stop, has cost about $3,500 an athlete.
Who gets to compete should come down to skill, not money.
“Now I can play pickleball, keep up with my kid, and choose how I move. The chair didn’t fix me. It gave me options I didn’t have before.”
Tim Gruensfelder, 1996–2018.
Tim found wheelchair basketball after childhood cancer. He chased loose balls, put in the work, and earned a college scholarship. When cancer returned in 2018, he was 22.
The fund carries his name so more athletes can have the chance to play, practice, and grow in a sport they love. Tim’s story
Raising nowChicago Pickleball: Wheelie Big Dills
Every week on court. A season on the road.
What it takes to build the best wheelchair pickleball in the Chicago area, maybe the country.
$50,000our goal for the year ahead
A year of court time for 10 to 15 athletes a night, plus memberships for 10.
A season of tournament travel for the crew, through the 2027 US Open. See the road
Tax-deductibleSecure checkout by Givebutter
Your turn
Put an athlete on the court.
Every gift goes to one fund. Right now, your gift keeps Chicago Pickleball: Wheelie Big Dills on court every week, then on the road to the US Open.
- $15One night on court for one athlete.
- $225One night on court for up to 15 athletes.
- $1,548A year of unlimited sessions for one athlete.