HALO Talks Fast Break: Pickleball Consulting, Court Installs, and Industry Trends With Kaitlin Miller from Court Kings

0:00 This is Pete Moore on Halo Talks Fast break Thursdays. Have the pleasure of having a new New Yorker coming to our audience today. Caitlin Miller coming in from Court Kings. We've been talking about pickleball on this podcast for at least the last five years. And if you don't have pickleball in your facility, indoor or outdoor, now's the time to do a little bit of soul searching. And Caitlin, welcome to the to the show. Yeah, thank you so much for having me. And it's been so great being in New York where you're also from. So thanks for having me and it's so awesome to see how quickly this pickleball industry is growing. Yeah. So we've been doing the health club industry coverage from a banking and investment side now for a short 26 years.

0:45 You know, pickleball obviously is something that a lot of people gravitating to Lifetime Fitness has made it an initiative to have the most pickleball courts. You see a lot of municipalities out there that are putting in pickleball. Some people take it out tennis, which I know people don't like, who are big tennis people putting in pickleball. I got basketball courts in Arizona that now have pickleball lining on it. So, you know, what have you been seeing? Talk about the announcement that just got made on your end and the fact that you guys are out there rolling out and building pickleball courts for people. Totally. I mean, the pickleball industry is booming. Court Kings, we're a court surfacing installation company. We just signed a huge partnership as the preferred court builder for USA Pickleball. So that was huge for us because USA Pickleball is the governing body for the sport. And so essentially what we do is we come in where the last few weeks of the project, we install cushion courts, non cushioned courts.

1:46 Seeing a huge emphasis on the move towards the cushion courts because it's great on your body. As people get older or they're like myself and like to play five times a week, you feel a lot better after playing. And so we've had the opportunity to partner with all the best manufacturers in the industry. So Pro Cushion at Sports, which does the Cushion X Sportmaster, California sports surfaces and lake hold. So all of our clients, depending on their wants and needs, they come to us. We offer some consulting services just based on their demographics, what they're looking for. The great thing about us, we're all players. I'm a 50 player myself, also a part time coach at Lifetime. So shout out to them. They're awesome.

2:31 So I really understand the industry from a business perspective, a player perspective and what places are looking for. So that's another thing we offer to our clients is consulting services. And then we're a one stop shop. So we also do fencing. We also have great deals with nets and also soundproof mats. So, you know, we can help you out, we can give you all the things you need. So it makes it easier for facility owners to open up their place. Awesome. So just for us to understand, the rating system is 5.0 out of what rating number? So 5O is the cat. It's right under pro. So you go from competing in 5. 0, then you go to pro. So that's amazing.

3:15 So we're all with a 5, 0 pickleball player now, but I'll say whenever I feel like it because it's my podcast. Any case, let me just give you a quick scenario here. So let's say hypothetically, I'm a health club. I want to take one of my racquetball old racquetball areas, or I want to take some unused space that I want to repurpose. I call you up right now and I say, caitlin, how quickly can I get a pickleball court in here? Let's have that conversation. Sure. So what they would do is typically the GC is involved from the very early stages. They're white boxing the facility, getting the courts ready, and then we want to get introduced to the GC as soon as possible to have really strong communication because they don't necessarily, you know, we're the last few weeks of the project. But we're also the most important part. That's your selling point, is how good your courts are. You don't want dead spots, etc. So we just like to have that relationship built from the beginning, very clear what the scope of work is. Then we come in towards the end, do minor to moderate concrete prep, lay down the surface, do the painting, add the acrylic coating, and then we install the nets and fencing and then, you know, you're good to open.

4:30 Um, so yeah, just reach out to us as soon as possible. We also offer consulting too, with layouts and things like that. We actually critique a lot of architectural drawings because we understand how much space is needed in between courts. A lot of people don't realize, oh, shoot, I need to add some gates in the fencing in order to get better access and just better flow in the facility. So those are all the things that we can offer. So as soon as you're about to sign A lease, had just signed a lease. You know, reach out to me and then from. From start to finish with the gc, assuming they get you involved, how quickly can I get a court up in my location? Sure. So that's always the golden question. It depends on, you know, how many courts you're wanting to open. Are you going cushion versus pro cushion, but safely, I'd say anywhere from two to four weeks once we start to come in. Great. So for the new year, I can have pickleball in my facility if I move on this within the next two to four weeks. That's. That's actually a physical possibility.

5:31 Yeah. The biggest thing is us ordering the material and getting it shipped. So we always like to say we like at least 30 days notice, just so you know, we can get you in our calendar, but more importantly, get the materials ordered and shipped and then, you know, allocate our crews to that location. And from a standpoint of pickleball, you, usage, obviously you told me that you work over at Lifetime. What do you. And I pass by those courts all the time because I go to a lot of ranger games. So yeah, Penn Station, but those courts are ridiculously full. I feel like anytime I pass by msg, is that just me going there and like, just looking at the right time or is it really. No, the amount of density is just really there. Full time. It is insane. I have only been in New York City for about a month now, Just joined Lifetime. I. I'm a part time coach, so I have access to their whole programming schedule. These courts are booked literally from the time they open to the time they close.

6:31 And if you're looking to join an open play session, you have to sign up like a week in advance as soon as it opens. I mean, the demand's insane. There's actually a wait list to join lifetime pickleball. Um, I mean, that's how crazy it is. And how many people in. In the metro area are looking? Yeah, yeah. Kudos to lifetime for taking that space. Totally. For making this a reality and access to more people who want to get involved. So Court Kings, Caitlin Miller will have all our information up there. Quick shout out to Danny Schoenfeld, who was the waiter and camper of the year and athlete of the year back in the day at Camp Locanda. Also my favorite camper except for him and Densky and Rich. Hello from court kings and Perry Schoenfeld, who got us involved here. So great to see you again. Welcome to New York City and look forward to Pickling as much as possible.

7:28 Yeah. Thank you so much for having me. I'll have to see you on the court. All right. Go, Halo.