June 18, 2026
Headlines

community

Whoa MPO! How Madtown Pickleball Open Became Wisconsin’s Largest Pickleball Tournament

Destination Madison07 mins

The year was 2020. As the world sought new ways to stay social safely, who knew that pickleball would emerge as such a strong national pastime? 

The Madison Area Sports Commission did. 

“We were on hiatus from hosting IRONMAN Wisconsin, a world-class event we’d welcomed since 2002,” says Brandon Holstein, Senior Sports Account Manager at the Madison Area Sports Commission (MASC). “As much as we missed bringing thousands of IRONMAN athletes and fans to our capital city, it gave us time to explore what sports were trending—and where Madison’s offerings may have been lacking. We knew pickleball was rising in popularity and the Professional Pickleball Association had just been established, so we got to work.”

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How to Grow your Club by Leveraging Beginner Clinics

Crew Pickleball010 mins

As pickleball continues its rise in popularity, club owners are constantly looking for ways to engage new players and build a loyal community. One of the most effective—and overlooked—methods for growing a club is hosting beginner clinics. Beginner clinics are great because they introduce new players to the sport in a structured, welcoming environment while simultaneously increasing court usage, strengthening member retention, and driving revenue opportunities. 

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RT. 12 Pickle Brings in New Players with Engaging Clinics

Joseph Peshek010 mins

RT. 12 Pickle is an indoor pickleball club located in West Boylston, Massachusets. RT. 12 is a pure pickleball club devoted to providing quality gameplay for everyone who walks through the front door. Ben Minsk and the folks at RT. 12 have done an excellent job of introducing new players to the game through clinics and other engaging programs. 

In the Spring of 2022, Minsk was ready to start a new venture. He thought starting a pickleball club would be a great way to occupy himself after spending five years in retirement: “I was retired for five years and wasn’t quite sure what to do with myself. I just knew right from the get-go that I wanted to do something.”

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A Grand Opening That Serves Up Community and Competition at Pickledilly Skokie

Amy Busse07 mins

When a pickleball Grand Opening event requests no street shoes, you know they mean business! Such was the invite from Pickledilly Skokie in Illinois for their Grand Opening and ribbon cutting ceremony on February 20. With an Emmy Award-winning sportscaster, Peggy Kusinski, as the emcee, the mayor and Skokie Chamber of Commerce President in attendance amongst other guests the event was a great way to introduce the new facility to the community.

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Southcoast Players Come for the Pickleball and Stay for the Friendships

Joseph Peshek06 mins

The people at Southcoast pickleball are all about community. Co-owner Adam Rogers calls the Southcoast a “community-centric” club. Everything that the club does centers around forming and growing a vibrant sense of community. Southcoast has a large number of regulars, but it does not offer traditional memberships. Rogers remarks, “We are not a membership-based club.” Instead, the folks at Southcoast rely on strong programming and hospitality to bring in regular attendees. For Southcoast, hospitality and community bring people back to the facility, not necessarily memberships.

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