Keep Your Eye On The Dream

Simon Sinek famously said that “we would achieve more if we chased the dream and not the competition and while there may be exceptions, there has never been a statement truer that describes the racquets industry. However, I have always been a fan of competition. It is what drives us, motivates us, and keeps us from the grips of complacency. It is the gift of someone always on our heels, trying to take what is yours, what is mine, and forcing us to adapt and grow. In that regard, competition is a gift. Where we go wrong is when we stop applauding one another and celebrating each other’s success. The success of your peers, your friends, and even your enemies put no limitations on your own success. It is when we become bitter and jealous that we unknowingly remove ourselves from the story and become irrelevant. In the end, we should never aim to be the star of the story but rather always strive to be a part of the story. That is where success is found, within the journey, all in our own time and in our right place. We are exactly where we are meant to be.

Let’s examine this through the eyes of racquets. The very idea of “racquets” is new. It is the understanding that one racquet sport will ultimately grow another through cross participation. One sport being the gateway to another. It is an extremely logical and simplistic idea but still over complicated by many who are trying to fight the growing popularity of sports like pickleball, padel and paddle. The goal should be participation…always. It does not matter if someone is playing tennis, pickleball, paddle, squash, whatever, all that matters is they are using your facility. I can promise you, if you do not offer something, your members will go somewhere that does and it is only a matter of time before they are gone forever.

The USTA is celebrating the growth of tennis for the first time in over a decade. Tennis had been flat for the better part of 15 years and following Covid had an explosion from 17 million players to 24 million players. It is easy to say this was due to a pandemic, but when you take a closer look, you can see it was other racquet sports that directly contributed to this growth. On average, there is a 30 percent crossover rate from one racquet sport to another. Pickleball in 2021 accounted for 1.5 million people trying tennis for the first time. That is a staggering number. However, the USTA likes to say that pickleball only has 8.9 million players while tennis has 24 million. They do this because they want to show that tennis is bigger. It is not only a mistruth, but it is the wrong mentality. In 2023 Pickleball has between 35 and 40 million people playing. If we go back to the understanding that 30 percent of those players will try another racquet sport, we know that 10 – 12 million pickleball players will try something new. Tennis is the second most accessible racquet sport thus it is only logical where pickleball players will land. If USTA focused on the dream (which is growing tennis) and not the competition (which pickleball is not competition) they would applaud the 35 million plus pickleball players knowing the growth that will come to tennis as a result. There is no better example of how the success of others can directly impact our own success and the importance of celebrating one another. ?

In the next five years the racquets industry is expected to grow by over 200%. During that time, the importance of great people will continue to outweigh the prestige of new facilities. Racquets at its best is a transition from one sport to another lead by exceptional professionals that share a deep-rooted passion with their membership for the sports that are offered. Always understand that for every experience both good and bad you are led to where you are supposed to be; that every win, every loss, and every challenge will shape you. Don’t expect success overnight and always get lost and find yourself repeatedly. Work hard and try to enjoy the process of your journey, and always remember those who enjoy the walk, walk further than those who just like the destination. Keep your eye on the dream, enjoy the process and applaud the competition for it will shape the limits of your success.