Blazing Paddles - A Pickleball Podcast

Pickleball, Coming to a College Near You

• John & Karen Whitaker / Noah Suemnick • Season 1 • Episode 4

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Welcome back pickleheads. Today we speak with Noah Suemnick, founder of the National Collegiate Pickleball Association (NCPA). Get ready to be inspired as he shares his ambitious journey of bringing the sport to college campuses around the country. Fresh from the NCPA's maiden tournament in San Diego, and the challenges faced in establishing a pickleball association during a time when everyone is looking for a piece of the pickleball pie.

Listen in  as we navigate through Noah's bold vision of uniting college and community through the ever-expanding sport of pickleball. If you're a fan of controversy, you won't want to miss his experiences dealing with the NCAA over the organization's name - a  tale of adversity turned advantage.

At only 22 years old, Noah has a vision that is just now launching into reality. Only five years ago the average age of pickleball players was 50+, but that dynamic is quickly flipping with more and more players learning and playing the game at a young age. It won't be long before pickleball scholarships are a reality, high school letter jackets will feature a whiffle ball, and people like Noah will be the ones to make it happen.

Saddle up and have a listen, you'll be glad you did!

https://www.ncpaofficial.com/
Register Here for NCPA Texas Alumni Fundraiser
https://www.instagram.com/ncpapickleball/

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John:

It also caught the the the attention of our friends at the NCAA because they are trying to claim some sort of name infringement or that actually the quote cause you're real popular in papers. In September there was like four in a row all with the same, pretty much same article in CIA threatening to sue local pickleball promoter over the organization.

John:

And the best code of all of it from the NCAA, from them, or maybe it was their attorney, but the closeness of the names is likely to cause confusion and harm the public. I mean you. You might actually harm the public.

Noah:

Well, they also said it was unfair competition and I was like I haven't even held an event at this point, Like Hello pickleheads, welcome back.

John:

Episode four, season one, blazing paddles. Today, our guest is Noah Sumnick. He is the founder of the NCPA, the National Collegiate Pickleball Association. This guy's got a great story. He's a kid, still really 22, just graduated from college and he has big plans for pickleball in the college space. You're going to hear some of the challenges he's already overcome and we've got some tournaments upcoming here, one of which is going to be in my alma mater, texas A&M, december 2nd and 3rd. He's going to have a huge tournament down there. So put your ears on and listen. Saddle up, you'll be glad you did. It's unique. Um, I was trying to recall how long ago it was that we connected it. It was. It was it a year.

Noah:

It's been a while it's been over six months for sure but yeah, lots, lots happened since then.

John:

Man, uh, I think you reached out on Instagram. Uh, you're at. At the time it was Point Loma, your pickleball club. Um, we're like, yeah, sure, that'd be awesome, let's connect, cause you know we do make shirts and jerseys and things like that. And it turned out you had um much bigger aspirations than just a little club.

Noah:

um, over your school.

John:

Um, now for people who don't know, the name of the organization that you created is national collegiate pickleball association, the NCPA, and that's been a real popular choice, hadn't it?

Noah:

Yeah, it has. There's a it's turned some heads for sure Couple, couple of big guys in the industry. But, um, yeah, I mean when deciding the name it was just simply. You know it's like go big or go home If you want to. You know we want to be, you know, the overarching college pickleball um league, right, so um at that point you can't have a name like you know, uh, college pickleball league.

Noah:

you know of, um, like you got a yeah, so we, we landed on national collegiate pickleball association and um, yeah, it was uh, yeah, we're definitely happy with the choice but Trying to, not really trying to date you or anything, but are you 23, 24?

John:

How old are you now?

Noah:

I'm 22. 22. Okay, not trying to date you.

John:

Trying to date myself. Uh, yeah, be my child for sure. But 22 years old you started the club, um, and I guess the club started off really quickly, quicker than maybe you expected, and then you had these, these aspirations to do some stuff. I know that. Tell me about like the first tournament you put together, because I know your first one was mainly just colleges in the area right there in San Diego, right.

Noah:

Correct. Yeah, um, so when I started the club at point Loma a while back it was probably two years ago, um, it was very much. It was just SDSU, usd, obviously, point Loma, ucsd, um, and we got, you know, a lot of interest with those ones. So we kind of word got around to like a couple of schools in Arizona like hey, what's going on with this? Saw, you know, SCSU post this, um, and it kind of expanded from there. So, um, yeah, honestly did not expect to, I guess, be on this trajectory and like have these goals that we have um now, but, um, yeah, I mean couldn't, wouldn't have it any other way for sure.

Karen:

So Well, let's go back a little bit, cause I mean, you're 22, you're playing pickleball, and and what? A couple of years ago, the average age of a pickleballer was 65, maybe Great.

Noah:

Yeah.

Karen:

And so our son uh, we have a 22 year old and they, you know they play, but I mean it sounds like it hit you guys. It seems like it's just hitting. The wave is just hitting this part of the country now. So how did you get involved in pickleball? Did you play tennis?

Noah:

So no, I'm a soccer guy. So, um, I played, my mom played tennis. I played a little bit here and there, but nothing crazy. Um, yeah, I first started after COVID hit that's I think that's the story with a lot of people, but now much to do, we're stuck inside. My friend was like, hey, let's go play some pickleball. I was like what the heck is that? And then, um, that that was the uh, the origin story of of pickleball for me.

Karen:

So so you just started playing, and then I mean what it grew? I mean that was one friend. And then I mean did it? Was it a college thing? What so?

Noah:

um, this was just my buddy from high school. So, um, we were back, we're stuck in our houses. So he was like, let's go play. And then, um, after we were allowed back into um, just to move back into our dorm rooms, uh, I was like, dang, I, I got addicted to pickleball. I really love it. I really love it, why not bring pickleball to Point Loma? So, uh, made the club and it, honestly, the start, the first year was horrible because no one showed up. We were definitely before the, you know the, the surge of pickleball and the younger, um, the younger age groups. But second year, which was last year, it blew up. We had, um, it went from like 10 people to a hundred people, um, every Sunday and it was just, yeah, definitely a huge difference from the year prior, but, um, I just love because it, you know, pickleball brings people together and and we became the biggest club at Point Loma in the matter of one year. So, um, yeah, it was, it was cool to see, see that growth.

John:

Speaking of growth, dink Dot Pro is growing larger and larger. We are a pickleball experience company. We can now do tournaments, we can host them, we can bring the court to you as well as supply all the apparel. Go to Dink Dot Pro. Check out the details for more. Let's get back to know. Assume it. Reminding people of the name is cause I know the name you said. It caught the attention of a few people in the industry. It also caught the the, the attention of our friends at the NCAA, because they are uh trying to claim some sort of name infringement or that actually the quote cause. You were real popular in uh papers in September. There was like four in a row all with the same, pretty much same article in CAA threatening to sue local pickleball promoter over the organization.

John:

And the best code of all of it, from the NCAA, from, uh, them, or maybe it was their attorney, but the closeness of the names is likely to cause confusion and harm the public. I mean you. You might actually harm the public.

Noah:

Well, they also said it was unfair competition and I was like I haven't even held an event at this point, like it's just, it was, it's crazy. Like, um, I mean, biggest thing is you know when, cause, we got the um, we got the letter. My attorney was like hey, we've, uh, I've, got something for you. It's not the best news. And I was like, oh my God, like cause, I played division two soccer and um, I played like in these NCAA tournaments and I was like, whoa, how, how are these guys, like you know, sending the cease and desist and everything? Um, so, yeah, once it, once the word got out, it turned to a positive note.

Noah:

Um, obviously, because, like word spread, we it honestly gave us credibility as well, just because you know we are trying to be Be something bigger than just like a small little, you know, tournament organized. We went from just me to 10 people on our team. Yeah, it's just. It turned around to be good. Obviously, the saying All press is good press. So that that I definitely learned first saying which is great. But yeah, yeah, you got it's funny, man.

John:

I saw this one article. It went from San Diego Union trip to the Point Loma, I Guess, the obi monthly, the Sportico to tech dirt, all talking about the same thing and and, quite honestly, most of the article seemed to have the same kind of tone. Is that, you know, really, in CAA, this is really, you know, something that does causing you angst. It, and I think we all know it's about. They probably say, hey, this, this is gonna be where they, if they don't recognize how huge it is I'm certainly do now but it's money there's, it's a might be a money grab or a property grab, because they know every college in America is gonna have this for on campus.

Noah:

Exactly. Yeah, I mean, that's why I mean pickleball just in general. Outside of college there are so many little like tournament organizers or Brands popping up. Everyone's trying to get you know a piece of of pickleball. And it's, you know, eventually, over time it's going to you know not dilute, but it's gonna concentrate into the like a soul, soul forces for brands or Stuff like that. So, yeah, we're definitely in the Wild West for pickleball. It's, it's been crazy, but yeah, I mean, that just goes to show you the I guess where pickleball can be. So that's, that's the cool part.

John:

Yeah, we saw that here and I we found out in a couple ways people aren't as interested in the professional pickleball as they will be, I'm sure, because once you watch it at that level it's just whoa, it's amazing. But when the MLP you know, major league pickleball and the professional pickleball Association, ppa, when they were At odds and all of a sudden looked like they were not gonna merge, pitting war, going out, going back and forth, that's when you really saw oh man, this thing is. Now it's like you said, it is the Wild West and people are trying to stake some claims and trying to consolidate. And it's really hard right now because, I mean, we're another example, we're a little brand, we're trying to make our mark out there. I mean, we're not trying to own the world or anything, but there might have been two when we started. Now there's 200.

Noah:

So it's it's a good question. Um, I mean, biggest thing with pickleball which is why it's so big is just the fact that I mean anyone can pick up a paddle and play. Like you can be a 15 year old kid playing with a 75 year old and still have a great time like that. That's the beauty of the sport. So, yeah, biggest thing, like with kind of how we've structured the business, like we run college and community events, our biggest thing we want to bring people together. We are college specific but, um, yeah, we, I mean it's pickleball. It's the beautiful game, pickleball, everyone can play it. So, yeah, we try to pretty much bring as many people together as possible, whether that's sponsors, businesses, players of all ages. Like, yeah, it's a cool spot to be it for sure.

Karen:

So you've got 10 people on your team like who are, who are they? Are they?

Noah:

We have. I got four of my buddies from college that are working with me took a lot of convincing. They're like I do it, I don't know. And then they saw kind of you know, just pickleball as a whole. But then what we were trying to build and our space specifically, they were like let's do this, there's something here. And then we've got graphic designers, social media manager, we've got somebody working sponsorships that's vague in the football world. So, um, yeah, got a a very strong team of people that just kind of believe in what we're doing, in the vision and the story and everything. And a big thing for us like a Lot of what's happening in pickleball. People are just trying to like get in on it. There's because there's money in it, right, a big thing about us, for us, specifically, the college space. It's. It's a. It's pretty untouched given the.

Noah:

Obviously, college is very delayed comparative to, you know, all other age demographics. So when we look at college, a lot of these kids meet just having graduated college. We don't have any money. Like it's a, it's a tough gig to, you know, fly out across the nation To a tournament or fly or drive 10 hours To a regional. It's a lot.

Noah:

So a lot of what we do. We raise money for these kids to help fly them out, to just fund their travel, to make sure that they can, you know, because for a college kid there's four years, right, there's only four years that they have in college. And, you know, for the juniors and seniors it's, you know, it's either now or never for them, and me just having missed it by a year, I wish someone had, kind of, you know, been able to pave the way for the top players at Point Loma to come out to an event and have over 50 colleges come together like that. That, to me, is just so exciting and because I couldn't, you know, I couldn't get that, I wanted to give that to, you know, these other colleges.

Karen:

So I we're very well aware of how broke our kids are in college.

Noah:

Yeah, it's, it's a tough gig.

Karen:

I mean it's great that you're offering some help in that way, and you're right. I mean, and pickleball there, it's not organized by these, by colleges, yet right, we don't, they're mostly rec, and I mean, eventually it'll get there, but in the meantime, let's not miss out on the opportunity, especially since I can only imagine as I mean John and I've been playing for years our kids won't pick up a paddle and get out there after you know, they haven't picked up a paddle in six, eight months and still give us a run for our money.

Noah:

I'm like.

Karen:

So I'm excited to see the you know this age group getting into pickleball and see what it does to the sport.

Noah:

Yeah, I mean once, once there's an organized kind of, especially with, like, juniors and college kids, like they're going to be there, the future of pickleball. So once that younger demographic buys in, it's going to you know, it's going to explode even more. So, yeah, that's definitely what we're trying to do for the growth of the sport specifically.

John:

Well, and I know that for your vision you kind of had your first real proof of concept here recently with the tournament that you just hosted a pretty big one. Yeah go, and who was involved in that? Where was that one? So?

Noah:

yeah, this is our first organized NCP event. This was in California, san Diego, specifically at the hub. So, yeah, we had about 180 players playing in these, you know, 12 different, 12 different brackets over Saturday and, yeah, I mean, we, given it was our first event, we were very trying to set our expectations low, because this is our first time actually, like running an organized tournament and everything new, using our software pickleball then that we're using and it turned out very like. It went a lot better than we expected. A lot of positive feedback. Yeah, biggest thing for us, like we now have proof of concept, we have content where it's not just words that we're kind of saying like we've actually said, hey, we've run this event and we also ran it at the hub, which is where our March Nationals is going to be. So, yeah, it gives us a little bit more of that credibility to people that are like whoa, whoa, whoa, like who's the NCP, like who are these guys? So, yeah, all in all, it was a success for sure.

John:

Well, and the reason that we're kind of excited to be in here in Texas and be being a an A&M grad Texas A&M grad you have another tournament coming up on December 2nd and 3rd.

Noah:

That's correct, yeah, so yeah, we're going to Texas A&M, we're going to be playing there. They've got 28 courts, yeah, that one. So yeah, with these events, college and community. So we've got obviously A&M, tcu, baylor, ut and just trying to get out, you know, at least three or four of those colleges all to come together. Yeah, we again it's like we want to have it be, and this, this is a fundraiser for funding these players. So, pretty much like, run the event the same way we would any other events professionally run it's, you know, solid people get a minimum of four games, but you know, a player going in that's outside of college, like, okay, I'm playing in this event getting a minimum of four games in a single bracket and my money's going somewhere. So it's a properly run event and my money's actually going back to, you know, my hometown, my school. So yeah, it's like an all encapsulating kind of, I guess, business model that we kind of have with these tournaments. So, yeah, very excited for it though.

John:

So you're going to have and just so clarify, because we're going to be helping you promote this thing. Obviously this is for students, this is for alumni, this is for people just in the community who might be in that community and who support the school. I mean, there's a lot of people in college station, for instance, who love A&M but they didn't attend A&M so they would love to do it. So is sign up? Is everybody eligible? Just want to clarify who's eligible.

Noah:

Yes, so everyone's eligible. So, because we're raising money for the college kids, so it's a $45 per bracket. The biggest thing is for the college kids. They like, if I were playing, I'm a college kid at A&M, I can play in men's doubles, mixed doubles, men's singles, so for all of those it's just $45. And then for the community coming in, that's when it's $45 a piece. You don't have to be an alumni of these schools. It's pretty much open to the public and, yeah, biggest thing, we're just bringing people together, open to everyone.

John:

And how many people are you hoping to get there? I know that you've got. You do dream big, so what's the number?

Noah:

So the number we want to be conservative. So we're hoping to fill over 200 bracket spots with a minimum of 100 different players.

John:

Are you going to play? Are you going to try to play as well?

Noah:

That's a good question. I mean, california was very tempting the event last week. Yeah, I haven't decided because obviously we want the tournaments to be run smoothly. So I've got one of my buddies coming down to help me run it. I'm going to say I got to fight the temptation and say I'm not going to be playing because I want to make sure everything's run smoothly. But yeah, I will be supporting from the side cheering people on.

John:

What kind of what level do you think you are? Do you keep a deeper score or have a rating?

Noah:

I would self rate myself. I have not played in a tournament, but I'd probably be a 4-0, I think I just I mean that's, yeah, I don't play consistently enough to you know, because some, some days, I'm a 3-5. I'm not I'm like average, not great, I'm like, wow, I could go pro. This is crazy, but that doesn't happen often.

Karen:

But I mean, yeah, consistency is key with like everything, and I have no consistency with pickleball, so yeah, Well, that's the big thing that we're seeing right now, because you know, we've got the PPA going on here in our backyard right now, and then last week it was the MLP, but boy. And then our October fest. We had a couple of pros come out and that was the different. The pros played the top players in our league or in our club. Sorry, and it's just.

Karen:

That was the one difference. Is that consistency? It's unreal to watch. I tried it this morning. I was like, okay, I'm trying some of the little tricks that I learned from watching the pros. I looked pretty much like a pro yeah.

Noah:

I love it. Yeah Well, it's crazy. Like when I watch some of these pros, it's just every shot is perfect and, like some of these, some of these rallies will go on for, you know, over a minute straight and they're just perfectly hitting back. It's like it's crazy. The amount of patience that you need to play pickleball is pretty crazy, but that's what.

Karen:

I'm saying it's going to be changed. I think a lot. You know, I'm watching the players yesterday and some of the more, I guess, well known pros playing, some that I didn't recognize a little bit younger. It's going to change the game quite a bit.

Noah:

Yeah yeah, there's a lot of younger, younger pros getting signed and everything. So I mean it's cool to see like this is just the beginning phases of kind of where pickleball could go.

John:

Yeah, are you? Have you played in an MLP format yet with the team format?

Noah:

I have not. I've seen events obviously Run like it. Yeah, it's, it's interesting because there's so many different ways to run an event. We personally do Pull play into single elimination. I think With the MOP format it's like I like the, I guess, emphasis on team and, like you know, both men and women come together and like their complete score happens. So I really like that aspect. But I think it's very important to have like mixed games but also separate the two. So like with our, our March Nationals, we're gonna be having men's, women's mixed but then having also we want to make sure it's separate. So separate awards for men's, the best college, separate for women's. I think that's very important, which, because with pickleball it's kind of an unorthodox sport in the sense of you know, when you look at other sports there's not really, like you know, mix going on.

Noah:

Yeah, so it's interesting to see. But I'm not opposed to that, I like it. I just think it's having both is pretty cool.

Karen:

You know, it's the one sport to that I think we're almost. The females are more exciting to watch than the men.

John:

I mean, I mean yeah.

Karen:

I mean in ten in Pickleball it's so fast, and then, and then the cool thing is that you, you know, I guess, well, I guess that would be the same for tennis. I don't know I never really like tennis as much as I like pickleball, so it's more, more fun.

Noah:

Wait, cuz you can see yourself, because in tennis, like a lot more movement, it's a lot harder, so a lot more people can look at pickleball and visualize themselves on the court being like I can do that. So like, I think that's what's exciting too, because people they watch it, they get inspired, they're like I can physically. You know, it's possible that I can do this. Yeah, I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go play tomorrow morning. So, yeah, that's the cool part, it's people are. You know. I think that's why it's so popular To people can visualize themselves watching these pros.

Karen:

Yeah, you know. Have you ever recorded a game? You're playing a game of mice.

Noah:

I don't have the confidence for that yet. I need to. I need a dial in and then I'll analyze my gameplay.

Karen:

But let me tell you something like it's so funny because we've done that? Because to kind of go back and see who was right about like court positioning or who should have taken it. I whatever you know, just so we can get better right and. I swear, when I'm playing I look like Anna Lee and John is Ben Johns, and then you watch your own video and you're like it looks so much more athletic when I was.

Noah:

Yeah, yeah like I would, because I would watch Soccer clips and in my head I'm like, wow, I just feel like I'm so good. But then I see myself like that. I just I get. So I just get kind of cringed out sometimes I'm like, dude, what are you doing? Like, why do you look like that? But I Mean that that's part of the growth. You got to put yourself and you got to judge yourself so you can grow. So, man, let me tell you.

John:

Two weeks ago Our club held their first MLP style tournament call is gonna be an annual thing and there was what? 112, 12 teams, mm-hmm. We draft, you did a draft and the whole thing. So it's really well run and well Thought of. But I got drafted onto a team. Karen was an alternate and she ended up getting to play too. But let's talk about what these pros are dealing with. We're out there with friendlies I mean, these are people we know we play with all the time but all of a sudden you know you have people watching you and there's a crowd and people are filming you and I swear to God, you would have thought I mean I had cotton mouth. I mean Karen was like, had these Now? Then where's this? Like? Oh my god, what are we doing?

John:

people, have a take a time out and deep breathe. It's like man. What is going on?

Noah:

because it was so nerve-wracking when you're out there is but you got to do it.

John:

Like you said, push yourself and grow, because next time I won't be nearest nervous, but I'll still be nervous.

Karen:

It was crazy, yeah, but I'm sure for kids it's a little bit different to you. You don't have all of the insecurities that we bring to the table yet.

Noah:

Yeah, I mean, yeah, it's. I think just Like like you're saying, john, just anyone watching, when you know in the back of your head like I'm getting recorded, like If I mess up it's on, like someone has it on their phone, I guess it's scary. I think that's for anyone. It's just like you don't want to mess up, like I want to look really good when I play. So yeah, I mean it's, it's nerve-wracking for sure.

John:

We have a nice little clip of Karen in the middle of a match where she and her partner kind of ran into each other. She's on the ground and instead of you know doing anything picking up her paddle, she hits it back with her hand.

Karen:

I hit. I hit the. I hit an overhead and then my paddle fell. So he's and he's at the same time. He's coming over to get the shot and I'm reaching down to pick up the paddle. The ball comes, so I just hit it with my hand.

Noah:

I mean, that's all you can do.

Karen:

Like I was like not gonna give up. I was like I'll hit it with the right, gonna hit it with. Yeah, I was. That was pretty good.

John:

Yeah but I can see you know, before we were like pretty much strictly PPA. Like I love same kind of thing. You grow up watching tennis and all that MLP really does is bring a neat little break in a schedule To and I think, like you said, separate the two, maybe have an MLP event once or twice a year, but everything else kind of PPA, I think it's just. It kind of gives you a chance for teamwork in a sport that doesn't really have a lot of teamwork. You know it's the individual honest.

Karen:

Well, it would be fun to have school, you know? I mean, your school is your team, so you pick right come to the top four, right top four top two, two, you know eight, eight players, or something like that. Yeah, I don't know it's, it's we were huge fans of just pick up all the way it was, until we did this MLP tournament. We're like, wow, this is a cool way to to run things as well.

Karen:

I really did one people together too, I mean John's good little little four. Some they were the complete underdogs. It was hilarious because they were. I think John was the tallest one by a whole head. And I'm not tall, and and and the team that he had to play against in the finals was it was the. The Shortest girl was John's height.

John:

It was lovely, a David versus yeah we won silver, so we were, we were thrilled we got there.

Noah:

That's awesome.

John:

And that was the most nerve-wracking experience of my life, because there was only two teams left and we have to go out there and we're thinking we're gonna get humiliated and it's all being live-streamed right now.

Karen:

Let me ask you this no, okay, yeah, so serve wise like. Are you a conservative server or you just like want to smash it? Oh?

Noah:

Mmm that's that's a good question. So I started off in my career as a pickle baller. I Would slam it as hard as I could 50% of the time it go in, 50% it wouldn't, but the times it went in usually we would get the point and like to me that's a free point. So Pretty much I got to the point where you know people can now return. You know more than half of those serves. So if I'm hitting half into the net like Probability wise, it's just it's just not worth it at that point.

Noah:

So I've kind of let off let off the gas a little bit and tried to be more in control. But yeah, I mean I still, I love just smashing it, because when it goes in all hits, wow, that's very rare. So, yeah, there's a good balance.

Karen:

But Well, they're saying, you know that, that because the server is becoming a weapon, they that's not pickable, and so they're there. There's consideration, apparently, from Going to just drop shots, so you have to bounce, bounce the ball before you serve, which I think is interesting, you know. But like to your point, like it's my game.

John:

Yeah, one of our buddies is guy. I mean, he serves ball, derek if you, I know you're listening. He serves so hard he grunts after every serve.

Karen:

Oh, his whole body is like flying in the air.

John:

And if, he hits it, I mean you're not gonna return it, but it's just.

Karen:

That's oh, I can return every one of them.

John:

I'm like yes so they were saying that the the intent of pickleball and I think I heard this on, there's a great, there's a really good podcast called king of the court, if we're talking about other Pickleball podcast and the intent was never for the server to be a weapon and so that's why they outlawed like what was it, spencer? The? Chainsaw all the stuff because it's a whiffle ball and a lot of guys who especially have ping pong backgrounds. You can make that ball move, man. You can do some funky stuff with it.

John:

So, I I do a backhand spin serve and Does alright, mess with people a little bit, but but I I gave up trying to just smash, serve it for the very reason you're saying, because I just can't consistently put it in, if you, if you.

Karen:

If the ball goes out, yeah, it's over, right, so you. Or because of the net it's over?

John:

Well, yeah, you learn that MLP not only do you, that's a point, I mean MLP rally scoring. You serve in the net. You just lost a point. It's not even like you just right next server.

Karen:

So brutal. Exactly what's your favorite shot, oh.

John:

Probably that, so I.

Noah:

Yeah, I mean I will say I would say the service probably the best. But outside of the serve, I love it's the Driving it down the line. So like I'm on the right side, I just drive it down the line because it's it's a tough shot to hit. Not a lot of people kind of see it and usually people are Right-handed so if they're on the left side they got to put their arm all the way across. So, yeah, a lot of tactics with with that, but, um, yeah, I would say that's probably the favorite, your favorite.

Karen:

Yeah, they say that's a low percentage shot. But if you can perfect it like it sounds like you can place the ball pretty well, then it's a. It's a great Tool to exactly. Yeah, as a go-to. I no one cannot. I'm not that accurate. It's a very low percentage shot for me. Can I do it sometimes absolutely?

Karen:

But you know, I think with pick-a-ball it's about layering. Like you know you're you're laying on, layering on skills, and so like you can't just layer on a whole bunch at one time and do well at them. So in time I'm sure that I'll I'll become more consistent with it, because because I'll tell you some of the angles that the tennis players have yeah in there, in there, arsenal.

Karen:

It I did not have, but now I'm starting to pick it up and it's just yeah, it's just like adding a little layer at a time, that's what 20, I think the pickleball will do for you.

John:

Hey, don't throw stones Now we alluded to this a couple times to I don't want to make sure we give this a little Sunshine. Twos this Nationals. You've talked about your national championship that you're playing it from March. Is that gonna be back in Point Loma?

Noah:

So this is going to be where we had the, our last events. So this is at the hub. So, yeah, that's Quick summary of it. We've got 52 colleges coming out all around the nation Incredible, yeah, we're so minimum. We're having 208 players out, that's four per college. We're inviting a maximum of eight, so two teams can be represented, two men, two women.

Noah:

Yeah, so we, the way we do, we kind of have like a mixed. It's that like pool play type format, because I'm soccer guy, world Cup big, big fan, obviously, as most of the world is, but I Think it's it's a really cool Kind of format to implement. And then at the end we have the top four colleges pulling that team-style format. So, yeah, but getting on a national broadcast as well. I'm finalizing an exclusive deal with either CBS, espn or fight TV. And then, yeah, we're, we're excited for it. I mean, there's been, this has been being pulled, this has been Planned for the past, you know, I'd say like over eight months, so a lot of time has been put into this, but, yeah, it's finally come to fruition. We're getting colleges to Finalize their flights, sign up their top two men, two women. So, yeah, we're definitely excited for it.

Karen:

You know what, noah, I mean. When we met you I don't even know when it was, do it would you say, a year ago.

Noah:

I mean you were in your dorm.

Karen:

I think great.

Noah:

Yeah.

Karen:

But the very first conversation I ever do, I was like this kid is like he's incredible, you've got. You've got energy, you've got your passion, your, your fearless, you're. You've taken, you know, lawyers or letter, whatever you're like you're fearless. I love that about you. I love it that you're pouring it all into my favorite sport, pickleball. But I mean I appreciate that.

Karen:

I love, I've really enjoyed getting to know you over however many months. This has been because and and that's why you've got our support and whatever we can do to help you because I Love somebody who, just who sees an opportunity, he sees in a gap and just says you know, I want to fill that gap and I'm gonna make this thing happen, no matter what, and that's that's what you've demonstrated to us.

Noah:

So yeah, I appreciate that. I mean, and I will say To you guys, there there's very few people that Will kind of get with number one, this young guy who's kind of all talk has not had you know anything, but very few people will actually be like, hey, I believe in what you're doing, we're gonna support you through it and you know, we're gonna do what we can to help you, you know, make your vision come to fruition. So, yeah, I just want to say thank you to you guys, because there's a very few people that you know would, I guess, believe in an idea from this young college kid that's like in his dorm room with his roommates coming in and out of his room.

Karen:

So, yeah, yeah, there man, you were, like you were really impressive. I couldn't believe that. I mean just the I don't know.

John:

It's like I want to say it's, it's a I Fearless, like just fearless, it's a fashion, and it's clearly not about trying to get rich, and you know, that's kind of where we are too. It's like this is sport we love. We want to make it even better, and if that means.

John:

Exposing it to more people or, however, branding it better or just giving more opportunity. And I think that's great what you're doing, because you could tell I mean, heck, we saw All these kids start showing up on the courts and our local courts, high schools, high schools are gonna be. Next. They're gonna have high school national championships. Oh yeah, I figure. I mean, these kids are unbelievable out there. So I think you're you're on the right track, man. It's great to be Along for part of the ride and, and honestly, I can tell you I know you've had maybe got crossways with a few people who are sending you nasty letters and all that, but we found some great partners in this, this industry as well, that Are just. There's some really good people in pickleball industry too who are in it because they love it, and we're gonna be Happy to connect you with those folks too, because you just never know, it takes a village to make this thing run and it's um, you know You've, you've got a great, you've got a great vision and some of us can Surely put some of our weight behind.

John:

Hey, folks, this is a reminder to how, as we celebrate Veterans Day this weekend at dinkpro right now, discount code God bless veterans. You get 30% off our God bless pickleball T-shirts. Those come in men and women cotton as well as the performance fabric, so go on there. God bless veterans is. The discount code gets 30%. The shirts are fantastic and it's just one small way to honor our veterans. Let's get back to the show we're gonna put down. Would you look rather people reach out to you on Instagram. How do you, how is it best for people to get to you? Do they go to the website?

Noah:

I Say, yeah, website is. I mean, if they want to reach me, all the info is on the website. But my email, that's the easiest way. Yeah, register everything that, all the info on the events, how you register Contact info, social media, all of it's on our website. So that's kind of our, our baby. So, yeah, when all all those fails, the website you'll. You'll find the answers you need on like who we are, contact info, all of that.

Karen:

Yeah, yeah. Well, we're excited to have you in Texas here in a couple weeks and I'm John and I plan to. I think we're gonna play and help you run, but I can do both Love it. But I, yeah, if I'm gonna be there, I must play, I must must see if it's. Yeah, I mean it's tough to.

Noah:

It's tough to resist. Yeah, I want you guys, I want you guys to win. That'd be awesome. But yeah, I mean definitely excited to go to go to Texas. Obviously this will be our first event in Texas, so it'll be reoccurring at in. So, yeah, excited that you guys are gonna be part of the very first one.

John:

So I can't tell you how cool it is that my, my alma mater would be decided. Is that's pretty, that's just serendipitous. Have you ever have you?

Noah:

ever been there.

John:

Have you ever visited a nm?

Noah:

Yeah, so it's been a while, it's been like five years, but this is when I was considering, you know, schools to go play soccer at and everything. But yeah, beautiful campus, love it.

John:

It's just a? It's monster. It's just a monster. It is yeah so no that'll be great. It'll be a great venue for it and we're looking forward to it, man.

Karen:

You know what? Let me ask you a question, one question, sorry. Is this soccer have? Do they have inner mixed play and soccer?

Noah:

So that's the thing. It's like same with basketball or stuff like that. There really isn't like there's yeah, oh, ed, type, like you could play indoor leagues. It's just it's so different because guys tend like, especially with you know, soccer, they tend to be faster. And there's also the you know guys don't want to like hurt the girl, so it's just they don't play at their top level girl. I guess it's just it's fun to do it. But when it's you know a you know organized tournament and a competition, it's it'd be tough to merge the two. Yeah, well, again, appreciate you guys getting on board of this. I mean, yeah, it's Should be, should be really fun event. But the cause as well, that's, that's what we're in it for raising money for these college kids. So, yeah, glad you guys are in for the red.

John:

Yeah, man, yeah, enjoy, enjoy the weekend out there and beautiful San Diego, and we will talk to you again soon. Big hey, that sounds good, I appreciate it.