The fastest growing sport in the U.S. right now is pickleball. Due to the sport’s easy learning curve, accessibility and slow pace, the surge of interest isn’t slowing down anytime soon.
Anish Manrai, the assistant director of community programs and services for the Columbia Association, recently sat down with Club Solutions Magazine Podcast host Rachel Zabonick-Chonko to discuss the pickleball craze.
Manrai provides an all-encompassing class in everything you need to know from why the sport is exploding to how to market it and more.
Listen to the full conversation below.
Show Notes
- At 1:21 learn about the Columbia Association’s inception and mission
- Manrai details when they launched pickleball, how they started to grow the sport, and recent developments and opportunities at 2:33.
- At 4:45 hear what Manrai believes is driving the massive popularity behind the sport.
- Learn how pickleball is inclusive to almost all groups of people — and it’s not just a sport for seniors at 6:25.
- At 7:20 Manrai details what a club needs to consider before implementing the sport.
- Hear what’s needed from an operations and logistics perspective to bring pickleball to your club at 9:59.
- At 11:30 Manrai describes how to drive ROI and increase the value of the sport.
- Learn how Manrai was able to get consistent revenue from just one court at 14:28.
- At 15:43 hear about the possible tensions between tennis and pickleball enthusiasts, and how that friction can be put to rest.
- Manrai details how they were able to successfully market pickleball at 17:18.
- At 20:25 learn the importance of partnering with other pickleball entities in your community.
- Manrai describes how his organization uses the sport to grow membership sales at 23:02.
Subscribe to the Club Solutions Magazine podcast on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud and Spotify.
