Adrian Kochanowicz decided the booming trend might be a way to connect veterans beyond those he works with at Fordham’s Veterans’ Center and help them find a community. He and his team initiated a partnership with two other institutions to launch the NYC Veteran Pickleball League, and it is working. See more in this piece.
After years on the battlefield, Adrian Kochanowicz has a new fight: getting veterans in college to bond together.
“When we hold events for vets, it’s usually hard to get people to come in,” Adrian Kochanowicz, the assistant director for the office of veterans services at the Lincoln Center campus, said. “Maybe it’s not for a particular individual; maybe there’s no interest. Maybe there’s no will to go, which happens, too.”
He’s a veteran himself, having served in the Marine Corps, and remembers the struggles of going back to school.
“For undergrad, I was 25 sitting with 18, 19 year olds,” Kochanowicz recalled.
So, finding that community of other veterans, he said, is so important.
His office at Fordham University works to do just that, despite the challenges he said they face when scheduling events.
Until an idea recently from one of his colleagues. Why not start a pickleball league?
“Pickleball is hot, so we’re going to do it too,” Kochanowicz recalled saying.
Fordham, along with Hostos Community College and the University of Mount Saint Vincent, applied for the city’s Department of Veterans’ Services grant — and won.
The $20,000 grant launched the NYC Veteran Pickleball League, covering the cost for three courts for two hours at CityPickle in Wollman Rink, along with a coach to teach veterans how to play.
So every other Friday, Kochanowicz said he doesn’t need to send out a reminder.
When he gets there, the courts are full.
And the popularity of this league has led Fordham University’s veteran leadership to figure out ways to make this league permanent beyond the lifespan of the grant.
