Episode 39 Ace Pickleball Club Soft Opening

Hey, this is Mike and this is Christana, and we are here with Joan at Ace Pickleball Club. Grand opening. Or soft opening, I should say. Soft opening. Yes, yes. So, how are you? I'm great. Excited to be here. I'm excited because this is my partner that we played a tournament together and won. We did. That was super exciting. It was. How fun. I heard about you. That's good. Yeah. You said you kicked ass. We did. We did. We did really well. And this was a weird tournament because nobody really, I didn't know where it was at, and they were driving me out to the backwoods somewhere. I thought they were taking me out to like duct tape me or something. So it was a little scary. But it was a lot of fun. It was just a bunch of people got together, played some pickleball, and had fun. Yeah. It's a privately owned court. It was. So, it's pretty sweet in the middle of the woods. Middle of the woods. And we drew our name, and we pretty much, there was a hat, and we took our names out and that was our partner. Yeah. And I got lucky. I got the best partner. Luck of the draw. That's what I said. I only won because of you. No. No. It was good. It has to be a team. You know, it really does. I mean, I love pickleball, and I'm trying to become senior pro. That's where I'm heading. Love it. But you were playing very, very well. You know? Thank you. Thank you. And we played against my partner, right? Great. We did. Yeah. That was the worst. It was scary because I really wanted to beat them. We did. And he was good. But I think we got in his head a little bit. And he had the 10. His girl was more tennis. Yes. So we were playing on her like, all right, and she'd hit that ball hard, and she'd hit it out. Yeah. So you guys won it, though, right? We did win it. We got some treats. What was the score? Do you remember? It was three. We ended up playing them like three times, I think it ended up. Yeah. We did. It was a draw. They had a... They set all this up, but we just showed up and played, and we won. But what a beautiful home, too. Yeah. That's a beautiful neighborhood. Yeah. It's a home. Very nice. Yeah. That was the guest house. That was the guest house. Like, when you pull in the driveway, that's just the guest house. And then you drive around, and it's just a gorgeous home, and there's a pickleball court. How can you beat that? Yeah. So... And he doesn't have anyone to play with. Nobody in his family plays. What the heck? That's a bummer. I know. So that's why he has these, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He's a great guy, too. What a nice guy. Yeah. Yeah. But... So you're here today just to kind of check it out? Yeah. And what do you think? There's a lot of interesting things that other places don't have. Yes. So I'm curious to see how it plays out. I do, too. They said they're going to do, like, at night, instead of leagues, they're going to have, like, open play, which is... I think it's okay, though, because sometimes, you know, we want to play at night. So anyway, I mean, this place is... Yeah. It's a little different than everywhere else, which is good. Yeah. You don't need everybody to be the same, right? You're right. I mean, everywhere needs to have... Because there's starting to be a lot of courts. There are. I mean, it's nuts. I just drove... I was on Santa Fe in Hampton, and there's another big place opening up. You know? Just crazy. Like, it's starting with, like, 7-Elevens. It is. I don't know if you've heard about the 26 courts they're building in Parker. Oh, yes. I've heard about the... Is that happening? Yeah. They're doing it. It's already... Phase one is done. And who is it? The City of Parker. Oh, City of Parker. They'll be three courts. Oh, we think we were talking... We were talking to the rec. She was talking to your friend at Park Rec. Oh, I don't remember, but yeah. That's all right. Okay. That's okay. It happens. So, it's the first phase. And do you know where exactly they're going to be? It's going to be an extension of the tennis courts. Okay. Oh, wow. And they'll have a championship courts for tournaments with lights and stadium seating. Wow. So, outdoor. Yep. Outdoor. Yeah, Denver's doing another one right down... Our podcast studio is right downtown Denver. They're building 19 courts outside. I mean, I just... It's nuts. At the end of the day, when you go to these places, there are people in all of them. They're full. Sure. So, I mean, they're playing. It's an addiction. It is an addiction. It really is. If I don't play... Like, if I took three days off, I'd be... Oh. Yeah. A mess. I was already six o'clock this morning till eight. I've already played two hours. Me too. Me too. And I'm playing two tonight. I know. I know. You can't help it. Yeah. But it feels so good, right? And it's so fun. Yeah. I tell people, when I get on a court, I get to exit the world. No cell phones. No family. No traffic. Yes. You can't think of anything else. Oh, because that ball's going to hit you. Exactly. Somebody's going to body bag you. Yeah. Exactly. So, how long have you been playing? I know we just played that first time, but you played really well. Thank you. I played for about two years. Two years. Wow. Yeah. So, you have to be really good if you played with Mike and you guys won. You know what? There's always people so much better. So, there's always the next level you're trying to achieve, which is what I'm trying to do now. But it's hard to drill. It is hard to drill. If you play all the time, we talk about this, if you just play all the time, you really don't get better. No, you don't. It's kind of when you go to the gym and you see somebody that's been working out 10 years and somebody for two years. If you don't change things up, you don't get better. You know what I mean? So, this is a sport that you do have to do drilling. You do. And it's boring, right? It's kind of boring. It is. It's like, I don't want to do 10. I'm making myself do it. Well, I was at a tournament and I was with a senior pro because that's what I want. I'm the water boy. Actually, I'm on the NPL. Oh, I love it. I haven't officialized it yet, but I'm the water boy. Is this coming out or what? I don't know. They kind of said I was on. But long story short is I was talking to a senior pro and I said, how can I become a senior pro? And this is a couple of years ago. He said, hit 10,000 balls, 10,000 serves, 10,000 drops, 10,000 drives, and you'll be a pro. And it really just made sense. Wow. That is the truth. That's amazing. That's a lot though. But that's really how you become good at it. Because think in a game, you just play. You couldn't tell me how many drops you did. You just play. You just go. It becomes second nature. It really does. The ball's coming. And you're like, oh, I made a big shot. You're like, how did I do that? What happened? Oh, thank you. Thank you. Thanks. I don't even know how I did that. Wow. Like you've been doing it your whole life. Yeah. She's new though. We call her our 2.0 or best. Right. It's okay. I know we're mean to her. We've got to start somewhere. Right? We do. We've all been there. And I'm looking here. I think they have certain courts that are beginners. They do. Intermediate. It has your name on it. Oh, just like Christana. 2.5. Except for GC it says 2.5. Oh, no. They don't have a court for you. I actually think I'm in the three now. I think. I think. Somebody told me I was. Oh, okay. Look at him. He's being mean. I know, right? He's being mean. She's really doing well. Oh, man. She just played when we were out in Utah. And she did really well. She was playing. I was playing the first one on the court. You were the first on the court. Yeah. And you won. You won with Macy. Yeah. With Macy. We won against. Nice. We actually built a court out of her house. Right. Outside her back door. Yeah. It was beautiful. It was like a court you guys have at the Sporty Pickle. Sure. And we built a court right in her backyard, which was not fun. Love it. But we did it. Yeah. One of our sponsors, he does courts. Okay. And that's Scott. Scott. Yeah. And they're awesome. They really are awesome. Like, you can put a court anywhere. You can roll it up and take it home. It's really. You can take it to your next home or your office. Yeah. It's portable. Roll it up. Yeah. You can roll your court up. Take your net down. And now we just had. I think Jet's coming in. Yeah. They're coming for the party. Yeah. We just didn't. We can't see them. Right. But no, it was pretty awesome. Yeah. But so are you going to play here today or this weekend? Come on. Let's see. No, I don't think so. No? I just really came to check it out. Like, I always have to know what's going on in the competition and everything else. And now I know the setup, like how they're doing things. Yeah. So. Yeah. And I think they're in a spot that's good for them. Right? I mean, the world is. Yeah. There's not a lot out here. Well, a lot of us don't want to. We call it the five mile radius. You know, we don't want to go five miles from our home. So. Right. But yeah. I'm curious. I actually know Sean, the manager here. Okay. We actually worked together at the Pickleball Food Pub. That's where I started. Oh. I played there for the first time this week. Yeah. It's great. Yeah. That's the place. Yeah. Yeah. It was an indoor club. Really? And then I wanted to buy in at that time. Long story short, it didn't work. And now I'm a podcaster. So. There you go. That's where I'm at. But I love this better. We get to travel all over the place. Yeah. Meet great people. Yeah. We're getting part. We're getting invited to what is called USA Pickleball stuff. We're going to. We're going to be at Peak this weekend. I mean. Have you been to Peak? No. Oh my gosh. I've heard of it. 24 course. Shut the front door. It's really plush. This is crazy. This place is pretty supreme. And indoor? It's indoor. 24. Two levels. No. Two levels. You should go down there. Tomorrow is their one year anniversary. Yeah. They're having a free pickleball tomorrow from what? Two to. 12 to four. 12 to four. We'll be down there for the. Yeah. I would have loved to go, but I already have plans. I know. You got to play some pickleball. Really? On Sporty Pickle. I love it. Yeah. Well. I want to go to Sporty Pickle. So I got to go on Monday to see them. So. Yeah. Wait till you see this place. It's sports theme. I love the sports courts. Yeah. The courts are beautiful. There's good food. Good music. There's good people that work there. Nice. Right. Hello. Right. Joan. Yeah. Hello. Come say hi. So. But this is awesome. I'm so glad I ran into you. I mean. I've been wanting to. I mean. I meet so many people now. Right. And we are moving so fast. Yeah. Like we are. I mean. It doesn't stop. Huh? Yeah. I mean. We have the number one podcast. The number. The number one podcast of the world next year. As in pickleball. Wow. And we're heading that way. So. Nice job. Yeah. But we do some of those different than all other podcasts. Look where we're at. Yeah. Come to you. We come meet the people. Right. Instead of sitting in some office or basement. We're with people. Right. Yeah. So that's what makes us unique than any other podcast. Yeah. And we love it too. Because we don't want to be in a stuffy basement. We like our. We do like our studio. Yeah. Downtown. We have our own personal court too. We have our own personal court right down. On 16th street. Yep. On 16th street mall. No way. You have to come down there. Yeah. You have to come down and see our studio. And it's awesome. I'd love it. We're right on the second floor. We look at all the crazy people. Let's play again. Yeah. We have to. We have to go. Let's do. We should do a tournament again. I'm in. Let's do it. Tell me when. Are they doing anything? Do you guys do tournaments at your place and stuff down there? We have. We have one every Saturday. Oh really? But it might change for the winter. Do you get to play in it there? Have you played in it? I run it. So no. Although I did one time. And the one time I did play in it with our owner Jarrett. And we actually won. I like it. Oh see. Yeah. You're just good luck. I was like, are you sure we should be winning against people who pay attention? And he goes, yeah, let's win it. I was like, okay. Let's do it. I love it. I love it. Yeah. Well, it's so nice talking to you and sitting here and seeing you. And getting a great big hug from you. You got to see her wear. She's wearing too. We're trying to get her to like. Oh, that's nice. Yeah. Yeah. I love it. We need to take some pictures of this. She makes these. It's a sweatshirt. It's gorgeous. It's got sparklies. It's really awesome. It's really cute. You did a great job. Gotta add sparkles for the ladies. Ladies, I'm telling you. Gotta have sparkles. Right. Well, thank you so much for being on our podcast. Thank you too. And me and you got to get. I got to get your number. Make sure I have it again. Yeah. So we can go play some tournaments. Let's do it. And then she can come watch us. Yeah. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Nice. Yeah. It is. It is. But that's okay. You wait. Oh, no, no. She gives it back. Someday, when I kick his ass. Oh, yeah. She will too. Yeah, we'll see. She's going to body bag me full time. I thought I was getting older. I am. I know. You are way older than me. Oh, don't you even go there. Don't. Let's talk about this. He's the one who said senior. Oh, yeah. That's because I have to. That's so funny. Yeah. That's not nice. It is. It's quite nice. It's what happens when you get two ladies against one man. Yeah. It is not good. Yeah. Well, thank you so much. You have a great day. You too. We're actually going to see you Tuesday or Monday. Monday. Yes. So we're going to come see you. I'll be there. We'll be there. Hello. Hi. Hey. I'm Mike. This is Kristiana. I'm Kristiana. And this is Mike. Hi, Mike. I told him I won't forget his name. Hi. How are you guys? This is awesome. What a beautiful place you have built here. Thank you very much. It's been a long time. It is. I love it. I love the name too. I don't know why. I love it. I love it. So what inspired you to do this? Actually, this is something that my wife really got involved in initially and is the driving force behind this. She is the one who found the ACE as a franchise. Or, I think we were one of the first people to sign up. That's awesome. Yeah. And so we have a club in Omaha and we have this club here. Oh, that's great. Hope to have a few more here in the area. Oh, yeah. I mean, Colorado is booming. I mean, it is busy here. How's Oklahoma? I mean, is that doing well? Omaha is doing very well. Omaha. Sorry. You want that too in Omaha? Yes. Okay. I love it. I love it. Nice. So what makes it a little different, ACE, than other places? Give us a little spiel on it. Sure. So the emphasis really is on open play. So we want this to be a place where you start out, you learn how to do it, you become part of the community. And I take nothing away from anybody else in this business. But there is a place for people who are very, very competitive. Yeah. Right? And that scares off people. Yeah. If you're new to this, it scares them off. So we want to be the place where those people can come, feel comfortable. We have a starter series. We have intro 101, 102 courses and that sort of thing so that people can get their skill level up and meet people, become part of the community, and participate and have fun doing it and not feel the pressure. Yeah. You know, I'm not a 4 or 5. I'm not a 5-0. Yeah. Do you have different courts, it looks like, for each beginner level? Sure. Okay. Yeah. We try to divide it up so that there's an equity as far as the availability. So if you're at a certain level, we ask that you play over here. I mean, the courts are the same physically. Sure. But we want to make sure that people match up so that people who are at the lower end of the skill level don't get intimidated. People at the higher end of the skill level get to have the level of competition that they want to have. What I think I like it too is the fact that you, a lot of places have went to so many leagues and stuff that you can't even, if you want to play pickleball, you can't go to it. So the whole point of being inside is it's nighttime and you want to go play. So I was talking to Sean, which is, you've got a great manager. I like him a lot. We know each other. But I would just ask to talk to him. It's just such a great idea. It builds the community, really. Right. Exactly. And then they can go if they want to go do that stuff. But I really like that. How did you come up with the color? Is that part of their theme? That's all the corporate does the coloring and design and all that sort of stuff. It's interesting, like the pink and the blue. I like it. I think it's good how it works. I like it. But it's nice and open. The lighting, I was just talking to you about off air, the lighting is incredible. Like it looks dark in here, but when you walk on that court, there's no bright lights in your eyes. Yeah. That was ingenious. A lot of work goes into making sure we have the right sort of, it is low power, which is helpful. It's good, yeah. The diffusers and the angles and that sort of stuff. So you don't have the shadows and the harshness and that sort of thing. This is it. Yeah, go ahead. Go ahead. How many courts do you have here? We have nine courts here. Nine courts. Okay. But they fit really nice. It seems like you could even put more, but you didn't squeeze it so they're not just squished together. Yeah. So one of the issues with retrofitting a big box store is there's things in places that you can't move. The poles, you mean? The poles. There's some pipes and drains and things that like by code you can't move things over there. Or you don't want to trench through concrete. But I like it that you can kind of hang out. There's nice areas that you can watch, sit down, enjoy yourself. So you're not just coming in. You don't have to play pickleball. If you want to take a break, you have a place you can watch people and enjoy it. It's one of the things that we heard in Omaha and we took to heart here is people want to play, but then when they're done, they don't necessarily want to go home. Yeah. Their friends are there and they want to chit-chat. They want to watch a game. You know, that sort of thing. Yeah. So every AC you go to is going to be a little bit different because of when they opened and when they started and what the decision was as far as the seating and that sort of goes. So we're looking at other options. I love it. I love it. Do you want to do more of these here in Colorado? We hope to, yes. Yeah. I love it. What area, sir? Well, go ahead. She's just going. She got me today. Yeah. Yeah. Any part of the Metro is fine. It's, you know, there's some magic behind finding where other people, you know, the demographics, the population, the economics. Is somebody else there already? Yeah. And so cannibalizing things and making sure you have a chance for success. Well, look at all the people coming in. This is just a soft today and there's just people rolling in here, which is great. Yeah. I have another good question. What I like is Sean didn't give me all the details, but the paddle thing with your paddles and stuff that you, that's a kind of a neat thing that you guys do. Yeah. So we have deals with various paddle manufacturers. So they give us demo models that you can use. You just give us a, usually we just take your keys and we put them in a bin and you take, you can play with that paddle. If you wanted to try a different brand or a different model, different manufacturer, you could come here. There's no charge for that. And you play with that and you make your decision. We don't sell them directly. We'll give you a QR code. Yeah. And you can get a discount. And he says they change all the time. So you get like new manufacturer every quarter. Every quarter there will be a new manufacturer. I think that's neat. That's really neat. Because that's not your thing. You're not wanting to be a pro shop, but you want to help people when they need a paddle. Right. Exactly. And, you know, I love it. I thought that was a really another neat feature that you have. And you get to use it, right? It's not like it's like, well, I'm looking at the star reviews and maybe these are good, maybe those aren't. Yeah. I've actually used this and this is what I would say. I like it. I like it. And the paddles are going nuts. I mean, it's nuts. I just got the Boomstick. I don't know if you've tried that yet, but it's a boom. All right. The price is the boom too, though. You know, I had to go take a loan, sell one of my dogs just to get a paddle. That's the thing, right? It's like, I don't want to, I don't want to, I want to test drive this and I want it to cost a lot of money. I'm going to drop 300 bucks on something. I want to have a high level of confidence, but it's going to be worth it. Now, my question is, do you play pickleball? I do. Poorly. That's okay. That's okay. So what level are you? Oh, I don't know. I've not, I've not done any sort of deeper grading. So, but yeah, I play with beginners and it's. So that would be me. That's her. I'm a beginner. There you go. Yeah. I'm actually trying to head to this NPL. So try to be a senior pro, but that's just my fun. That's just a goal for me. But you know, my duper is horrible. If you look at my do the duper thing, I got duped a long time ago. Well, you know, when it came out, everybody, it was, it's a good idea. It has its place, right. For tournaments and stuff. And, uh, but you know, when it came out, people weren't trained how to do it. So if you did it, you got duped. So, you know how many people I talked to that are like, you know, I played a four plus level and, uh, they don't, you know, and I have a three, four. And it's, it's, it's, uh, it's also, I found, um, uh, geographically. Yeah. True. True. Like a, like a four in Colorado and a four in Florida are two very different things. Two different things. True. True. Even though my daughter lives in Missouri, it's a whole other world. Like it's, and the play is different. Even though it's pickleball, the play is different. Very much so. So, and if you come here, you have to learn how to serve because your ball will fly. Yeah. And Florida, you like, when I go down to sea level, I can hit that ball as hard as I want. And it doesn't go anywhere here. I got a baby hit it to keep it in the court. So, well, this is a beautiful, beautiful establishment. It's so nice to meet you, Mike. And I hope we're going to, we're going to see you more and more. Um, we're here to support pickleball places in the community. And that's why we do our podcasts. We're about the community. And so we thank you for having us here. I appreciate it. Appreciate you having me on. Thank you. Thank you. Have a good day. Hi, this is Christana. I'm Mike. And we're here with a special guest today. Sean. Hey, guys. Hi, Sean. How are you? Good. He's awesome. I'm living it. He's got that Ace Pickleball Club hat on. Smiling. Look at that. Let's go. Let's go. Let's do it. Here we are. Yep, we got it. This is the soft opening tonight. We're here. Yeah. We appreciate having us here. Um, this is awesome. What a place. Thanks for coming out. Got to play on the court, Mike and I. And this is a great guy. I have to say we kind of have some history. Yeah. So, pickleball. Yep. Pickleball history. Yeah. And I think. A lot of that. Yeah, there is. It's crazy how small the community is. It's tight, too. It really is. I've already seen probably 20 people that I know and we're in a completely different part of town. Right? Nice. That's awesome. Yeah. That's super cool. But I think you found a great home. I mean, this looks like a great place. Just tell us a little bit about it. Yeah. I'm super excited. Ace Pickleball Club is a franchise. Our owner owns two. There's 20 across the nation now and they're super, super dialed in. Everything we do here is through corporate. The lighting structure has been thought through. All our courts are super thought through. All the programming and events are super thought through. Yeah. And the program itself is membership and, you know, membership and focus on our member experience. Yeah. That's really good. Yeah. And so, all open play, right? Yeah. So, you know, I mean, we offer something completely different. Right? As far as, you know, a lot of other places, we're not going after the market for other places. We're going after the person that just wants to, you know, come in and play and have fun. Right? Yeah. The more competitive side of that, yeah, I'll send you to other places, but we're not dialed in for leagues. You know, a lot of places at night, you can't get in because if you can't commit to a league at night, a lot of people travel, kids, life. You know, you can literally come in anytime here and just play, get into a good game. Yeah. That's nice. And you have it set up. Yeah. It's very well marked. Yep. So, it says advanced. It has beginner. It has intermediate. Yeah. So, it's all set up. People here, it's easy. The paddle stack is really nice too. Yeah. Those are nice. Set your paddle in there. Yeah. So, we have rules on that. It's, you know, and then we have a challenge court. So, if you want to keep playing with the same person, it's like two people stay on until they lose. It's like. That's fun. Yeah. Come and get me. Right? Like, get me off the court. I like it. That's the competitive aspect of, you know, open play here. Yeah. Nice. Nice. Yeah. They serve well. I played on them a little bit. Yeah. But they feel good on my feet. Yeah. So, nine layers. Yeah. Wow. Three layers of recycled tennis balls are in the court surface. Wow. So, it's a lot better, you know, from what we understand. A lot of folks at our other locations say they can play a little bit longer than normal than let's say they're just playing on straight concrete. It's just a little bit more forgiving. Like, you actually go on the court. You can feel the difference. So, it's still a hard surface and the ball doesn't bounce differently. No. No. That's right. Our courts are still really new. So, they're still really grabby. They're really good though. I mean, they bounce well. There's no skipping. Yeah. Colors are awesome. I kind of like the colors. They're pretty cool. The pink, blue, light. Yeah. For my eyes, I've had a ton of surgeries and everything. Colors and lights really play with me, right? So, the biggest complaints of an indoor facility is going to be the lights, the height of the ceilings and, you know, the courts, right? And all those things are dialed in by Ace Pickleball Club, right? The lights, we have these diffusers, so when you look straight down the courts, you don't even see the lights. No. It's crazy. It looks almost dark in the other side, but if you get on the court, it is perfectly lit. And they have it dialed in, so there's every single court, the light is exactly the same and it's in a diagram that they are placed exactly the same. No, I just played on here and I looked up. I went to get a lob and I'm thinking, oh, here we go. Right in my eyes, nothing. Right. Yeah. And that's critical for me, because even if I one time glance into a bad light, my eyes are done for like two minutes. You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. And no more excuses for Mike on missing the ball then, right? What? I never use that excuse. That's the truth. I have other excuses. I just say, hey, my paddle's broken, you know. There's a hole in my paddle. Yeah. Exactly. Hey, you're pretty tough. He's got the slices that shine now when you say, man, you haven't played with him yet. It's crazy. If you slice here, the ball will grab the ground and sink. It will go the other way. Yeah. Oh, wow. There's a guy's spinner here, you know, he's slicing and it did hit and it whooshed. Right gone. It took off. I was like, we're done. It's crazy. Super fun. Super fun. So also, you know, what is the, tell them about the paddles. I think the paddle's a neat thing that you do here too. Yeah. How that works. As far as paddles, like how many brands are out there right now? Oh my gosh. Yeah. There's so many. Thousands. Is there like a thousand or more? Yeah. There's literally anybody can get in and you can get a paddle approved by just submitting an approval. It costs money, but super easy to get a paddle and approved USA Pickleball approved. Right. Yeah. We have a paddle program. It's a demo program. So we, every single quarter, corporate sets up four, four companies. So they'll negotiate with all of them for our members to get discount codes off of this, but we will get sent four brands of paddles, top of the line paddles for that company. Some of the paddle, the company sent us four or five, some sent two, two or three. So each company sends those paddles every quarter. So every, every single member can borrow a paddle with an ID or a key and they can just grab it. They can borrow one paddle. And then at the end of that, if they like it, we'll give them the card that has the discount codes on it for when they want to go purchase in themselves. And then at the end of every quarter we donate those paddles to a nonprofit or whatever we want to choose as far as, yeah, the first group, I think we're donating it to core knowledge of school down the road, which is a really cool thing. And they just let us, you know, kind of pick and whoever that is. And that way we're not wasting paddles. We also have loaner paddles that is totally separate, but these demo paddles, you know, a lot of people are like, Hey, what do I buy? Right. Yeah. And, or you go in and buy a paddle for someone, you know, other days, some guy came in and was like, Hey, I'm buying a paddle for my wife. I'm like, Hey, listen, do you know what paddle she wants? He's like, no. I was like, don't buy her a paddle, buddy. There's so many out there. It's very specific on what people want to try. So we let people try a bunch of different paddles. So yeah, brand awareness, you know, it's, we got a lot of new brands that I haven't heard of, but the paddles are awesome. Really awesome. That's how you get to try it. It's just awesome though. It's not about you making money on paddles. You're just helping people. Yeah. We don't even, so for everybody's knowledge, we don't even sell the paddle here. No. So I'm not trying to make money off of that. No. You're just helping people with it. Yeah. We're not trying to, you know, it's really all about getting the game going. Honestly, we offer that free class too. It's a part of that, right? All these things. We're just trying to get people to try Pickleball to build the community that we want. And then just, you know, the Pickleball person is who I want to be around. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. It's the nice person. Yeah. Yeah. Right. You guys get to talk Pickleball and you're talking to nice people. Oh my gosh. Like very genuine people. Yeah. You know, I mean, you know, not, I'd say 99%, right? It's always that 1%. But every single person I've met, you know, you know, me and Mike met, it was, you know, a weird situation. It was really weird. It was really weird. And you guys are still friends. Yes. Absolutely. We've kept in touch. Right away. Right? Wow. It was a weird situation. And right away, we were still, we still played together. It was still good friendship there. I mean that. We kept in touch. Yes. Exactly. And when I saw you guys, I think somebody reached out about the podcast and I saw Mike's name and I'm like, wait a second. I know that guy. And instead of emailing back, I called Mike right away and I'm like, hey, hey man, that's me. That's me. Yeah, that was cool. I loved it. And you deserve this. This is awesome. You're just such a great person. You care about people. You want to do the best job you can. I do. Under other circumstances, like you said. I'm super excited. This is, yeah, you, you have a home here. I mean, and you're only going to grow. I can see you being there, you know, top corporate guy, you know? Yeah. So. Yeah. And their corporate stuff is super cool. Right? Yeah. I mean, as far as it's set up, right? Yeah. It's, it's, like I said, it's dialed in. So. Yeah. That's awesome. It's, it's cool. I mean, if the corporate wasn't in Atlanta, I'd be all over that, you know? Oh yeah. Yeah. I mean, who knows? You might have an ace of your own. Yeah. We're more. I can see this. More is coming. Right? So more is coming. We're looking at other locations in Colorado, but we're not trying to oversaturate or anything. We're just trying, like, like I said, we're not going after people. We're not going, you know, I'm not, this isn't a sales position. It's, if you come in and you like it, it's something that you want, then you're in, right? Like, and we're not, you know, pushy. You can cancel anytime kind of deal, literally cancel anytime. Right. Right. And we're letting everybody try it for the first month. Right. Yeah. Nice. And that's no strings attached. We're going to let people know. So right now, if they sign up. Right. Yeah. Right now, until we have the first month free from the grand opening. So the grand opening starts on Saturday. So if they came in today, they get a free day. And then until October, no, November 4th, we'll start our real membership. So if you sign up between now and we're going to cap that membership next week. So make sure you sign up before next week, because I don't want anybody to miss out on the opportunities. You know, you get a free guest pass, but this month doesn't make sense to give that guest pass out because everybody's going to be in for free. Yeah. So, yeah. That's super. That's really great. We'll let everybody know and all our listeners. Yeah. So I think that's a really great thing. So, yeah, this is awesome. Like I said, I'm just so glad that you out of all people, you know, so it's always nice. He's got a smile on his face. Just being around pickleball, it's hard not to smile. How can you be unhappy? Right. You can't. I get a little grumpy if I play a little bad. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Well, they already saw him grumpy, haven't you? All my employees already, you know, they're just all, you know, I told them, I was like, it's going to be super fun. And already people are like, this is so fun. This is a blast. But you're literally just saying hi to people and just walking around and having a good time. Don't have to deal with it. I mean, there's pickleball drama once in a while, but, you know, it's far, far between. Oh, it is. I mean, you come here. I will say this a million times when I go on the court. I leave the world. Yeah. I'm gone. I go out there. No phones, no cars, no traffic, no problems. And I get to hit a ball for an hour or 10, as many as I can get in. The cool thing is like, if you check, you know, it's unlimited, so you literally can come all day. Even our drop-in fee, if you pay for the drop-in, you can stay the entire day and then you can technically come back because it is a day pass. That is crazy. Yeah. It's cool. Yeah. Most places, once you reserve, you can't reserve. How long is an open play too? Yeah, exactly. Like an hour. An hour or most two hours. But, you know, typically two hours is enough for me, but some people are, will be here all day. Well, and the location is awesome too. There's food around you here. Great parking. You're not going to have to worry. It's an essential place. You can come in from several different ways to get to it. Yeah. Super safe. Yeah. Oh yeah. The parking lot is super lit up. Super safe area. It is. Regis High School's right here. Yeah. I mean, that's a super nice school. Yeah. And the place is gorgeous. It's super nice. Thank you so much. I mean, you know, I got brought in in June. I have pictures of what it looks like. And I, you know, I have, you know, it's come to this. You'll have to share those with us. I'll show you guys. We'll put them on. I snuck, I actually snuck in. We were doing construction. Oh yeah. It's, I knew Ace was here and I came in and they were just starting to paint the courts. Bare bones though. We had metal, we had metal, um, studs everywhere. And I was just like, I'll, I'll send them to you guys for sure. It was. You didn't think it was going to turn into a pickleball place. Well, she was like, Hey, come check it out. Right. And I'm like, all right, come check it out. And then I came and it was like, no way it's going to be pickleball for real. I mean, I was like, the space is huge. And I was like, the ceilings are super high. This could be cool. But then, uh, I was just making sure, cause there's like, there's a lot of pillars, right? And they, they did a great job of, uh, putting the courts in. They're really good. Yeah. We have, uh, most of our courts are super nice. All of them are regulation, but there's some big ones. So a lot of room for ATPs, uh, you're not hitting the back of the net when you're getting served to. Well, I got to tell you something else that I like is you put the safety, uh, uh, rubber, the foam on top of all the fencing, all the fences. You put down the, you put the shades on it so that you're not glaring through at the other court. Yeah. The main thing is, you know, on the back of every court, that's facing another court. So you don't see balls come in. Yeah. It's like phantom. Yeah. We play, we've been to places that, you know, again, everybody has their court and they like where they want to play. But I think these are the details I'm looking at going, wow, these are the things that cost a little bit more money, but they put the money into it for safety and for the player that's playing on the court. Yeah. It's dialed in. I'm telling you the thought process and the, and they're still ever changing, right? So always improving with new clubs. Yeah. We're adding new stuff all the time. Like we're piloting, piloting a lot of stuff. The lights, you know, we're one of the first clubs to use these lights, which is super awesome. I mean, they're even because of the low voltage, it saves a lot of electricity. I mean, that's all it is. These LEDs can go forever. Yeah. And I got to say, you keep the air in here. I'm almost a little chilly. So we don't even have the air cranks. Oh my God. So it's wild. So when we, when I first started here, the doors were wide open and we needed the courts to dry. So we had them set to like 70 and I was coming in here to just do random stuff and it was freezing. And we didn't even have all of our machines going yet. So, and it's, it's awesome. It's nice and cool in here. One of the biggest complaints at pickleball places is it's too hot. Right. Cause you get, you heat up, you just sweat, you know? And sometimes it's just stuffy. Right. Yeah. The circulation in here is really nice. You can feel it. You can feel it sitting right here. We can feel it. I can absolutely feel it right now. It's really good. Well, I want to thank you, Sean. If you guys need to get out here to Ace Pickleball and meet Sean, come up and say, hi, this guy's going to give you a hug. High five. Probably give you some swag if you're, if you're nice to him. Maybe. Maybe. So we'll see what happens. But anyway, come out here. It's gorgeous. What do you think? Oh, it's a gorgeous place. Oh my gosh. I played on the beginner. Oh good. Yeah. It was good. Nice people. Very nice. Cause you didn't have a kiddie court and you know, 2.0, she couldn't, you know, we were worried. There wasn't a daycare. Yeah. Don't worry. I'm going there. I'm right there with you. I'm like a 1.2. Yeah. Oh yeah. Until you get them on the court. I played this man. Yeah. He's got this slice that you just better be ready for. Thanks. You're a big guy. Yeah. I know. We're super excited. And I'm so happy that you guys are able to come out and be a part of this. And when you guys, you know, when we have big events, we're hoping to have you guys. We will be here. We'll absolutely be here. Yeah. You'll see our YouTube's on it. You'll see our, we're here for you. This is what we're about. Pickleballers Next Door is to build the community. That's why we're not sitting in an office somewhere, a basement. Yep. I mean, that would be fun and easy, but now we get to meet people. People get to meet us and we get to be part of the whole, the whole live and that's what it's about. You got to be a part of Pickleball. You got to be there. You do. I can't. I can't. I could have you come to our nice studio. Yeah. But what's that going to do? You can tell us all this. We're here with you at the place. Pickleball has to be experienced. It does. You do. You do. Once you do, I'm sorry. You're probably getting rid of your car. Children. You're going to have to see your children as much, but I'm sorry. It's a true addiction. It really is. They might have some classes. But you can bring your kids. They really, we actually are talking to therapists that need to come on and like you have to, there's people that can't get enough of it. Yeah. It's wild. It's prescribed. A lot of people like for depression. It's really good for you. Sometimes they can't play pickleball. Depression. Um, uh, you know, a lot of older people that need to exercise. This is low impact. Yeah. Yeah. That's wild, huh? For you. I know. You know, he just, he loves it because he's older than me. No way. Mike's older than you? What? Oh yeah. Mike's like 30. Mike's like 30. What's up? I've always been joined, but now. Are you like 31? Yeah. Yeah. Oh. All right. Got you. Well, we thank you for being on our podcast. You're going to see lots of us. Um, we're going to hang out anyway. We want to play some pickleball with you. For sure. Have a great day. All right. Good luck in all the grand opening. We're going to put the word out there for you. Yeah. Get out here, guys. I'll get a game in with you. Oh, you will.