What do you call a pickleball club that offers classes seven days a week? The Pickleball Club of Carlsbad, California.
PBC’s business model is different than many other clubs. As owner Shawn Walker describes it, programming is their offense.
“When I first started playing pickleball, I showed up, paid a fee and that was it,” Shawn said. “I wanted something different for my club and for me, that was focusing on the new players and in turn creating a welcoming and fun atmosphere.”
Years of running experience-based businesses and his own experience as a pickleball player gave Shawn insight into what pickleball players wanted – to get better and to have people to play with.
The PBC offers 20 different classes every day, such as dinking or third-shot classes on its six courts. Classes run around $15-$20 a person with 10-12 people per class, depending upon the focus. Shaun says it is a lot of work and organization between lining up instructors and organizing the classes, and it pays off in more ways than one.
“Most days, all of our classes are filled, which is great since we are helping to grow the sport. It’s also great from a financial perspective because you earn more revenue per hour filling classes than through open play.”
Shawn modeled the idea of PBC scheduling after YMCA programming. He remembers as a child looking at a class list and picking out which ones he wanted for the summer. The same philosophy applies at PBC. Players can check out the calendar and line up their week or even month. While PBC opened as a non-membership club, when classes were filling up instantly, Shawn realized that needed to change, so he offered a membership that allowed 30-day advance registrations. When classes still filled incredibly quick, he added a membership that allowed for class enrollment 32 days prior.
Keeping his goal of making the club inclusive for all levels and fun, classes include Play with a Pro, intro to serves and return, live ball for all levels, structured open play and skill clinics focused on level 1 and 2 players.
“Sometimes new players are nervous to play with people better than them. We saw a lot of our skill clinic players sticking around after class and decided to offer leveled structured open play immediately after those classes,” Shawn says. “The players loved it and have created great friendships. They even play during open play during the week. That’s the type of environment we wanted to create and it’s great to see it working!”
PBC has two full-time instructors who work 40+ hours a week and size part-time instructors who work one to two days for three to four hours of classes. Shaun adds when hiring a key factor is not only the pro’s skill level but their game philosophy as well to keep the PCB culture strong.
As for open play, Shawn is happy to say those times are booking up as well. Like most clubs, open play was typically scheduled during the hard-to-fill morning hours. With the camaraderie established between players, open play times are at a premium with sign-ups required for weekends. That’s called a good problem!
Shaun notes it took a solid two years to reach “critical mass” with programming etc. As many other club owners have mentioned, the club tried a wide variety of classes and scheduling options before finding out what worked at six to eight months in. Once they got their formula down, it still took roughly a year for classes to consistently fill. Patience and flexibility pay off!
The success of the club isn’t magic, it’s hard work, intentional programming and a commitment to creating an inclusive and fun member experience. Looking at the club as an opportunity to build a pickleball community and a way to continue to grow the sport instead of simply passive income has proven to be a winning combination for The Pickleball Club of Carlsbad.
