PPA Tour Events are Amazing!

Super Fans

We consider ourselves super fans of pro pickleball and wanted to see the pros in person. So we booked a short trip to see for ourselves if we enjoyed live events, and to try and meet some pros. We decided to go to the Red Rock Open in St. George, as it was a relatively short drive for us. 

1. Cost

If you can find a PPA Tour event near your hometown, visiting an event is very affordable. Grounds passes during the week are only $25, with courtside seats going for $50. On championship day, the prices for courtside are more expensive. In fact the courside tickets often sell out for championshiop Sunday, but if you plan ahead, you can score them for $50 per person.

You don’t have to buy anything inside the venue. We parked within a short walk, so if we packed an ice chest we could have eaten for next to nothing. They also allow you to bring in water bottles. We brought in two thermos style water bottles and refilled them for free at the water stations.

They do have food trucks, but the options were very limited. My guess is that there are more options at other venues.

2. Accessible

It’s not like going to an NFL game where you have to book a hotel months in advance. You don’t need to pay for parking. You just need to show up. It wasn’t crowded on the grounds even on the championship day. The stands get very crowded but if you have a courtside pass, you should get priority and be able to get a seat.

They offer VIP passed which gets you an assigned chair under a shaded grandstand, but you don’t get more access to the pros.

3. Meet the Legends of Pickleball

Our goal in terms of meeting pros was to get one signature or picture with a high teir pro. Jett really wanted to meet Riley Newman. If you watched the video you know it was a buffet of pros who were gracious with their time and signed balls, hats, and took pictures. The only time we got rebuked was when I approached Inatowitch right after loosing men’s doubles. I believe he was on his way to the bronze medal match, and probably wasn’t in a great mood. But we did catch him the next day after he won Mixed Doubles with Anna Bright, and he was super gracious, signed Jett’s hat and took a pic. We even chatted briefly.

List of PPA pros we met at the Selkirk Red Rock Open

• Kyle Koszuta aka “That Pickleball Guy” We had spoken with him on instagram and he helped us choose mics and camera for our content creation journey. He chatted with us on the first day (I was star struck and forgot to get a pic). On the second day we ran into him again and got a pic, and again he was awesome!
• We ran into Caden Nemoff from the Briones Pickleball Podcast. He was super cool and I got to take a picture of him with Jett!
• Next we ran into Tyson McGuffin and he took a picture with Jett
• Finally Jett got to meet Riley Newman who was a total legend. He signed a ball for Jett and took a pic (too bad his Dad is a terrible photographer!)
• On our way out the first day we ran into Anna Bright and she signed a ball. I only got a short video because she was in a hurry to meet up with James.
• On the last day we finally got to meet James Ignotowitch, he signed Jett’s hat and took a pic. We chatted with him briefly and he was super cool to meet.

4. Meet new friends

We met so many cool people. To the couple that played with us on our first night there, to the two dudes who kicked our butts Saturday morning, everyone was super cool. And special shout out to Ellen Thorpe who volunteered at the PPA Tour event. She was super helpful and friendly.

5. Family Bonding

We created so many memories and have an interest in common. It’s pretty rare these days to have a common passion with your children. We talk about the pros, the matches, and our progression in the game. We’re sharing an experience where both of us are engaged and focused on growing. In a time of unlimited screens, channels, and forms of entertainment, it’s really hard to have an anchor in your child’s life that’s a common bond. This trip gave us that anchor that we’ll cherish for the rest of our lives.

6. See New Places

I’d never been to St. George, UT before and it was breathtaking. It’s a fertile valley surrounded by snow-capped mountains. Very different than our home surrounded by desert. Just to get out of town and experience new places meant every moment was unique. This area is exploding and it would be an awesome place to relocated to if the stars aligned. We can’t wait to go back next year, hopefully to not only spectate, but compete.