It’s hard to believe the year is already over and that a short eight months ago, Paul and I discovered the sport of pickleball. That’s right. We learned about pickleball this past May of 2022, spent the Summer understanding the game and its rules, and set our mission to bring pickleball to Plymouth.
A Fall of Many Firsts
This past Fall, Paul and I encountered a lot of firsts that we did not expect and are incredibly grateful to have had. Each month had its ups and downs, and we learned A LOT!
August
In August, we completed some light training to learn how to teach pickleball, and we hosted our first teaching session for friends and neighbors to practice. In addition, we played at various Canton and Ann Arbor courts to learn how others run sessions or play recreationally. This “research” helped us hone our knowledge of pickleball and develop our strategy for running sessions.
September
In September, we unexpectedly set a challenging goal by winning a lottery to create a scarecrow downtown Plymouth. So we crafted The Plymouth Pickler, a pickleball scarecrow holding a paddle and ball for passersby to enjoy. The scarecrow project forced us to add scope for other firsts. We needed to build our first website. We needed to create our first brand. We had to give people somewhere to go to and sign up, which meant we needed something to sign up for, sessions! We needed gym time, so we had to create our first partnership with PARC, Plymouth Arts, and Recreational Complex.
Then, finally, we held our first public session in September, where players paid us money to learn how to play pickleball. That first session was terrifying because we didn’t know what to expect. Were we crazy to do this? Yep, but it worked, and we did it again and again and again, and it’s been a lot of fun.
October
October was our biggest month, our month of growth! We ran seven sessions in October, which averaged more than one per week. As a result, we crossed the one-hundred mark for website subscribers and the hundred mark for social subscribers. October was the month that started to build our confidence that we were creating something people enjoyed and wanted more. We saw more and more return players. We taught more than 60 people how to play pickleball. October was full of big wins.
November
November was the month I named, The Grind. Why was November so hard? Well, for starters, the calendar was trickier. PARC hosts many winter events for basketball, band, and more. We also lost much of our gym-time availability due to PARC’s prior commitments, so we needed to get creative with time slots. As a result, we hosted varying session times. We mixed up days to play whenever the gym was available. Finally, November was incredibly challenging because I got sick during our Thanksgiving session, leaving Paul to host alone. Many startup founders refer to this phase as the honeymoon period ending and the actual work beginning. Welp, we kept grinding and got to work!
November also had a big first for us which I cannot forget. We hosted our first company event. A tech company out of Ann Arbor reached out to us asking if we hosted company events. We said, “Of Course We Do 😀.” We let them know they were our first and it worked out really well. They got a good deal, and we got to learn how to host a company event. It was a win-win, and they all had fun learning how to play pickleball!
December
December was our regrouping period. We only held two sessions in December, which was a blessing because both Paul and I had households in and out of winter sickness. We also both had family trips to Disney, which was a blast! Between the boogers and holiday happenings, two sessions are all we had in us. Our last session of the year was a great way to end because it was on December 19th, and it was five degrees out. It was the week of our horrendous winter storm, and many people canceled. But we still found a way to fill the gym, and people showed up even though it was freezing. This was a big first for us to learn how committed players are to this game.
Photos courtesy our friends Susie and Adam Bellinson. Thank you!
We spent a lot of time figuring out our future, though. We solidified our January and February gym dates with PARC. We started to explore options to help us expand courts, dates, and sessions. We even toured a few local warehouses for us to grow into in 2023. We’re still shopping. Stay tuned for more on that story.
We have big dreams in 2023 for Plymouth Pickleball!
We will start the year like we are ending this year, running semi-weekly sessions focused on teaching and playing pickleball. We plan to grow to more days, times, and session types through a few strategies we have developed, but it will be a lot of work, and we need some luck. One of those things is getting certified. I am currently going through a coaching certification program to learn more skills to help players develop. This certification, plus many more investments, will be part of our 2023 roadmap.
Thank you, Players!
We love pickleball and want to keep growing Plymouth Pickleball for our local players and the surrounding community. We have met so many kind, fun, and committed players through the creation of Plymouth Pickleball. Thank you for being so open and welcoming to us as your hosts.
We owe a BIG thank you to our friends and family.
I still remember my wife and our friends faces when we told them what we wanted to do. No one ever questioned us though, they just grabbed a paddle and asked, “when do we play?” Brett Z and Katie Z, you two helped us bootstrap this whole thing. Katie Z helped us with our early marketing materials for The Plymouth Pickler, and Brett Z brought his enthusiasm and belief to almost every session (yes, he showed up to most of our sessions).
To my wife, Katie, and Paul’s wife, Angel, thank you for your patience and love. Without your openness to support us, Plymouth Pickleball wouldn’t be a thing. We are here because you support us and our dreams, and we can’t thank you enough. To Tim, Brie, and to so many of our early players, thank you for being our guinea pigs, and thank you for your feedback. Keep it coming.
We’re excited to continue Plymouth Pickleball into the New Year, and we look forward to seeing you on the courts!
As always, thanks for playing with Plymouth Pickleball!
Plymouth Pickleball doesn’t happen without the players and the community. Thank you for being so supportive as we grow Plymouth Pickleball, and bring this sport to the residents of Plymouth, Michigan!
Thanks for playing with us, and we’ll see you on the court!
If you have any questions or feedback, please email us at info@plymouthpickleball.com.
Help us grow Plymouth Pickleball! Follow, like, and subscribe to our Facebook group and Instagram, and read our blog. Thank you for being so supportive.