RacquetX City Series Los Angeles

I decided to sign up for the RacquetX City Series in Los Angeles for several reasons. Not only did Racket Business exhibit at RacquetX 2025 in Miami, at which I saw first-hand the professional job Co-Founder/CEO Robyn Duda and her staff are doing. And not only do I know The Griffin Club and the fantastic job the Director of Racquet Sports and noted industry expert Cari Buck is doing there. But I said to myself, if I ever wanted to organize an industry forum-style event, I need to learn from the best. RacquetX City Series didn’t disappoint. And the fact that The Griffin Club is only a 12-mile/40-minute drive from my office helped, too.

(All photos except one were shot by me.)

The Griffin Club is one of LA’s most beautiful social and athletic clubs, featuring Tennis, Pickleball, Swimming, Yoga, Pilates studios, and a nice, big Gym.

The Griffin Club website calls it the “premier racquet, athletic, aquatic, and social club located in the heart of West Los Angeles.” Tennis is a core component of the club since 1926. The club offers 7 tennis courts and 4 pickleball courts. It’s truly a “home away from home” for their members. The membership page shows the essence of Griffin Club life in 42 seconds.

RacquetX describes the City Series: The RacquetX City Series takes the energy and insights of our flagship Club Summit and brings them to you in a powerful, one-day format designed to elevate the careers of racquet sports professionals. Hosted in key cities across the country, each City Series stop delivers high-impact sessions, curated networking opportunities, and actionable strategies from industry leaders — all tailored to the needs of today's top club pros. Whether you're looking to stay ahead of the curve, grow your professional network, or bring fresh ideas back to your club, the City Series brings the RacquetX experience straight to you.

One of the club’s meeting rooms was packed with participants and exhibitors/sponsors like CourtReserve, Okatent, Playtomic, Patch, and Lusotendas.

The 5 sessions with Panels and Moderators were excellent. Here is a short summary of every session.

Panel 1
Getting Attention in the World of FOMO

Moderated by Sports Journalist Erin Coscarelli, the panel included (from left) Zee Batal (Entertainment Pickleball League), Cynthia Neiman (USTA SoCal Board President), and Aaron Fox (Director of Recreation, Brentwood Country Club).

Zee Batal mentioned that we are in the Health, Entertainment, and Fun business and pointed out that his fun “Trifecta Tournament” of Tennis, Pickleball, and Padel, a competition between clubs, is very successful. Erin Coscarelli agreed with Zee. “Don’t do boring. Shake it up. Reality TV works very well for a reason.”

For Aaron Fox, “Building Trust Every Day” is the most successful strategy at Brentwood.

Cynthia Neiman had powerful messages that hit home with me. Speaking from her retail experience, she dropped the industry mantra “Surprise and Delight” and named “free” and “new” as the most powerful words in that space. Why not use successful mantras like this in our industry? Cynthia pointed out that the pros are key in clubs and that “tennis has a pedigree.” She describes social media as “Word of Mouth” on steroids and reminded us that storytelling is important in our messaging. “Highlighting your staff accelerates engagement.”

Panel 2
Courts in Transition: Embracing Change to Stay Ahead

Moderated by Shawna Barasch of Wilson & Wilson Pickleball Consultant, the panel included (from left) Vinnie Brascia (Founder, Los Cab Sports Club), Bradley Gold (CEO, Founding Partner, Calabasas Pickleball Club), and Ryan Redondo (CEO, Taktika Padel and the San Diego Stingrays, Co-Founder, RKT3 Group, and CEO, Youth Tennis San Diego/Barnes Tennis Center).

Vinnie Brascia runs the 13 Tennis courts/51 Pickleball courts Los Cab facility with Partner Mitch Bridge. He mentioned parking as his biggest limiting factor for growth. Bradley Gold’s Pickleball club has 16 Pickleball courts, and 95% of players are level 3.0/3.5. Ryan Redondo led San Diego’s Barnes Tennis Center through an early adoption period of pickleball and Padel. The facility has 25 Tennis courts, 19 Pickleball courts, and 7 Padel courts.

Shawna Barasch proclaimed that Pickleball is key to building communities and asked the panel about the biggest mistakes in building their organizations.

• Ryan Redondo: Not having the right people and not enough people.

• Vinnie Brascia: People don’t change. Don’t expect it.

• Bradley Gold: Being afraid to tell people “NO” (example: playing music on the court. Don’t let complainers throw you off.)

Panel 3
Investing in Your People

Moderated by Jesse Steinberg of the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego, the panel included (from left) Andrew Minnelli (Director of Racquet Sports at Bighorn Golf Club, Associate at GSI Executive Search), Ryan Wingo (General Manager, The Griffin Club), and Trevor Kroneman, (Executive Director, USTA Southern California).

Andrew Minnelli’s club in Palm Desert, California, has 4 Tennis courts and 1 Pickleball court. Soon, they’ll add 1 Padel court, as well. Ryan Wingo says, “Culture is where it starts. Leadership needs to care. Give people ownership and let them do things. Allow mistakes to happen.” Trevor Kroneman praises his staff of 24 as amazing people who take care of 700 tournaments each year. His recipe: be constantly in touch with them and support them.

Lunch Break

Panel 4
Technology, Data & Digital Tools for Club Management

Moderated by Ashley Owens of the CourtReserve, the panel included (from left) Britt Ivy (Head of Business Development USA & Canada, Playtomic), Jessica Talbert (CEO & Co-Founder, Park Padel), and David Fox (CEO & Founder, Save My Play).

According to Ashley Owens, Courtreserve is only 15 clubs short of 2,000 club clients, which is a monumental achievement in as little as 9 years since 2016. Britt Ivy mentioned that Playtomic has 7,000 clients worldwide, with fewer than 150 of them in the USA. Jessica Talbert uses WhatsApp, PlaybyPoint, Playtomic, AI, and Save My Play. She is adamant that email is OUT and texting is IN and says, “It’s important to know when to use each of the channels available.” Important data to watch regularly at Park Padel: Revenue per hour, participation in clinics, and retention rate. Also important: Revenue per player (Who are the top spenders? Take care of them!) David Fox says that livestreaming and video clinics are the bread and butter for Save My Play. “With competition around, players travel for miles to get to livestreaming courts.” His advice: “Always over-communicate with members.” Ashley Owens talked about the benefits of integrating CourtReserve with Patch, the “automation and retention platform designed to engage, manage, and keep your members coming back.”

Panel 5
Connecting the Dots: Leveraging All Racquet Sports for Growth

Moderated by DJ Mad Linx, World Class DJ, Radio & TV ESPN Tennis Correspondent, the panel included (from left) Jon Neeter (owner, Santa Monica Pickleball Center), and Steve Shpilsky (CEO & Founder, Los Angeles Padel Club).

Steve Shpilsky is a Griffin Club member and currently builds a 7-court Padel facility which is slated to open in November/December. Jon Neeter started out in tennis as a stringer for Steve Bellamy at the Palisades Tennis Center. He used to have just one Tennis court behind his Pro Shop and managed to turn it into 4 beautiful Pickleball courts.

It’s clear that I wasn’t able to post all the details of those conversations here. I’m just thrilled that such a quality event came to my area in Southern California. Consider joining one of the RacquetX City Series events coming to Austin, Texas, Atlanta, Georgia, and Orlando, Florida, soon.

Next RacquetX City Series locations:

October 12, 2025 at Austin Country Club
November 9, 2025 at Atlanta’s Ansley Golf Club
January 22, 2026 in Orlando, FL. Location TBD