At 16, most people are getting their driver’s license, preparing for college applications, and learning about all the opportunities available to them within their growing autonomy.

But at 16, Arielle Butler learned about something much harder.

When Butler, now a pro pickleball player, was growing up, her mom, April, was in charge of a freshman girls dorm at Harding University, a private Christian college in Arkansas. From the time Butler was five to seven years old, their family of four lived in a 900-square-foot apartment inside the dorm. There may not have been much space, but as a kid, Butler thought she was the luckiest girl in town.

“I had so many different babysitters and people to play with,” explains Butler, who eventually attended Harding herself. “All the girls that lived there were so good with me because they were mostly 18-19 years old. We had the basketball team in our dorm too, so I’ve been obsessed with sports pretty much as far back as I can remember.”

Idolizing the basketball team members and the other athletes on campus came naturally for Butler. Her parents were good friends with the girls and would ask them to babysit while they were away, and Butler was always attending their games. The girls in the dorm, and the athletes especially, all became role models for Butler.

Kendra Bailey was one girl in particular that became close with April and would visit the Butler apartment on a regular basis. She was from Arkansas, just like Butler, who hails from Searcy.

“I got to know her really well when I was little, basically idolized her as I got older, and our relationship kind of evolved as I was getting a little bit older,” recalls Butler.

When Butler was a junior in high school, Bailey was diagnosed with stage IV ovarian cancer. She was just 27 years old.

Ovarian cancer is known as “the silent killer” because symptoms can often go undetected until the later stages, which is what happened in Bailey’s case. Someone diagnosed at stage IV has a survival rate of less than five percent. Bailey didn’t live one year after her diagnosis and passed away on December 22, 2011.

Like most cancers, ovarian cancer doesn’t discriminate. Bailey was young, fit, healthy, and had taken excellent care of herself her entire life. Butler remembers the positivity that Bailey demonstrated for herself and for her family during her final months, despite a grim prognosis.

“It was probably the first really large perspective shift that I’d ever gone through, I was 16,” admits Butler, now 28. “I was kind of like middle of high school, so kind of figuring out who I was or what I wanted to do.”

Shortly after her passing, the Bailey family started an organization in Kendra’s honor, called Kendra’s Voice, a subtle play on ovarian cancer being called “the silent killer.” All the money raised by the organization through events and donations goes to ovarian cancer research and awareness. To this day, there is no screening for ovarian cancer.

Over the last decade, Kendra’s Voice has organized 5K runs called “Kendra’s Voice, Race to be Heard” as a way to raise money and honor Kendra’s love of running. They’ve also organized 3-on-3 basketball tournaments as fundraisers, one of which Butler played in.

“It was cool because it was actually at her high school gym where she previously won the state championship, and they had all this stuff honoring her in the gym and her grandparents were there and it was super cool,” remembers Butler. “And I’m not that good of a basketball player, but I wanted to go support. It was a ton of fun so I did that in college and took a couple friends up there as well.

“I think a big part of it, other than just honoring her memory, is the lack of research and how astounding that is, just that there aren’t any major symptoms that we all can see, and the lack of screening, I think, is absolutely crazy,” continues Butler about ovarian cancer specifically. “It’s something that obviously needs to be remedied as soon as possible so it doesn’t continue happening to people.”

Some of Butler’s fondest memories of Bailey were just watching her play basketball and compete.

“The fact that I get to compete in these pickleball tournaments, especially as an adult, is such a cool thing,” Butler states. “I want to honor [Kendra’s] legacy as much as I can, just getting to compete because she was a crazy competitor.”

Butler will get the chance to do both - honor Bailey’s legacy and compete in a pickleball tournament - in a very direct and obvious way in October, when she participates in the APP Women’s Open Presented by The James. The event will be the first-ever pickleball event created exclusively for, and by, women. The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - James Cancer Hospital & Solove Research Institute is one of the nation’s leading cancer research and treatment centers and will be the presenting sponsor of this event, which will take place October 4-6 at Pickle & Chill in Columbus, Ohio. It will be broadcast nationally to kick off National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

This APP Signature Event will be a global platform for female competitors, both professional and amateur, and will have athletes competing for $75,000 in prize money. The event will also feature social programming and entertainment designed to celebrate and fuel the growth of pickleball for women.

“My first thought was that this was going to obviously be a very unique event,” shares Butler, who began playing pickleball in 2018. “I learned there was going to be a split-age event, which I absolutely love, and I think split-age specifically is the perfect event for the Women’s Open because you’re combining an over-50 and and under-50 pro player, and that’s really cool to kind of span across generations like that.”

A women’s event in pickleball is symbolic in so many ways, and a new opportunity to raise awareness for women’s cancer is not lost on Butler.

“Women in competitive environments are often pitted against each other or made to feel like only so many women can truly be successful in sport. I’m excited for this event because it’s a great opportunity to help break that mindset and build more supportive relationships within pickleball,” asserts Butler, who believes Bailey would have made an incredible pickleball player. “The fact this event is also bringing awareness for cancer research is beyond important. Simply being a woman is one of the risk factors for multiple types of cancer. Everything we can do collectively to help fund research for things such as more screening for early detection will help make a difference and provide hope for all those diagnosed in the future.”

There is nothing good about a healthy, young 27-year-old with her entire life ahead of her losing her battle with cancer. But with someone like Arielle Butler, who is determined to use tragedy as inspiration, there can beautiful things that come from her legacy.

*To register for the APP Women's Open Presented by The James, click here.