RacquetX - A world-class festival of thought, connection, and experiential learning

To be completely honest, I was unsure of what to anticipate when I attended the inaugural RacquetX convention. However, it proved to be a wise decision for several reasons. Not only did I find myself immersed in a remarkable haven and emporium for racquet sports enthusiasts, but I also had the fortunate opportunity to engage with industry experts and meet some of the finest individuals in our field.

My main observation: I was captivated by the remarkable enthusiasm surrounding Padel, and to some extent, Pickleball as well. The reason is that Pickleball is no longer considered a novel concept to me. It has gained widespread popularity, transitioning from the introductory phase, and is now firmly established in the growth stage.

I also observed that the age of Pickleball players at the event was on average between 30 and 40. For Padel players, the average age seemed more like 25-35.

I am excited about the sport of Pickleball, but I find Padel to be particularly fascinating. I am eager to find a Padel court in Los Angeles so that I can experience it firsthand. The atmosphere at the conference was absolutely remarkable, and I would like to provide you with an overview so that you can appreciate it as well. I also shot a few 15-20-second video clips that were uploaded to YouTube and I’ll include the links.

RacquetX offered a comprehensive experience across multiple areas, including the Main Stage, Showfloor Theater, main Exhibition Floor with food and drink vendors, and Racquet Sports Courts featuring Pickleball, Padel, and Tennis.

It is important to mention that tennis was not the primary focus at RacquetX. More like an afterthought. Out of the approximately 100 speakers in panels on the podium, only 2 represented the USTA. The real excitement was centered on Pickleball and Padel (PB&P), both on the courts, in exhibition booths, and on the stage. I was glad to see two high-ranking USPTA people manning a booth: CEO Brian Dillman and Ramona Husaru.

Main Stage

Main Stage was the largest auditorium a few paces away from the busy and noisy main sections of the event. The photo above shows a panel of experts (from left) Kristen Fulmer (Moderator) of Oak View Group, Tanja Marariu of The Palms Hotel, Ariana Hiltebrand of Miami Beach Convention Center, Zach Ruiz of the Miami Heat, and Teddy L’hotellier of the University of Miami. Topic: Fusing Sport and Sustainability: How to build a greener future.

It was amazing to learn what all of those people are already doing to help build a greener planet in their particular area.

Showfloor Theater

A smaller, more intimate stage, the Showfloor Theater hosted many of the excellent panels for RacquetX. The photo above shows (from left) Moderator and Journalist from Spain Rosa Jimenez, Brian Noble of Ace Pickleball, Elliott Carnello of Ace Padel, Ricardo De Las Heras of Hexagon Cup/School Padel Center (Spain), Rishi Sehgal, COO of Mindspring, and Mookie Mcdevitt of Ace Pickleball Club. The topic was: The Perfect Membership Model: What is the sweet spot for today’s racquet sport club? I was able to extract a bunch of key points for the audience:

• Don’t just build courts, engage members.

• Build a community with organic growth.

• Giving people a choice (of racquet sports) is a good thing.

• Pickleballers find people like themselves and find themselves with a completely new life including a new social life.

• People come into Ace Pickleball, get a free lesson, and often sign up right then and there for membership.

• In Spain, it’s more Pay and Play rather than club membership.

• Make sure you have only one membership model. Don’t confuse members.

Link to a quick Showfloor audience view. https://youtu.be/8t6RakVtl8I

Exhibition Floor

Exhibitors Nox and Osaka had eye-catching displays. Paddle manufacturer Nox had a replica of ‘Back to the Future’ vehicle DMC Delorean. Osaka had this flashy structure. I learned that they are one of now about 600 paddle manufacturers.

From left: Ramona Husaru is the freshly appointed USPTA Chief Development Officer. Brian Dillman is the new USPTA CEO. It was interesting to learn how Ramona developed her career starting playing tennis in Romania and moving to the USA where she now plays one of the most important roles at the USPTA. Brian was a skilled moderator of a panel that included Marcos Del Pilar of Padel fame, Tim Bainton of Blue Chip Management, and Shaun Moxham of MSQUASH. The topic: Tomorrow’s Teacher: Who are the next generation of coaches and what tools, platforms and skillsets do they need to thrive in tomorrow’s world?
Scott McCulloch, the CEO of Cliff Drysdale Tennis was participating on two panels. the first one included Andres Robelo of PlaybyPoint (Moderator), Jonathan Fralick of Invited Clubs, and Jorge Barragan of The Picklr. Topic: The Changing Landscape of Club Management. The second panel included Martina Kochli of My Pickleball Coach, Brianne Carter of My Pickleball Club, and Moderator Jason Aspes of My Kitchen Pickleball. Topic: Community Counts: How to build a sustainable racquet sports community.

Scott McCulloch: Cliff Drysdale Tennis manages clubs with 550+ tennis courts and 250+ Pickleball courts under the Cliff Drysdale and PBI brand names and as unbranded “White Label” clubs. Some of Scott’s comments:

• Industry: Together we’ll be more successful than ever!

• 3 components in CDT clubs: Programming, social play, organized play.

• We morph into the fundamentals of each club we manage.

• Be flexible but never compromise. Use technology.

• Pickleball, Padel, and tennis need to co-exist.

Jonathan Fralick: Invited Clubs owns more than 200 golf country clubs including 85 racquet operations with 800+ tennis courts and 400+ Pickleball courts. Some of Jonathan’s comments:

• The 3 P’s in our business: People-Programs-Places

• Be flexible, markets are different today. The future is more social.

• Silos will not be successful. Break them down.

• All sports must be treated equally.

• Don’t put Pickleball on back courts. Put them on court 1.

• Padel courts are pretty. Put them at the front of your club.

• Invited Clubs is using CourtReserve and is very happy with it.

I ran into two true pioneers of their sport. Marcos Del Pilar is the President & CEO of Sports Management Padel, Co-founder and Commissioner of the Pro Padel League, and in his spare time, he freelances for the USTA as Director of Padel. The sport of Padel could probably not have a better Ambassador than this man. Mitch Kutner, President of the International POP Tennis Association is another relentless Ambassador for his sport. Imagine the USTA would make good on their stated intention a decade ago and support POP Tennis as much as they support Padel today. Right, Mitch?

Yep, we also saw another new sport emerging at RacquetX: PaddleSmash. Not sure if it will catch on but those guys playing it seemed to have fun. Here is a very short video: https://youtu.be/iyJqsWZbcds. The Playtomic booth didn’t see a lot of traffic. Like, when they took over KOURTS and then we never heard from them again. Oh well…

Vibra Tec’s booth saw plenty of action. If you think their product Vibration Plate as a foot massager, think again. I stepped on it and was blown away by the power of the $3,800 machine. The company states the product burns fat, enhances muscles, strengthens joints & bones.
Video clip: https://youtu.be/wmW52BwNskE.

The image on the right shows Invited Clubs CEO David Pillsbury on the mic with Zach Petett of Money 2020 (Moderator) and Waylon Ian Chin of Bond Life Club and First Serve Partners. Topic: Investing in the Future of Racquet Sports.

Save My Play is an AI-powered sports camera system that attracted a steady number of visitors to their booth. Their slogan: “Set up our innovative system in just 1 hour - includes highlights, instant replay, live streaming, and more.”
The SCORLI SCOREBOARD promises to “revolutionize your game experience.” Scores are effortlessly transmitted up to a distance of 70 meters (230 ft) via Bluetooth from both Android and iOS devices to this electronic scoreboard.

Some of the other booths with impressive products included:

• VOLLEY - “The first AI-enabled racquets simulator for Tennis, Pickleball, Padel, Platform tennis.” This is truly a remarkably intelligent ball machine that does much more than just spitting out balls. Here is a short clip: https://youtu.be/1jIIutADpik.

• Matchi - “The global platform for racket sports.”

• Centerline Athletics - “Premium Pickleball apparel.”

• Floating Padel Court - a very impressive concept. A Finnish company (Floating Padel Oy) that designs and sells floating padel courts combined with a marina. “Optimal way to develop your waterfront property or increase your profitability and activities at your Marina.” See for yourself! Founder Ville Leisti tells me that this idea usually becomes a huge profit center for anyone investing in it.

Racquet Sports Courts

The layout of the PB&P courts was intelligently designed, with excellent visibility that contributed to the vibrant atmosphere experienced every day. I uploaded two short clips to YouTube for Pickleball and for Padel action. To my surprise, the attention given to the tennis court was minimal, with only occasional interest in clinics and Cardio tennis.

My Takeaways

I am pleased that I took the opportunity to attend RacquetX. This type of event shows great promise, in my opinion. The panel discussions provided deep insights and served as a source of inspiration. I had the pleasure of meeting many talented individuals. Some of the exhibited products were highly intriguing, and the on-court action sparked my interest in participating in a Padel clinic during the first week of April. Furthermore, the entire experience solidified my belief that changing our newsletter title to Racket Business was a wise decision!

My only regret is that I had planned to spend just two days at the event. However, I am certain that I will attend again next year. The value of this event is simply too good to miss!