By Chuck Menke
USA PICKLEBALL CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER
I didn ’ t find pickleball , it found me .
As a college sophomore in the spring of 1992 , I was minding my own business one day in the student union when a friend suddenly walked up with an intent look in his eyes . Outside of varsity athletics , he was the top racquet sports player on our sprawling campus at a state university . Each year he handily won the intramural tennis competition .
My buddy asked if I ’ d be willing to fill in for a doubles match of intramural pickleball . His original partner had just informed him that he needed to continue cramming for a physics test . The match started in less than an hour and it was a sport I ’ d never heard of . So asking me — of all people — to play was a clear sign of desperation . “ Sure ,” I replied . It sounded like a fun challenge . Fast-forward 30 years , and I ’ m now the new chief marketing officer for USA
Pickleball .
A lot has changed in that time . No longer a well-kept secret , pickleball continues to take the country by storm . As the National Governing Body ( NGB ), we have a unique opportunity to grow the game properly and serve our burgeoning membership — from youth to pro players .
As for me and our team in marketing , communications and business development , we carry an important responsibility to support that mission . This includes the need to :
• Enhance USA Pickleball ’ s value proposition and the exclusive benefits we offer to all our members and event participants .
• Celebrate our sport and everyone in it by telling your stories in compelling and inspiring ways .
• Align with corporate partners who are engaged and share our objective of growing the sport .
• Drive revenue to create a virtuous cycle in which we , as a nonprofit organization , funnel money back into grassroots programming and national-level events .
• Leverage emerging technologies to seize possibilities and position pickleball as a forward-thinking sport .
• Reach new audiences , including young and diverse demographics , and introduce pickleball ’ s appeal to would-be participants .
• Produce awareness campaigns to increase the public ’ s understanding of our role and relevancy as a caretaker for the sport .
• Develop content through digital and print media to educate , instruct , inform and entertain .
I have spent most of my career in the U . S . Olympic & Paralympic Movement and had the privilege to work with successful NGBs like USA Hockey and USA Triathlon . But I ’ ve never witnessed an NGB in quite the same enviable position that USA Pickleball now finds itself . Under the leadership of our board of directors and CEO Stu Upson , we are eager to support the rapid evolution of a sport in real time as it expands exponentially across the U . S . and , ultimately , the rest of the world .
It sounds like a fun challenge .
JULY / AUGUST 2022 | MAGAZINE 11