The International Association of Pickleball Facilities Held its First Ever Regional Meetup

The International Association of Pickleball Facilities (IAPF) held its first ever Regional Meetup in Scottsdale, Arizona, April 28th and 29th. The meetup was hosted by The Orchard, owned by Ashley Leroux and Patrick Sullivan Jr.

What is the IAPF?

The IAPF was founded by serial entrepreneur, David Johnson, in October 2024. Johnson has had many ties to the business of pickleball for nearly two decades. 

Johnson founded, and was the CEO of two very well known organizations:

He co-founded the pickleballcentral.com in 2006, and he also co-founded pickleballtournaments.com. He sold both businesses to Dundon Capital Partners (Owner of the PPA Tour, Major League Pickleball, and the Carolina Hurricanes) in 2022.

NHL Owner Buys the PPA, Pickleball Central and pickleballtournaments.com

No Man’s Land’s Pickleball broke news that the Pro Pickleball Association, Pickleball Central, and pickleballtournaments.com have been sold to Dundon Capital Partners led by Tom Dundon. Dundon is the owner of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes and was chairman of the Alliance of American Football league that

The Dink PickleballJB Jones

In 2024, Johnson began “The Business of Pickleball” newsletter, a monthly subscription newsletter covering the pickleball business ecosystem. This newsletter really gets into the data of pickleball as a business.

Obviously, Johnson doesn’t like to just do one thing, so in October 2024, he began the IAPF.

My goal for the IAPF is to harness the community spirit inherent in pickleball to bring pickleball operators, employees, vendors, and other stakeholders together to collectively develop and uplift our industry and the game we all love into a successful, sustainable and supportive global ecosystem.Our mission with IAPF is to develop and bring together the best expert community, content, data, case studies, surveys, videos, podcasts, events and more to provide the tools and resources necessary for the success of pickleball facilities and the industry worldwide.- David Johnson, Founder/CEO

If your company is interested in reaching an audience of active pickleballers, you may want to give us a shout.

What took place at the Scottsdale Regional Meetup

There were over 60 attendees throughout the event, including facility representatives, insurance programs, vendors, and more.

Scottsdale Regional Meetup Agenda

The Orchard hosted the event (and provided a tour), and participants were able to get a behind the scenes tour at three other locations throughout the Phoenix Metro Area: Electric Pickle, The Picklr North Scottsdale, and Arizona Athletic Grounds.

Speakers included:

• Will Richards - Founder/CEO - Dill Dinkers
• Tim Keightley - CEO - Center Court Pickleball Clubs
• Kevin Burk/Brett Warner - Founders - PURE Pickleball and Padel
• Cameron Linder - Pickleball Insurance Program
• David Johnson himself spoke on a couple of panels

Attendees hailed from all over the west coast. The following states were represented by a pickleball facility: Arizona, California, Washington, New Mexico, and Hawai’i.

A quick aside - I got to meet the folks from “Aloha Pickleball” in Maui, and they are going to be building something special. This facility hasn’t even broken ground yet, but they traveled four of their staff to this meetup to ensure they get off on the right foot.

Key Takeaways

There seems to be a lot of competition amongst pickleball facilities, but the sentiment I took away from this meetup was - "A rising tide floats all boats". Facility operators were able to come together and share ideas to make the pickleball players' experiences that much better. Some ideas that were discussed:

• Ensure each member has a quick meeting with the Director of Pickleball within a few days of becoming a member
• Thinking about the playing experience and catering to a facility's target audience is key
• Make sound business decisions in terms of lease details and operating costs to ensure profitability, while also focusing on player enjoyment and retention

With so much wisdom in the room, I am very confident everyone left the meetup with at least a few important takeaways.

IAPF Regional and International Meetups

The Scottsdale event was the first IAPF Regional Meetup, but more are planned:

• Boston - June 22, 2025
• Chicago - July 18, 2025
• Fort Lauderdale - August 22, 2025

Additionally, the IAPF will hold its inaugural Annual Conference and Trade Show in Austin, Texas, October 2-3, 2025.

To learn more about the IAPF, how to sign up for an upcoming Regional Meetup, and much more, visit pickleballfacilities.org