Deven Gould, Denver Pickleball Club

Thank you for tuning in. I'm Greg. I'm Mike. And we are the Pickleballers Next Door. We are for the Joes and not the pros. Your court, our court. Hey, thanks for tuning in to Pickleballers Next Door. We're here with Devin Gold, founder and CEO, president, big dog, big boss, big dog of Denver Pickleball Club. What's up, Devin? How you doing, man? Good. Thanks for having me, guys. Of course. Absolutely. Tell us a little bit about how you got into pickleball and what pushed you into starting your own company. Yeah. Yeah. So I actually started way back in high school. I remember being a gym all star and really just being stoked when it was pickleball week. I had a couple of buddies where we would literally like do mini tournaments in class and then I didn't touch it for probably 10 years. Actually forgot the name. Didn't know what pickleball was when someone brought it up to me. And when I was in Hoboken, New York, I actually moved across the river from Manhattan and I had a bunch of courts that were right across the street. So I had a buddy that we would go play on Saturdays. I remember we did that for like two months. So I bought like the cheap Amazon $50 paddles and balls and we'd go over there and do that and then didn't touch it again for like five or six years. Moved out to Denver and they put in courts right across the street from where I live now, which was Clement. And they were absolutely beautiful courts. And were they basketball courts before? I don't know. Were they? I don't know. I swear when I look at the Google Earth, they were, but I don't know. They might have been. I know they took something down because it was a big piece of property. Also, when you back up a little bit back in the high school, you were using a wood paddle, right? Oh, a hundred percent. I'll be honest. I'd never even heard of pickleball even in high school, elementary school. I don't think that thing will. It existed in my area. I swear to God. Yeah. Yeah. I was lucky enough that my gym teacher just loved pickleball. So I was like, I'll get into the curriculum. I think, yeah, he would be very excited. And he loved watching us play too. And you jump in. Wonderful. Think about how, how good you, if you really became good with a wood paddle and the balls and those courts. Wow. You were good. Yeah. Yuck. No, thank you. Yeah. And then, uh, yeah. So I decided I was like, wait, this looks fine. There's a lot of people showing up. Me and my fiance now, um, we were looking for something to do together and I know this story. Yeah. I think everyone has your story. And so I was like, well, I have the paddle still. I never threw him away. I have a couple of balls. Let's just go hit back and forth. So we had a great time. It was a lot of fun. Um, kind of made a habit of going a couple of times that summer. Um, but I was really into disc golf. So I, when she stopped wanting to go, I was like, well, I'm gonna go play disc golf. That's a sport too, that my son just took me to that. And I was like, what's a disc golf? Like, you know, what is this? It's really pretty cool. It's wild. I mean, it takes some skill. I can't throw a Frisbee or disc to save my life, but there it's like real golf. I mean, they have different weights. They angle. They, I forgot what he told me when they come back, but disability, but you literally would throw it at a tree. It'll move and go around the tree and back to the net. It's crazy. And these people are skilled. This is nice. Oh yeah. We'll have to try it. So just for the heck of it. No, thanks. But anyway, sorry to interrupt, but it was like me with that. I was like, what's disc golf? I mean, what the heck? Yeah. So I kind of took, I was, I was, I think three summers ago. So I took, uh, I took that year, played disc golf. And then in the summer again, I, uh, I started getting really frustrated with disc golf. So there's definitely a point where like you plateau, you're good or, or you get better or you just kind of die. I plateaued the first game. So I was like, you know what? I need, I just don't need to get some exercise. Maybe I'll go play some pickleball. And then I met a couple of guys over there. And once I had a few friends to play with, I never looked back. Yeah. It's, it does something to you. It's like a drug. It is. You can't get enough of it. Like you're, I've done a lot of sports, but you just get kind of bored. You can't get bored. I mean, people say, how, how can you play three to four hours every day? I can, I can play seven hours if you let me, I'll, I'll pay for it later, but we've done it. Yeah. But it's crazy. What a crazy sport. Yeah. So, and of course my fiance got, she hurt her shoulder that, that fall. So I kept playing and then the gap just widened so much that she doesn't come to my events and she's not as into it as I am. Yeah. I mean, my wife were, was going to be a husband and wife and I don't mention pickleball too much in my home. Now I'm doing it as a living. So it's like, wow, it is now. So, wow, that's awesome. So you've really had the experience from childhood till now. Yeah. So tell us about Denver Pickleball Club. What's involved with that? How does one get into your events? Yeah. So I started it in April. We've been going since then, just every, every week. It's just crazy how much it grows. We I started because I wanted to really find a way to build community. I realized in my last job that we just really wasn't fulfilling at all. And doing finance for 10 years, I was just like, this isn't it. I'm just miserable, even though I'm making money and it's just not worth it. So, well, have you also found that it gets a little clicky, you know, the sport gets a little, you know, once people kind of find themselves, they don't join, nobody else joins. So this is neat what you're doing to bring other people together. Yeah, exactly. That's exactly it. So I noticed very early on and I kind of thought of like what I would have wanted if I had like started over and what I would have hoped for. And I just kind of built it from there. Yeah. Yeah. When I started, you know, of course, when I hear a 3-0 right away, right? And it wasn't nothing. But you think, I mean, in months later, you really feel like you're doing well, right? And but it got frustrating as I did get to the 3-5 and closer to 3-7 or where I still am probably today. No, but, but the four pluses won't play with you. They wouldn't get with you. And that was frustrating. Now we, that's something that we're changing in the, in our, in our pickleball community is the same thing. We want to bring, if you're a 2-5 or a 5-0, it doesn't matter. Just play differently. Help those people. You got to bring them up. You had to get come up. But back in my day, when I started, nobody wanted to play. I mean, it was very difficult to move up. It's still the same way. Like if you're a 5-0 and you're playing and you end up, you know, it's paddle stack with a 3-0, you need to reel it in, suck it up, play with them, work on mid-court defense, work on drop shots, work on something, but don't be a dick and don't like just shit on these people. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. I also found the old duck, the old dudes get grumpy. The ones that play good, man. I mean, they're just, I'm swear I'm gonna get whacked with a paddle one of these times. You know? You are. Yeah. There's no doubt about that. Hey guys, this is Devin from Denver Pickleball Club. You guys want to go and have some fun, meet some new players and compete? You can use code NEXTDOOR10 for 10% off your first event. Hope to see you there. So Denver Pickleball Club, you can, where do you go to get into an event? So we just launched our new website. We got a total new rebranding. So the new handle for all of our socials and the website is denpickleball.club. Yeah I fucked that up already today. But he's also on Instagram? Yeah, Instagram. Denver Pickleball Club on Instagram. Yep. denpickleball.club. On Instagram too? Yeah. Okay. And you've been to one of the events, haven't you? I've been to a few of them. Yeah, you've been to a couple of them. I want to come try your King of the Court. That looks fun. Yeah. King of the Court looks fun. That's fun. So King of the Court, it's definitely great play. These players are pushing 4-5 for sure. But we do have plenty that are lower. So the minimum is 3-7 on average for your total team duper. And you're like, well that's a big gap, right? That's what most people think. What's cool about this format is since we have five courts, we have 10 teams, you play the whole time for a full two hours. But the way that you start out is there is a low court and there's a winner's court and then three courts in between. And we stack you to start by your dupers, right? So all the lower dupers will play each other first and all the higher dupers will be up and towards the winner's court playing each other. Now if you win, right, then you move up. If you lose, you go down. So hypothetically, right, by the end of the night, you should be very close to what you actually are or what you're playing like that night as far as duper. The three nights that I played, we stayed on the last court the whole time. It was terrible. I mean, we both played like trash and, you know, it was not great, but I'll tell you that the play in his events is really good, really good players there. That's nice. That's nice. It's fun too. I mean, these, it's crazy fun and it's a really good place to, I mean, duper is not for everyone and it's definitely a different game. Yeah, that's a whole other story. I mean, it's good and bad, right? I did a tournament and I had, you know, duper close to four and I, I was, I think they were going to take my paddle away. I think they were going to call me and say, Mike, just throw that thing away. I think duper sees my name and was like, dude, that's this guy. So yeah, duper can, depends where you're playing and what you're playing. I did a life, I think it was a lifetime tournament and I just got killed at a bad day and my duper just tanked. I know that feeling. It doesn't go up quick though. The bat, it goes down really fast. It doesn't go up really fast. It can be unforgiving. Yes. But I do like it too though. I think that for some tournaments and stuff that it's, it's a better option because anyway, we're all go to tournaments, right? You go to three, five, four Oh, and you got five O's playing in four fives playing at the four level and you just get killed so they can win a gold medal. Right? Come on now. That was not great. It happens a lot though. That's how I think a duper started to not like me. I sandbagged in a tournament in Vegas. I probably shouldn't have done it, but I was going to have knee surgery in like three weeks after that. Still no excuse, but that's what happened. So where do we, where do these events happen? Yeah. So the king of the courts at third shot, it's every Wednesday night for the most part, we took a little break for Thanksgiving, but we'll be back December 4th and we got six nights lined up for season three. Now, this is our third season. So yeah, it's six to 8 PM. Um, it's a great time. Like I said, you get a full two hours of court time and you usually play at least three teams, sometimes four or five depending on how you're doing and how everyone else is doing. But I mean, we've had upwards of 38 people that are all just coming. Wow. They're all coming to meet people, right. And to have fun. Yeah. And it's an amazing vibe. And so you can do one night or you can pay for the whole time for the whole season for Canada court. You can, uh, the socials, however, are, uh, one at a time. Okay, cool. And what was the cost range? What's the range? Are they about the same or is it cost differently? Is it per per night, per week, per month? Yeah. So for the social, it's, uh, 16 for the early bird, I think in up to 22, if you're one of the last people to buy, um, that's like the standard price or whatever. Um, but the king of the core is a little bit more, uh, it's 20. If you buy the season pass before black Friday is over, um, that's 20 a night. You buy all six 120 per person. Um, and then it jumps to 25. If you buy three or more nights and then otherwise it's 30 a night for a single pass. And this includes your court and everything. Yep. Okay. Includes everything. We'll have balls for you too. But yeah, it's, uh, you get usually six to eight games in six is guaranteed. I've never had anyone have less than six. Um, most people can squeeze a seventh in if they want at the end. And there has been a few nights where we're just cruising through and someone gets an eighth game in. So the king of the court at the end of the night gets this crown. It's a really nice crown too. That's pretty cool. It's a real nice crown. And that'd be, that's like your trophy. That's like your metal. Yeah, it's pretty cool. But that's the whole season, right? The end of that season it's per night per night. Yeah. We, we crown one. I'm going to come get a crown here. I, uh, I got my first crown last season. It only took me a, I don't know, 12 times. Um, but me and Skylar, my partner finally pulled one out and it's a good feeling, man. It's fun. We pull everybody together at the end. A lot of like these leagues, it's just like you go and play and you leave, but we like to pull everybody over and like, say, how was it? And make sure everyone had fun. And then we do this little like crowning ceremony. That's awesome. I want to crown. I want to try. So now do you have to, that was one of my questions. Do you have to have a partner or can you put somebody together if I don't have somebody to play, if he won't play with me? Great question. Yeah. So technically, uh, uh, technically it's, it's, you need to have a partner one way or another, right? It's not like show up and you know, we'll pair you, but I am, you know, I'm always listening. If someone reaches out to me, like, Hey, I want to play, but I haven't, I don't have a partner. We actually have a team reach with the code is DPC or sorry, DP club team reach code. And, uh, we have a posted like a pin post where you can go and say, Hey, I'm looking for somebody, okay. But I'm always keeping my ears open too, because people do reach out to me like, yeah, my partner's out of town or I haven't really done this before. Can you help? And yeah, we've paired people together. I love what you're doing. This is awesome. Thank you. This is, that's why you're here. We're looking for collaboration to people that are doing what we're doing. Bring people together. It's kind of getting a little crazy out there. I mean, it's changing a lot, right? I mean, did you, you probably know what the word dinking is, you know, I mean, you know, it's, it's just bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. I mean, even the old people were starting to just hit the ball. I mean, I think it's just, we're protecting ourselves. Well, I'm going to hit it back. You know? So, uh, but, but it's neat that you, cause like I said, when I first ever started, I, nobody, I even would go up to courts. I told my wife, I was going to make a shirt that says, can I play please? You know, because no one would let them play with them. Literally it was, it was like this big secret. Can I play? I'm still banging him. He'll let me sometime. Oh, Devin knows me. Yeah. He just likes to body bag me. That's all he does to me. He does. And he just smiles so big. It's literally his license plate. It really is. It really is. Yes it is. And he's good at it. It just gets you right on. He knows and you can't see it coming. Yeah. So he did it right here in our studio. I did. I hit him in the nuts. Yeah. I didn't want to go that far, but I don't care. Well, anyways, Devin, is there anything that you want to plug before we're done here? Yeah. Just if you could follow our socials, like I said, it's done pickleball dot club. Um, that's where all of our announcements are. We do have that team reach. Like I said, DP club. Um, we got the king of the court season three, starting December 4th, going through January. Um, we also have our first intermediate socials that are popping up. It's going to be in December as well. So check out the website. That's where you purchase all the tickets. And, uh, you're a busy man. Yeah. Sometimes like herding kittens, you know, even though everybody signs up and then you got to get them there. What court? I don't know how and once they pay, they have to get there on their own. Well, if you want good play, if you're here in Denver, Den pickleball dot club, um, sign up for the socials, sign up for the king of the courts and you can get some really good play in at these events. I want a crown. So I'm coming. I want my little crown and come learn. Have fun. Come learn. Yes. That's really the vibe of Denver pickleball club is I want to make sure everybody's having fun and you're enjoying yourself. Cause if you're not having fun and you're playing pickleball, why are you playing? Why? There's a lot of people that we get on courts and I want to ask that. And then we have people that are just a blast. I mean, we were just playing in a club and some of these ladies are just a hoot. They're like the sweetest grandmas in the world and the stuff that comes out of their mouth. Yeah. I've gotten, I've gotten the finger from this little 70 year old woman, but they're having fun. They're smiling. Some feisty people. Oh yeah. So, but anyways, Devin, thank you very much for being on with us. Uh, we wish you the best of luck and we'll have you back on. I'm sure soon. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for having me. We'll see you soon. Our courts, your court. Yep. Have a good night.