Based in the heart of San Francisco, California, DinkSF operates as a pop-up style club and “strives to be the best educators [they] can be for all different populations” for the sport of pickleball, according to their website. DinkSF was founded by a group of four friends who were brought together by their shared love of the game and sought to create a welcoming environment for others to partake in this athletic passion. When the city of San Francisco converted several tennis courts into pickleball courts, these friends took note that there was still a need for a “pickleball community as well as quality instruction,” says Martha Ehrenfeld, one of DinkSF’s four founding partners. Motivated by the lack of investment by their city in facilitating the complete pickleball experience, the founding partners of DinkSF set out to establish their own club despite some of the unique challenges that come with starting a business requiring real estate in an urban environment.
When searching for a space in which to host the club, they quickly found Bay Area infrastructure and pricing to be less than conducive to a start-up organization in need of open space within the facility. They began looking at warehouses to use but realized that while most of them were out of their price range, many of them also had large columns in inconvenient places within the building that would preclude the space from being used for pickleball. Finally, they found two favorable spaces that are available for use when they are not being used for special events. Thus they decided to run DinkSF as a pop-up style operation, changing locations based on space availability.
DinkSF began hosting the club at the Palace of Fine Arts in the Marina District of San Francisco and, as of mid-November 2023, are operating out of a community room at Sports Basement Presidio, which is a large local sports store. DinkSF is also able to use the back parking lot of Sports Basement Presidio for outdoor courts, with whom they connected when they hosted a Pickleball Festive. Their other pop-up location, the Palace of Fine Arts, is a connection made through several DinkSF members’ volunteer work with the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department. A few of the members served on tennis and pickleball community projects and it therefore “seemed like a natural fit that [DinkSF] would be good caretakers of the special place.”
When the Palace of Fine Arts is not being used for special events, which are managed by a large event company Non Plus Ultra (NPU), DinkSF is able to relocate the club to that space. To be sure, the building has some unique characteristics because it is a historic structure with some “deferred maintenance, including some lighting challenges.” Even still, this has proved to be a valuable partnership for DinkSF. The city owns the space and has asked NPU to set up for pickleball at the facility when it’s not being used for events. As such, NPU purchased the nets and courts while DinkSF supplies the other equipment and staff. This partnership is also a service to the community as locals are then able to reserve any of their three courts from 9:30-11:00am every day of the week with no fee.
While the pop-up mode of operation has worked well for DinkSF overall and provides a great service to the community, Ehrenfeld concedes it’s quite a challenge to constantly stop and start club programming in one location. Initially, when DinkSF had been open for about three months, they were forced to pause their operation due to a necessary change in venue. One of the biggest obstacles DinkSF faces when running their pop-up club is ensuring players are kept apprised of changes in the location and go to the correct location to play. In order to effectively communicate with their pickleball community, they “send weekly emails and update [their] website and social media as needed” based on any upcoming club changes.
Even as a pop-up club, DinkSF is able to host a multitude of programming options for their clients and follow through on their mission to “create a welcoming and inclusive pickleball community.” The club offers three clinics with the goal of taking beginners to the next level as “many of [their] customers have not had any formal instruction and very much appreciate some tips to improve their techniques.” Moreover, DinkSF offered a four-week class consisting of drills and open play while at the Palace of Fine Arts. Because of the ample space at this location, they were also able to host “events including fundraisers and socials events like birthday parties and team building” opportunities. Finally, to help facilitate community within the club and introduce new players to one another, they hosted a Pizza and Pickle event, during which they had drills and games going on as well as open play.
Ultimately, DinkSF’s goal is to have a permanent space for the club in which they can have ample pickleball instruction and events that would include food and bar service. They are “always looking at spaces and talking to organizations to find a more permanent home.” Their ideal location would be able to have six courts plus a party room for events. To financially prepare for a permanent location, DinkSF is in talks with the Bay Area pickleball community to gauge interest in financially supporting the project.
Even while they continue to look for a permanent home for DinkSF, Ehrenfeld strongly believes the pop-up style club has served their community and organization well, allowing them to get a foothold into the local pickleball community. “It is a low-risk way if you are curious about getting into the business to see if you enjoy working with your partners and the public,” says Ehrenfeld. Ehrenfeld and the other founding members of DinkSF are excited for the future of the club and continually seek to serve their community through quality pickleball instruction and play.
