SPONSORED CONTENT | BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
PLAYTIME SCHEDULER POWERS MORE THAN 1 MILLION PICKLEBALL PLAY DATES
Eight years ago , Reine Steel realized she had a pickleball problem . Yes , she was hopelessly addicted , but that wasn ’ t the problem that needed solving — it was finding games that fit her schedule . “ Email chains with dozens of players were cumbersome and ineffective . Then there ’ s the dreaded group texts that always seem to unleash a flurry of ‘ dings ’ at the worst possible time ,” Reine says . “ As a web developer , I knew I could come up with a better way .” She sketched out some ideas , and within a few weeks her team at STLi Web Solutions had a working prototype they called PlayTime Scheduler for Pickleball .
Reine shared the tool with her local pickleball community in Sacramento , and players there enthusiastically jumped online to schedule play dates . As word spread , other pickleball communities began requesting their own PlayTime Schedulers , leading to the site expanding globally in 2019 . Today , PlayTime Scheduler is used by more than 280,000 pickleballers in 41 countries . Nearly 40,000 play sessions are posted each month . Recently , it marked a milestone of 1 million play sessions created .
“ Adding PlayTime Scheduler has been a huge boost for our pickleball community , and our players and team leaders love it ,” says Chuck Black , a local site administrator in Crossville , Tennessee . “ It is so easy to use and eliminates those annoying strings of group texts and multiple emails trying to set up a game .”
The software groups players by region so they can access a database of about 10,000 local venues and receive notifications when new games are posted nearby . Play sessions can be filtered by tags such as skill rating , gender , format , and number of players . Most sessions are public , but an inviteonly feature allows groups to arrange private play dates . Clubs and coaches post special events like clinics , roundrobins , and drill sessions . Many users report logging on multiple times a day to browse the calendar , sign up to play , and exchange messages .
The fact that the service is free , with a simple user-friendly interface , has led to rapid organic growth — around 10,000 new users join the site every month . Each region is moderated by one or more volunteer local admins , who post community notes and encourage new players to connect with others via the site . For thousands of players , PlayTime Scheduler has become a central hub for tracking all local pickleball happenings , as well as a resource to turn to when traveling .
“ It works so well for us because we ’ re also a tourist destination , so we have lots of people looking to play when they visit ,” says Andy Hiller , local admin for Chincoteague Island , Virginia . “ PlayTime Scheduler makes it easy for them to find us and join our play sessions .”
“ It ’ s the last thing I check at night and first thing in the morning to determine where , when , and with whom I ’ ll be playing ,” says Bill Consiglio in California .
Longtime user Diana Beals agreed . “ I love it . Whenever I want a game , I just go on PlayTime Scheduler . It makes my life easy and fun .”
To start connecting with players in your area , sign up for a free account at PlayTimeScheduler . com .