Serving up the perfect way to remember Kelly Pickering: volleyball

A new volleyball tradition is starting in Mattituck.

The inaugural Kelly Pickering Memorial Volleyball Tournament is set for Saturday, Sept. 26, honoring the beloved teacher and coach who died in February.

“It’s definitely emotional; it’s bittersweet. For me, seeing a gym filled with volleyball, hearing her name, watching something that she loved continue in her honor, is definitely going to make her absence feel stronger,” her wife, Jeanine Graviano, said.

The tournament will bring seven local varsity teams together at Mattituck High School: Shelter Island, Riverhead, Shoreham-Wading River, Miller Place, Greenport, Southampton and, of course, Mattituck-Cutchogue, which Ms. Pickering led.

Ms. Pickering, of Center Moriches, who was known to her students as “Coach Pick,” died at age 49, surrounded by her family, including Ms. Graviano and their 5-year-old son, after a medical episode while they were watching the Winter Olympics.

She spent 17 years in the district, joining as a guidance counselor at Cutchogue East in 2009. Along with leading the school’s young setters and blockers, she also spent some years coaching softball. She was named coach of the year by the Suffolk County Girls Volleyball Coaches Association last December — an honor voted on by her peers.

Ms. Graviano said the outpouring of support after Ms. Pickering’s death was massive, and that their young son even felt it.

“We just feel that she made such a lasting impact on her players, fellow coaches, the school, the community, and knowing people want to come together because of who she was just reminds us that her influence didn’t end with her passing,” she said.

Along with the games on the court, there will be T-shirts, car decals, food, and baskets sold and raffled off in Ms. Pickering’s memory. Kait’s Angels donated a basket, fellow community members from Center Moriches donated a basket, and each team playing in the tournament did as well.

Donations can also be sent through Venmo or mailed to the Mattituck Athletic Booster Club. All proceeds will go to the newly established Kelly Pickering Scholarship Fund. Any Venmo or check should note it is for the volleyball tournament or the fund.

“It’s beautiful to know that her legacy will continue, and she’ll be helping young people,” Ms. Graviano said. “Whether it’s a player, someone who donates, or someone who receives a scholarship, it’s a small part of her memory continuing to be carried forward.”