If you’ve been itching to get into pickleball, but don’t want to be highly competitive about it, USTA has a fun way to ease into it without turning yourself into a modern-day Bobby Riggs.
USTA had been running a social tennis league sponsored by Red Hare Brewing Company for about a decade. StillFire Brewing Co. now sponsors both the tennis and racquetball social leagues for USTA Atlanta.
“It was just aimed at getting beginner tennis players on the court in a laid-back social and flexible atmosphere,” said Chris Canter, USTA community programs coordinator. “Over the past 10 or so years, that has been really successful with getting rackets in hands and getting people excited about the game.”
In the summer of 2022, when USTA decided to add pickleball to its offerings, starting with social league play made sense. “We kind of mirrored it off our tennis league,” said Canter. “We run the league three times a year: spring, summer and fall.”
Getting the (pickle)ball rolling
The first year saw about 250 players. It has doubled to about 500 in just one year. The teams are made up of men’s, women’s and mixed doubles. They meet on Wednesday nights at about six courts throughout the area.
“They play two out of three sets to 15. If they’re tied at one set each, they play a third set tie-break to 11 points,” said Canter. “Just like in the tennis league, they play men’s doubles first on one court. Then they play women’s doubles and then they play mixed doubles.”
But unlike regulation pickleball, the rules aren’t as serious.
“We have some pretty unique rules like players are allowed to sub in and out each game,” said Canter. “And each player gets a Mulligan. Any time they mess up a shot or a gain point and they lose the point, each player gets one Mulligan that they get to use.”
This isn’t the U.S. Open after all, it’s an opportunity to learn a new sport, get some exercise, hang out with cool people and enjoy a few adult beverages.
Partnerships make a difference
“We’re always interested in pickleball,” said Aaron Bisges, COO of StillFire Brewing. “During the pandemic, pickleball took a meteoric rise just as an activity for people to get out of the house in their driveways or go to the park and still be socially distant at that time and getting in some activity and some social time.”
So StillFire read the tea leaves (or maybe hops) and realized that a cool, fun activity would be a great partner for its brand.
“It’s been around for 20 or 30 years,” said Bisges adding that he played it in school more than 20 years ago. “Back then it was more of an activity to play in the gym when it was raining outside. I never really thought of it becoming something as popular as it is today.”
But he did remember having a good time playing pickleball.
When Red Hare stopped sponsoring the USTA league a colleague mentioned the opportunity for StillFire.
A social sport
“We thought it was a great opportunity for StillFire to be associated with USTA and get our brand out to all the metro Atlanta social leagues,” said Bisges. “Pickleball is a very social sport. It’s a very fun and approachable sport. Accessibility is very easy. It doesn’t take much more than a driveway and a couple of cheap paddles and a ball.”
The court is smaller than tennis but larger than ping pong, so players still get in a pretty good workout that’s not too strenuous.
“Our brewery is a very community-driven social gathering place,” said Bisges. “The two synergies between the brewery and what we try to do as a tap room in an event space lines up perfectly with what pickleball is and what it became.”
Bisges said that he sees a lot of people gather pre- or post-match to enjoy the casual friendships and easy sportsmanship of the games.
There’s even a special beverage called Top Spin Light that pays homage to pickleball.
“It’s a play on pickleball stuff,” said Bisges adding that it’s gone over well. “We do a special label for those guys.”
Looking ahead
StillFire sees itself remaining partners with USTA far into the future.
“It’s put us in front of a lot of potential customers that maybe otherwise wouldn’t know who we are,” said Bisges. “We have one location currently. It’s in downtown Suwanee.”
There are plans for a second location in Smyrna – on the other side of the metro area.
“The league has helped us get in front of a lot of potential patrons throughout metro Atlanta because we do distribute wholesale beer where people can get it at bars, restaurants, package stores etc.,” he said. “When people have our beer in their hand and on their t-shirts and stuff; when they’re going to the social leagues and becoming familiar with it, that’s helped us capture that audience.”
The new space will break ground this fall with expectations of opening next year.
The partnership with USTA has also given StillFire opportunities to meet with municipalities looking to add more pickleball play.
“We’re looking to help find new locations and courts where people maybe can’t drive all the way to Atlanta,” he said.
Sponsoring concerts and other events is part of doing business, but big sporting events like Braves or Falcons games are too expensive for small operations.
“As pickleball continues to grow as a sport in general, we’re always looking for good sponsorship opportunities,” said Bisges. “The clientele and the demographics align perfectly with what we do. It would be a no-brainer to be able to eventually do some of these more national or regional tournaments.”
USTA Atlanta StillFire Pickleball League
Fall registration opens Aug. 1
- Play is available at the following locations:
- Sandy Springs Tennis Center
- Piedmont Park Pickleball
- Fair Oaks Tennis Center
- ITA (Atlanta)
- Pickle and Social
For more information, visit ustaatlanta.com/stillfirepickleball.