CourtSide with Evan Dechtman

Evan Dechtman - TopSpin Digital
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Marketing

CourtSide is the podcast about the business side of racquet sports. Tennis, pickleball, padel, squash. If you own a facility, run programs, coach players, or operate in this industry, this show is for you. Host Evan Dechtman sits down with facility owners, directors of racquets, head pros, club managers, and operators across the country for honest conversations about what it actually takes to run a racquet sports business. How to fill courts. How to keep members. How to build programs from scratch. How to hire good coaches and keep them. The stuff that happens off the court that determines whether the stuff on the court survives. No scripts. No highlight reels. Just two people talking about what they've built, what's working, what's not, and where they think this whole thing is going. New episodes every two weeks. Evan is the founder of TopSpin Digital, a marketing agency built from the ground up for racquet sports, and HEARD Digital Marketing, its parent company. 25+ years of digital marketing for local businesses. 350+ clients. TopSpin exists because racquet sports businesses had real momentum and almost no marketing infrastructure behind it. Want to be a guest? Book your spot: topspindigital.co/courtside/book Email: evan@topspindigital.co Show notes: topspindigital.co/courtside

  1. 4d ago

    CourtSide Ep. 12: What Pickleball Facilities Are Really Worth, with David Johnson

    In 2017 David opened Pickleball Station, four indoor courts inside the Pickleball Central warehouse, built for about $12,000 in netting. Today he runs the IAPPF, the trade association for pickleball and padel facility owners, with more than 500 facilities and about 60 sponsors. The IAPPF tracks facilities listed for sale, surveys operators every year, and hosts Smash 2026 in Orlando, November 17 to 19. In this conversation, we get into: What owning courts taught him that selling paddles never didThe one thing he would change about selling his company: no earn outWhy nine facilities listed for sale cut their asking price by a median of 39 percentWhy 98 percent of pickleball facilities are leased, and what that does to resale valueLocation, lease, and people: the three things that decide whether a facility makes itTreating court time like airline seats, and why free events bring in membersHow one facility earns $20,000 a year per logo in the kitchenPickleball or padel: why demographics decide it, and why $150 an hour padel rates may not lastWhy an absent owner can cost a club 20 to 25 percent of its odds of success (his gut number)Why the IAPPF runs Smash 2026 inside the Athletic Business Show, plus a new investment summit on day threeHis estimate of a $7 billion pickleball economy, with $3 billion of it in facilitiesMeeting Barney McCallum, one of the founders of the sport, at the Pickleball Station openingHis closing advice before anyone signs a lease: $15 or less per square foot, triple net includedIf you own a facility, are thinking about building one, or are deciding between pickleball and padel, this one is for you. See you at Smash. ABOUT COURTSIDE CourtSide is a podcast about the business side of racquet sports. Long-form conversations with the owners, directors, and head pros shaping tennis, pickleball, padel, and squash. Hosted by Evan Dechtman, founder of TopSpin Digital. New episodes every two weeks. Subscribe so you do not miss one. Want to be a guest? Book your spot: https://topspindigital.co/courtside/book Email Evan directly: evan@topspindigital.coFull show notes: https://topspindigital.co/courtsideTopSpin Digital: https://topspindigital.coHEARD Digital Marketing: https://heardmarketing.io CONNECT WITH DAVID JOHNSON IAPPF: https://iappf.orgLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-johnson-0685a/

    CourtSide Ep. 12: What Pickleball Facilities Are Really Worth, with David Johnson

  2. Oct 6

    CourtSide Ep. 11: Bringing BOAST Back to the Court, with Matt Feuer

    Matt Feuer spent 30 years supplying leather to brands like New Balance, Adidas, and Timberland, always wondering what he would do differently if he owned one. In 2024 he got his chance and bought BOAST, the maple leaf tennis brand he wore as a high school player in the 1980s. Matt is the owner and CEO of BOAST, the racquet sports apparel brand founded in Greenwich, Connecticut in 1973. His family ran leather tanneries in upstate New York, and he spent decades building sourcing and supply chains in Asia before moving to the brand side. Since he took over, BOAST has shown up on Tennis Channel, put pros on tour in the brand, landed in Nordstrom, and is heading into Saks. In this conversation, we get into: - The story behind the leaf, including a letter a woman wrote in the early 80s so a student could keep wearing BOAST to school - Why he bought a heritage brand instead of starting one from scratch - Where BOAST lost its way, and why he added wholesale to what had been a direct-to-consumer business - Why club directors, most of them 40 to 60 years old, greeted the brand with "welcome back" - Why he sees padel as a closer fit for tennis players than pickleball - A QR code merchandise program that lets clubs sell BOAST without stocking every size, with a cut of each sale going back to the club - Hiring Adam Black as Head of Padel, and why BOAST is picky about international partners - His advice for any supplier thinking about buying a heritage brand: awareness costs more than you think, and never trade quality for price If you run a club, manage a pro shop, or want to know what it takes to bring an old brand back, this one's for you. ABOUT COURTSIDE CourtSide is a podcast about the business side of racquet sports. Long-form conversations with the owners, directors, and head pros shaping tennis, pickleball, padel, and squash. Hosted by Evan Dechtman, founder of TopSpin Digital. New episodes every two weeks. Subscribe so you don't miss one. Want to be a guest? Book your spot: https://topspindigital.co/courtside/book Email Evan directly: evan@topspindigital.co Full show notes: https://topspindigital.co/courtside TopSpin Digital: https://topspindigital.co HEARD Digital Marketing: https://heardmarketing.io CONNECT WITH MATT FEUER Website: https://boastusa.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/feuer

    CourtSide Ep. 11: Bringing BOAST Back to the Court, with Matt Feuer

  3. Sep 21

    CourtSide Ep. 10: The Godfather of Padel Says Build the Business Before the Court

    Marcos del Pilar came to the United States in 2017 to make a case for a sport few people here understood. He had built and run five tennis and padel venues in Spain. In America, he heard no from clubs, investors, and property owners who saw padel as a European trend or thought pickleball had already taken the second racquet-sport spot. People call Marcos the Godfather of Padel in the U.S. He helped bring the first Padel World Championship to the country, co-founded the Pro Padel League, and built coach education for a new generation of American padel professionals. In this conversation, we get into: Why the U.S. started using a different pronunciation, why Marcos calls that a temporary answer, and how he wants the sport said nowLeaving a successful life in Spain to build a new category in America, with no family nearby and plenty of early rejectionWhy courts are only the physical asset, and why coaches, staff, programming, and human connection make players come backThe questions a Denver tennis or pickleball club needs to answer before adding padelWhy Marcos says to build the business model before building the courtsWhat the Pro Padel League's franchise model taught him about player pathways, media, and sponsorshipHis projection of 20,000 U.S. courts and 15 million players by 2030, and why padel cannot stay a luxury productWhy some of the best points of his career came from the bench, coaching someone else If you run a club, coach, build racquet programs, or are looking at the padel business, this one's for you. ABOUT COURTSIDE CourtSide is a podcast about the business side of racquet sports. Long-form conversations with the owners, directors, and head pros shaping tennis, pickleball, padel, and squash. Hosted by Evan Dechtman, founder of TopSpin Digital. New episodes every two weeks. Subscribe so you don't miss one. Want to be a guest? Book your spot: https://topspindigital.co/courtside/book Email Evan directly: mailto:evan@topspindigital.co Full show notes: https://topspindigital.co/courtside TopSpin Digital: https://topspindigital.co HEARD Digital Marketing: https://heardmarketing.io CONNECT WITH MARCOS DEL PILAR Website: https://www.padelandsuccess.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcos-del-pilar-padel/

    CourtSide Ep. 10: The Godfather of Padel Says Build the Business Before the Court

  4. Sep 8

    CourtSide Ep. 9: She Quit a Biology Lab to Run Tennis Programs at America's Most Exclusive Clubs

    Jennifer Gelhaus was four years into a molecular biology career, headed for a PhD, when she quit to coach tennis full time. No backup plan, no fallback. Fifteen years later, she has built racquet programs at some of the most prestigious clubs in the country: Maidstone Club in the Hamptons, East Chop Tennis Club on Martha's Vineyard, Oyster Harbors Club on Cape Cod, and now The Club at Renaissance in Southwest Florida. She's also the host of the Vida Tennis Podcast, co-host of Power Players with the Directors Club of America, and the PTR's 2025 Young Professional of the Year. In this conversation, we get into: Leaving Venezuela alone at 16 to play college tennis in the USThe moment she walked away from a career in scienceWhat seven years at an elite Hamptons club before 30 taught herThe communication system she says generates ten lesson requests per newsletterWhy she thinks most club tennis directors don't treat the job like a businessWhat it's like walking into old-school, tradition-heavy rooms as a young womanThe biggest mistake new directors make in their first 90 days If you run a racquet program or want to build a career in this industry instead of just a job, this one's for you. ABOUT COURTSIDE CourtSide is a podcast about the business side of racquet sports. Long-form conversations with the owners, directors, and head pros shaping tennis, pickleball, padel, and squash. Hosted by Evan Dechtman, founder of TopSpin Digital. New episodes every two weeks. Subscribe so you don't miss one. Want to be a guest? Book your spot: topspindigital.co/courtside/book Email Evan directly: mailto:evan@topspindigital.co Full show notes: topspindigital.co/courtside TopSpin Digital: topspindigital.co HEARD Digital Marketing: heardmarketing.io CONNECT WITH JENNIFER GELHAUS LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jennifer-g-561715a4

    CourtSide Ep. 9: She Quit a Biology Lab to Run Tennis Programs at America's Most Exclusive Clubs

  5. Aug 25

    CourtSide Ep. 8: The Career Coach for the Racquet Sports Industry, with Kyle LaCroix

    Kyle LaCroix has certified and mentored over 1,700 tennis coaches worldwide, and he did it after spending part of his early career living out of his car in South Florida waiting for his break. He's the founder and CEO of SETS Consulting and one of roughly 150 active RSPA Master Professionals in the world, the highest designation a racquet sports professional can hold. In this conversation, we get into the parts of the job nobody puts on a podcast: Living out of his car early in his career, waiting for a breakWhat a Tuesday looks like inside a high-performance tennis academyTeaching a player who competed at Wimbledon how to coach a 10-year-old17 years testing and certifying coaches, and what he saw was brokenWhy racquet sports professionals maximize their ability but not their potential If you coach, run a program, or lead a racquet sports facility and want a real career instead of just a job, this one's for you. ABOUT COURTSIDE CourtSide is a podcast about the business side of racquet sports. Long-form conversations with the owners, directors, and head pros shaping tennis, pickleball, padel, and squash. Hosted by Evan Dechtman, founder of TopSpin Digital. New episodes every two weeks. Subscribe so you don't miss one. Want to be a guest? Book your spot: https://topspindigital.co/courtside/book Email Evan directly: mailto:evan@topspindigital.co Full show notes: https://topspindigital.co/courtside TopSpin Digital: https://topspindigital.co HEARD Digital Marketing: https://heardmarketing.io CONNECT WITH KYLE LACROIX Website: setsconsult.org LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kyle-lacroix-8b512b1b Still waiting on your OK for the YouTube title/description and clip captions from my last message, and Kyle's email for the guest package, before I schedule the launch crons.

    CourtSide Ep. 8: The Career Coach for the Racquet Sports Industry, with Kyle LaCroix

  6. Aug 11

    CourtSide Ep. 7: 27 Years at One Club, Then He Started Over, with Craig Bell

    Craig Bell spent 27 and a half years running the tennis program at one club in Dallas. Then in 2024, he retired, moved back to Utah, and started over, selling padel and pickleball gear across the Intermountain region. Craig is an RSPA Master Professional, co-host of the At The Net Podcast (closing in on 700 episodes), and owner of Bell Boy Sports. Over 50 years in the industry he's been a player, coach, director, recruiter, equipment rep, live streamer, and podcaster. He's a 6th generation member of the Chickasaw Nation, and his 5th great grandfather was Chief of the tribe in the 1820s. In this conversation, we get into: Starting in racquet sports in 1974 at age 10, and clocking a 131 mph serve at the Jansen Fast Serve Contest in the mid-80s27.5 years running the program at Bent Tree Country Club in Dallas, and what actually kept it interesting that longTaking play at University Club Dallas from almost nothing to a 300% increaseCoaching his son Chris to a 4-time Texas state championship, and watching him become Director of Athletics at Willow Fork Country Club in HoustonClosing in on 700 episodes of the At The Net Podcast with co-host AJ ChabriaWhat "Mr. Conviviality" means to him, and why he thinks it matters in this businessRetiring from Bent Tree in 2024, moving back to Utah, and starting Bell Boy Sports from scratchBeing a 6th generation member of the Chickasaw Nation, whose 5th great grandfather was Chief of the tribe If you're thinking about what comes after decades in one job, or you just want to hear from someone who has done nearly every job in this industry, this one is for you. ABOUT COURTSIDE CourtSide is the podcast about the business side of racquet sports. Tennis, pickleball, padel, squash. If you own a facility, run programs, coach players, or operate in this industry, this show is for you. Host Evan Dechtman sits down with facility owners, directors of racquets, head pros, club managers, and operators across the country for honest conversations about what it actually takes to run a racquet sports business. No scripts. No highlight reels. Just two people talking about what they've built, what's working, what's not, and where they think this whole thing is going. New episodes every two weeks. Subscribe so you don't miss one. Want to be a guest? Book your spot: https://topspindigital.co/courtside/book Email Evan directly: mailto:evan@topspindigital.co CONNECT WITH CRAIG BELL Instagram (Bell Boy Sports): https://instagram.com/bellboysports Instagram (At The Net Podcast): https://instagram.com/at.the.net.podcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-bell-30287911

    CourtSide Ep. 7: 27 Years at One Club, Then He Started Over, with Craig Bell

  7. Jul 28

    CourtSide Ep. 6: From Cold Call to Assistant Director in 4 Years, with Brandon Day

    Brandon Day graduated from Ferris State's Professional Tennis Management program in 2022. Four years later, he's the assistant director at a 31-court tri-racquet club, and he's not even 30. He's at North Hills Club in Raleigh, North Carolina, running programming across 22 tennis courts, 6 pickleball courts, and 3 padel courts. He got there by cold-calling Jarrett Chirico for an internship, starting at the bottom at Royal Oaks Country Club, and working his way from teaching pro to director of programming in under three years. In this conversation, we get into: Growing up playing summer tennis to avoid the angry babysitter, and how that turned into a careerCold-calling Jarrett Chirico for an internship and getting an offer letter on the spotStarting at Royal Oaks making zero dollars and building a lesson book from scratchThe member who taught him what service actually means (hint: it had nothing to do with tennis instruction)Programming across tennis, pickleball, and padel without the three sports eating into each otherWhat certifications actually do for your career vs. what's just letters after your nameThe real math of what young pros make, from $30K to $150K depending on region and contractWhy burnout in racquet sports is a leadership problem, not a work ethic problemHis goal to be a director by 28 in an industry where the average director is 55+ If you're early in your racquet sports career, thinking about getting into the private club world, or trying to figure out how people actually move up in this industry, this one's for you. ABOUT COURTSIDE CourtSide is the podcast about the business side of racquet sports. Tennis, pickleball, padel, squash. If you own a facility, run programs, coach players, or operate in this industry, this show is for you. Host Evan Dechtman sits down with facility owners, directors of racquets, head pros, club managers, and operators across the country for honest conversations about what it actually takes to run a racquet sports business. No scripts. No highlight reels. Just two people talking about what they've built, what's working, what's not, and where they think this whole thing is going. New episodes every two weeks. Subscribe so you don't miss one. Want to be a guest? Book your spot: https://topspindigital.co/courtside/book Email Evan directly: mailto:evan@topspindigital.co CONNECT WITH BRANDON DAY North Hills Club: https://www.northhillsclub.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-day-dca-crse-918271183/

    CourtSide Ep. 6: From Cold Call to Assistant Director in 4 Years, with Brandon Day

  8. Jul 14

    CourtSide Ep. 5: From Teaching Pro to Director: 32 Years at The Broadmoor with Karen Schott

    Karen Schott walked into The Broadmoor in 1994 as a teaching pro. She spent eleven years learning under Dennis Ralston — a five-time Grand Slam doubles champion and International Tennis Hall of Famer — before taking over the program in 2005. She's been running it ever since. Thirty-two years at the same club. One of the most recognizable names in racquet sports at the same property. In 2021, she stood at the USPTA World Conference and told a room full of tennis pros: if you don't learn to teach pickleball, you'll be out of a job in two to three years. The title on her office door changed from "Director of Tennis" to "Director of Racquet Sports" shortly after. In this conversation, we get into: Walking into The Broadmoor at 24 and what she saw on day oneEleven years learning under Dennis Ralston and what he passed downThe standard of a five-star property — what it demands and what it protectsThe USPTA conference moment and telling her peers the hard truth about pickleballHow coexistence actually works when you have tennis diehards and pickleball beginners on the same staffThe economics of running racquets at a resort vs. a private clubWomen in leadership — how many are in the room and what needs to changeWorking alongside her husband David on the same team for nearly a decadeWhat she'd tell a young woman who wants to be a director someday If you run a racquets program, manage a club, or want to understand what thirty-plus years in the industry actually teaches you, this one is worth your time. ABOUT COURTSIDE CourtSide is a podcast about the business side of racquet sports. Long-form conversations with the owners, directors, and head pros shaping tennis, pickleball, padel, and squash. Hosted by Evan Dechtman, founder of TopSpin Digital. New episodes every two weeks. Subscribe so you don't miss one. Want to be a guest? Book your spot: https://topspindigital.co/courtside/book Email Evan directly: mailto:evan@topspindigital.co Full show notes: https://topspindigital.co/courtside TopSpin Digital: https://topspindigital.co HEARD Digital Marketing: https://heardmarketing.io CONNECT WITH KAREN SCHOTT The Broadmoor: https://www.broadmoor.com/sports/racquet-sports/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-schott-45409422/ #CourtSidePodcast #RacquetSports #Tennis #Pickleball #TheBroadmoor #DirectorOfRacquetSports #KarenSchott #ClubIndustry #WomenInSports #TennisProfessional

    CourtSide Ep. 5: From Teaching Pro to Director: 32 Years at The Broadmoor with Karen Schott
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About

CourtSide is the podcast about the business side of racquet sports. Tennis, pickleball, padel, squash. If you own a facility, run programs, coach players, or operate in this industry, this show is for you. Host Evan Dechtman sits down with facility owners, directors of racquets, head pros, club managers, and operators across the country for honest conversations about what it actually takes to run a racquet sports business. How to fill courts. How to keep members. How to build programs from scratch. How to hire good coaches and keep them. The stuff that happens off the court that determines whether the stuff on the court survives. No scripts. No highlight reels. Just two people talking about what they've built, what's working, what's not, and where they think this whole thing is going. New episodes every two weeks. Evan is the founder of TopSpin Digital, a marketing agency built from the ground up for racquet sports, and HEARD Digital Marketing, its parent company. 25+ years of digital marketing for local businesses. 350+ clients. TopSpin exists because racquet sports businesses had real momentum and almost no marketing infrastructure behind it. Want to be a guest? Book your spot: topspindigital.co/courtside/book Email: evan@topspindigital.co Show notes: topspindigital.co/courtside

Information

  • Creator
    Evan Dechtman - TopSpin Digital
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    13
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Evan Dechtman - TopSpin Digital
  • Show Website
    CourtSide with Evan Dechtman

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