As with any new club, the founders of West Coast Pickleball in Yorba Linda, California, knew that to get players in the door, they first had to be aware that the club existed. To help spread the word, Club Director James Byun utilized a variety of marketing tactics with minimal costs.
When the club opened in December of 2024, Jason and his colleague Chris went to the streets to find pickleball players where they already were. As the first indoor pickleball facility in Orange County, they had something unique to offer players and were eager to tell the community about their facility.
With an eye on the local market, West Coast Pickleball provided an article on the newly opened club to a neighborhood magazine that is distributed to 15,000 homes. They also went one step further to ensure nearby players were aware of the newly built six-court facility in the area.
“We visited all the public parks and outside courts around the club every day for two – three weeks when we first opened and were building our business,” James says. He stated that on his way to work, he and his coworkers would do a full tour of four to five different public courts to hand out sweatbands, key chains and other giveaways. He estimated they distributed nearly 2,000 promotional pieces to let the already established pickleball community know there were indoor courts available for play.
As business started to pick up, WCPB wanted to ensure the momentum continued to build and knew one of the best ways to do that was to capitalize on the people already there. Few people will argue that social media is one of the most cost-effective and easy ways to give an inside glimpse of the club, environment and culture. However, just because someone has a Facebook or Instagram account doesn’t necessarily mean they will post anything.
To help encourage members to share the fun times to be had at WCPB, the team enlisted their members to be unofficial members of their social media team by offering club credits for posts.
“We offered players club credit for leaving a review, making a post and tagging the club, following us on social media etc.,” James says. “It proved to be very successful with our social media growing and it was very cost-effective and easy!”
Instead of giving away more free items, the club decided to offer club credit in $5 increments to encourage players to create social media content for WCPB for the first two to three months of the club being open. To track the postings, WCPB created a roster on Google spreadsheets. The maximum players could earn was capped at $40. To claim club credits, players simply had to show the front desk their phone with the engagement. Front desk employees would then mark on the sheet which social media earned them credit. This easy system prevented double-dipping and saved WCPB employee time by not having to track down usernames or watch all of their mentions.
The club still utilizes their players to help with social media, however the amount available to earn dropped from $40 to $20 in club credit. Posting on social media is still a great way to earn something for free for thirty seconds of work.
Continuing their commitment to focus on the local community, WCPB supports schools and youth sport leagues even outside of the pickleball world.
“One of our company missions is supporting the community, and we enjoy doing that through sponsorships,” James says. “We love getting involved with local schools and are always happy to donate to PTA gift baskets or other fundraising efforts.” James passed along they recently purchased a banner to hang at a local baseball field as part of a Little League sponsorship. The connection between pickleball and baseball might be a stretch and West Coast Pickleball is thrilled to support youth sports in any way they can. Not to mention a whole new group of people might learn about the facility while the banner hangs through November.
WCPB looks forward to working with schools and summer recreation leagues in the future to get more youth involved in the sport.
West Coast Pickleball’s commitment to marketing and the community has helped the club establish itself as a go-to destination for players in Orange County. By meeting players where they were, leveraging word-of-mouth promotion, and supporting local youth sports, WCPB has built more than just a facility—it’s creating a culture of community they plan to grow alongside the sport.
