033 | Do They Really Snore? Transcript

Morgan Evans:
It’s the Morgan Evans More or Less Pickleball Podcast coming at you in three, two, one. Boom.

Morgan Evans:
My guest today is a veteran of the game and at the tender age of 27, she’s just reached a milestone. U.S. Open Pro Doubles victory with her partner, Callie Smith. It’s been a big yeah already for the French Canadian native, with plenty of g

Morgan Evans:
old to show for it. Please welcome Catherine Parenteau. Catherine Parenteau, how are you, sweetie?

Catherine Parenteau:
Hey, Morgan. How are you?

Morgan Evans:
I’m very well. Have you recovered?

Catherine Parenteau:
Yes. But I took a few days off after the Open, but yeah, I’ve recovered.

Morgan Evans:
All right. So let’s get into the nuts and bolts of it. You have just reached a milestone in your career, the U.S. Open champs. It’s been a long time coming. I feel like you were due. For those in the audience who don’t know your backstory, can you give us a little bit of a brief cliff notes on how you got started in the game?

Catherine Parenteau:
Yes. So I started five years ago. So I played tennis at Michigan State University and my head coach there was Simone Jardim, who is currently the number one player in the world and the one who got me into pickleball. The way she got me into pickleball is that, basically you’re only eligible to compete for four years. It was my fifth, year during my fifth year, I couldn’t compete anymore. I was only part of the coaching staff, helping out Simone on the side. She could tell that I was missing competing so she was like, “You should try this sport called pickleball.” I was like, “What is that?” So for a good two or three weeks, I didn’t want to try it, just because of the name. I don’t know, I didn’t really want to try it out. She kept bothering me about it and I said, “Okay, I’ll try it.” So I went to try it, fell in love with the sport. Soon, after I tried it, I got myself a membership at a club. We couldn’t play outdoors since it was in the middle of the winter. So I had to play indoor and there were just a few places where I could play. So I got myself a membership and that’s how I started playing.

Morgan Evans:
Wow. That’s amazing. Tell me, what was Simone like as a tennis coach? Is she similar as a pickleball coach?

Catherine Parenteau:
Yes. Very similar. She loves to make sure that we always give a hundred percent. When we were on the tennis courts, she always wanted us to give a hundred percent. She never wanted us to let the ball bounce more than once on the court. So if we, for example, were not running for a ball and it bounced twice, sometimes we had to run laps. So she was very intense, but I like that about her. That’s something that kept me going. I love that she just wanted us to go a hundred percent, no matter what, no matter if you feel you had a bad day at school, or if you didn’t feel so well, a hundred percent, she wanted us to come out there on the tennis court and just forget about what’s going on outside, in your world, but just focus on your tennis practice. I find it, she’s very similar, when it comes to pickleball because she’s been helping me out on the side as well, lately. We compete against, but we do practice a lot together as well, and we push each other. So, yeah, it’s great.

Morgan Evans:
That’s awesome. Yeah. I think you’re either that kind of person, or you’re not, to have that kind of drive to never give up. It’s an admirable quality and I think, when you think about all the great tennis players that have existed over the years, they all had that same thing. Right now, I guess the epitome would be Rafael Nadal. I kind of liken you to him. Are you were a Rafa fan or you’re a Roger fan?

Catherine Parenteau:
I really like Rafa, I think.

Morgan Evans:
Fair enough.

Catherine Parenteau:
I love Roger as well, but I think Rafa shows a little bit more emotions and I love that about him.

Morgan Evans:
Yeah. He’s a battler, no doubt about it. So you said you took a couple of days off after the U.S. Open and congratulations again.

Catherine Parenteau:
Thank you.

Morgan Evans:
I’m sure you’ve heard that from every man and their dog since it’s happened. Has it sunken in? Has your life changed at all?

Catherine Parenteau:
Yes, it did. In the few days after the Open I was just so happy and super excited. I took a few days off to try to just recover and did change a little bit. I think it was a big, for sure, a big step into the sport being live for the first time. So it was just awesome to be part of the historical moment. It’s been great, but now I’m going to focus for my next tournament, which is going to be a Georgia Open, which is coming up next week.

Morgan Evans:
Oh, wow.

Catherine Parenteau:
So yeah, I have to stop thinking about it, not move on, for sure, it’s great that happened and everything, but I have to put in the past and focus on my next journey.

Morgan Evans:
That’s good. That’s a great attitude. Yeah. I think a lot of people can find a way to win tournaments and perhaps a major, but then backing it up with a follow on performance, that’s a little bit difficult. I think a lot of people find that very tough to keep the same level of motivation to get back out there and train as hard as they know they should be to try to make sure it wasn’t just a one and done situation. So I’m glad you’ve got a good attitude regarding that. Well-played.

Catherine Parenteau:
Thank you.

Morgan Evans:
Were you surprised at all by how well Callie handled the pressure? I mean, you’ve been in the limelight for quite some time now and you’re no stranger to the podium. Callie is a bit more, she’s newer to the game and everybody was wondering how she was going to handle the pressure of that kind of moment. It looked like she took it in her stride.

Catherine Parenteau:
Actually, I was not that surprised because she’s been the one telling me the past few weeks, I’m not sure if you knew, but the first few times we played together, we lost. It was not very close. Then, we just knew, the whole, from I would say, beginning of April to the U.S. Open, she would text me or even call me and say, “Okay, this is our time. It’s going to be our time at the Open.” She was super motivated and she just hungry. She really wanted it.

Morgan Evans:
Yeah

Catherine Parenteau:
That’s what I really admire about her. She doesn’t really worry about the past, she focuses on the present moment and she just goes all out. She plays her game, no matter what, and a very aggressive player. She really handled it well under pressure, for sure.

Morgan Evans:
Yeah. I think the kind of intensity that she brings to the table helps you a lot. I’m sure as well. But you know, I think it’s very difficult for pressure to enter your mind when you’re basically just playing an aggressive game from start to finish. It’s not like you two didn’t dink, you certainly did, but it was certainly a powerful showing in terms of hand speed exchanges and how often triggers were pulled and you ended up coming away with the win for many of those exchanges. That’s something that it’s very risky. I think everyone knows that if you pull the trigger first, it can very well end up being egg on your face. So to be able to do it and win those battles is amazing.

Catherine Parenteau:
Yes. I mean, we both did a good job at, not just pulling the trigger, after the second or third dink, but dink a little bit more so it’s not very obvious what we’re going to do, to hide it a little bit longer or try to not show it again, what we’re going to do. Otherwise, pull the trigger every two, three balls. I think that’s why we did pretty well as well, just moving the ball around, dinking, and then once we had the [inaudible 00:07:38], we will go for it. Whereas other matches before we played Lucy and Simone, they were able to adjust to our game because we were pulling the trigger a little too quickly.

Morgan Evans:
Okay. So it just took a little extra patience from you two to find a slightly better ball to work with? So most people would say, arguably, Callie has the best hair in the women’s game. Do you have hair envy? I have hair envy of Steve Deakin. Obviously, we all do. But Callie’s amazing. Come on.

Catherine Parenteau:
Yes. Yeah, I know. It’s crazy. I always think, if she falls, I don’t know if you saw that video once when she played with Martina Kochli in Colorado, Denver, I believe. She was about to fall in the kitchen and Martina pulled her hair back and they ended up winning the point. It’s something crazy that in my head I’m like, “Okay, well, if that happens, I know what to do.”

Morgan Evans:
That’s awesome. I haven’t seen that.

Catherine Parenteau:
Oh my gosh, it’s so funny.

Morgan Evans:
But that’s why she does it, now I know. It’s a great strategy to stay out of the kitchen. I think, for a lot of people, the million dollar question is how did you decide on a French bulldog and do they really snore?

Catherine Parenteau:
So I grew up with Boston terriers and pugs, so small dogs with not a lot of hair. I wanted to a dog, a different dog, a different breed. I was looking through pictures when I was younger and I remember loving French bulldogs. I was just looking at them and thinking, “Oh my gosh, they’re so cute.” When it came the time to decide to pick a dog, I was like, “For sure, we’re [inaudible 00:09:14] a French bulldog,” and that’s how we decided to get a Frenchie. They do snore. Depending on her posture, I guess, with her neck. Depending on position, her sleeping position. But yes, we can hear her very well at night.

Morgan Evans:
So you two just have to snore louder than her and everyone’s fine.

Catherine Parenteau:
Exactly.

Morgan Evans:
Okay. Now switching back to a slightly more pickleball, I’m not sure if have everyone really wants to know about the French bulldog. I hope they do because they’re wonderful animals. But we should probably talk a little about pickleball again. Obviously, you’ve been knocking on the door of greatness for quite some time, but you haven’t broken through until this year where you and Simone partnered up in Delray. I feel like that was the first time I’d ever seen, for the first time ever, someone that was playing with Simone get left out. It was the first time that I saw her getting more attention in the final than her partner. Was that a weird feeling for you?

Catherine Parenteau:
Yes. It was weird, yes. But I think that day when we played in Delray, Simone was not playing her best. That was one of the first time I saw her play not as well. I mean, she knows, we still talk about it. Even recently we spoke about it, about her final was not the best, but we ended up winning, that’s what matters we found a way to win, even though we were not on our game plan A. So yeah, being a little bit more left out with Simone, gave me some confidence in a way.

Morgan Evans:
Yeah.

Catherine Parenteau:
Like, “Wow, they really respect me or maybe they look more scared, or if I attacks,” or gave me confidence, thinking that, “Well, I’m playing with the number one and they actually keeping the ball from me.” That’s good thing for me.

Morgan Evans:
For sure. For so long people have looked at you and thought, “Oh, she’s like a mini Simone.” And in so many ways, your mannerisms, your technique on the court, you look so similar and you can tell there’s influence there. It was only a matter of time before you bridged the gap. Do you think there’s still a gap?

Catherine Parenteau:
In between me and Simone?

Morgan Evans:
Yeah. It’s a tough question. You don’t have to answer it.

Catherine Parenteau:
No, it’s a good question. I know that her game is getting closer for sure. I still think she has more experience than me, for sure.

Morgan Evans:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Catherine Parenteau:
A lot more titles. So she’s for sure, when it comes to mental, I think she’s still a little stronger than me. Whereas if we talk about physical, I think I might get there as soon as I can-

Morgan Evans:
Well you’re 20, 26?

Catherine Parenteau:
Yeah.

Morgan Evans:
Okay. Yeah. She’s 41 or 42, is that right?

Catherine Parenteau:
Yep. She’s 41 turning 42, I believe, this summer. Yes.

Morgan Evans:
Yeah. So we’ll cut her a little slack from the physical side of things. I mean, jeez.

Catherine Parenteau:
Yes. She’s fit, she always tells me she feels like she’s in the best shape of her at 41, which is awesome. I do feel I have, for sure, a slight advantage there, it’s just I know how she is and it doesn’t matter who she’s playing against, she’s just going to bring it. She’s going to go all out, a hundred percent. If I don’t have necessarily a very good day, I know that she not going to feel bad if she has to, she [inaudible 00:12:32] give me any points, freebies, for sure.

Morgan Evans:
Do you think you and Simone will play again together? Or is it Callie for the foreseeable future?

Catherine Parenteau:
Yes. We actually have two tournaments together coming up this year. We were playing a PPA event together in Vegas, and then we play an APP at Hilton Head. So that’s it for this year. For next year, we have a few planned as well. I believe one or two. Maybe, we talked a little bit about 2023-

Morgan Evans:
Wow.

Catherine Parenteau:
… maybe we will be playing more tournaments together for sure. But I’m mostly playing with Callie, yes, next year.

Morgan Evans:
Okay. That sounds exciting. Who have you got for nationals?

Catherine Parenteau:
I have Jessie, Jessie Irvine.

Morgan Evans:
Jessie. And for mixed.

Catherine Parenteau:
For mixed I got Steve Deakin.

Morgan Evans:
Steve. All right. Oh, are you sure? How’s his hand?

Catherine Parenteau:
He’s doing better. I know he’s been working hard. He looks like he’s doing good and he’s in good hands. So that’s good.

Morgan Evans:
Yeah. Well, Steve, if you’re listening, then we wish you a swift recovery man-

Catherine Parenteau:
Yes.

Morgan Evans:
… and take care of that hair. We’re going to hold it there just for a quick word from our sponsor. CoachME Pickleball.

Morgan Evans:
Practice makes perfect, right? My name is Morgan Evans, and I have to tell you the practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes progress. That’s why we’ve created CoachME Pickleball. At CoachME Pickleball, you’ll find an extensive and growing library of lessons on topics covering every aspect of pickleball for every level of play. For one small monthly fee, you’ll get access to every video in our library with new content added every month. Check out CoachMEPickleball.com to sign up for a free seven day membership.

Morgan Evans:
Okay. Let’s check back in with Catherine.

Morgan Evans:
Now, I just wanted to touch briefly on some technical things. Just, well, one or two really, that you might be able to shed some light on. You’ve been putting the two handed back hand to good use for a long time now, was it something that you always had in your tennis game and it transferred straight over to pickleball or were you flirting with the one hander?

Catherine Parenteau:
Yes. Tennis, I would use two hands on my racket at all time. Just sometimes in practice I would use, just for fun, do one hander. But yes, mostly I would say when I was competing, for sure, two hands. As soon as I grabbed a pickleball paddle, my first time I played pickleball, I had a two hander, it was just a much easier transition.

Morgan Evans:
Interesting. So obviously in tennis, you don’t typically play a lot of swinging volleys. Were you someone who did that and used your two handed backhand in a volley sense in tennis?

Catherine Parenteau:
I actually used only one hand. Very rarely I would use, I would say like a swing volley, maybe if I was running forward and the ball was a little higher I would use two hands. But if I was just hitting volleys or put aways with my volleys, it would be mostly one hand on my backhand.

Morgan Evans:
That’s traditional, that’s what most people do. So I’m curious how easy it is, and this is for people out there who are listening that are thinking about two handed backhands, I personally think more people should be trying to use it. The hard part is, so often you are basically using a swinging volley technique with that two hander versus a punch, more traditional technique. What would you recommend for people to try to figure out when and how they should implement a two handed backhand?

Catherine Parenteau:
I think a two handed backhand, it gives you more power and more control. So I highly suggest, for sure, having a two handed backhand from the baseline. I find it hard to control the ball well and hit power with just a one. When I’m at the net, I like to punch, like a punch volley-

Morgan Evans:
Yep.

Catherine Parenteau:
… But once it’s a little bit outside of my left shoulder, that’s when I know I can add a second hand to use two hands on my grip to hit a backhand and the ball is coming right into my body, I find it very hard to defend myself, I usually tend to just let go of one hand and block or counter with a one hander backhand. Again, if it’s a little bit more to the exterior of my shoulder, my left shoulder, I feel like I have a little bit more time and that’s when I’m going to use two hands. Because I know I have a lot more power and more control when it comes to that.

Morgan Evans:
Certainly. So your typical ready position has both hands on the paddle or you bring it in there when it needed?

Catherine Parenteau:
Yes, I do. I don’t have it completely closed, you can see, on my paddle, but I do bring back both of my hands, it’s touching.

Morgan Evans:
All right. Well, it’s probably time, I should just tell you that this whole podcast ruse was really just a way for me to learn how to hit your two handed backhand and you’ve you’ve spilled the beans. Thank you so much.

Morgan Evans:
It’s time now for another episode of What Makes Them Great.

Morgan Evans:
Catherine is an athlete. I’ve never seen her cramp. I’ve never seen her look less than a hundred percent and that’s because that’s exactly what she puts in. She leaves it all out on the court and she has the most admirable of qualities, that never say die attitude that makes her a fan favorite wherever she goes. What makes her great? In my opinion, it’s two-fold. You’ve all heard the expression, better to be lucky than good. Well, she took a little luck, put in the work and made it a career. The luck I’m talking about of course, is that she just happened to wind up at Michigan State University, where she played tennis under a coach that would become the greatest of all time, Simone Jardim. Since then, she has surrounded herself with only the best to train with. While her partner and coach Athena, adds a tactical edge to help defeat any team.

Morgan Evans:
To a large extent, our environment and circumstances dictate just what kind of ceiling a player has. That said there’s simply no substitute for hard work. As they say, hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. Catherine isn’t the tallest girl on tour. She doesn’t hit the hardest, but she has an X-factor. An intangible quality that is undeniable every time she steps on the court. It’s hard to describe, but you’d know it when you see it. Now, I started pickleball at a similar time as Catherine and I remember always seeing an attitude that tells the world, “The only way I know is maximum effort and if it’s not good enough right now, one day it will be.” Well, Catherine, your day has come. Congratulations.

Morgan Evans:
All right. Let’s head back to the interview. See if we can squeeze out a few more words of wisdom. Well, what’s next for you? Where are you playing next?

Catherine Parenteau:
The Georgia Open. I’m playing with singles on Thursday, then Friday, I’m playing with Riley Newman.

Morgan Evans:
Oh, you’re play with Riley?

Catherine Parenteau:
Yes. I’m very excited.

Morgan Evans:
Where’s Lindsey?

Catherine Parenteau:
Lindsey is going to be home, I believe. She’s staying home to take care of her baby.

Morgan Evans:
Ah, that’s right. Those babies. Those babies getting in the way of pickleball, aren’t they? Jeez.

Catherine Parenteau:
Right. Then I’m playing with Callie on Saturday and then it’s championship Sunday.

Morgan Evans:
Oh, right. So are they doing split times again, like U.S. Open?

Catherine Parenteau:
Yes.

Morgan Evans:
Oh, cool.

Catherine Parenteau:
Yes. Championship Sunday. Basically, it starts at 10. It starts with singles and then after, gender doubles and I think they finish it with mixed. Not sure of the order, but they go from, I believe it goes from 10:00 AM to still, 6:00 PM.

Morgan Evans:
Great. That’s awesome. So you won’t have to play a final of a singles until Sunday. That’s great.

Catherine Parenteau:
Yes.

Morgan Evans:
Assuming you get into it. Just so you know, this particular episode will air after the tournament so I’m going to predict that you won the singles in three, you and Riley took the mixed in two. Well done. Congratulations. And you and Callie, it was a clean sweep, you didn’t lose a game. Well, played.

Catherine Parenteau:
We’ll have to see after the tournament.

Morgan Evans:
Yes. Well, there may be a quick edit if that doesn’t work out. So I need you to really focus on making those predictions come true. Okay?

Catherine Parenteau:
Sounds good.

Morgan Evans:
Okay. Now, outside of pickleball, when you’re not grinding on the court, what keeps you busy?

Catherine Parenteau:
I have my Frenchy, ,y French bulldog for sure. She keeps me busy. We go on walks and I have to make sure I give her some attention. So I’m making her run and stuff. I love to just shop a little bit online.

Morgan Evans:
Shopping?

Catherine Parenteau:
I love shopping.

Morgan Evans:
Wow.

Catherine Parenteau:
I like to train. So if I’m not on a pickleball court, I love to run. Or to do some training sessions on the mirror. I don’t know if you’ve heard of the mirror.

Morgan Evans:
Oh yeah.

Catherine Parenteau:
Pretty awesome. It’s got some live classes or some recorded classes and you can do a three minute workout or however long you want it to be. I love it. I love to read as well.

Morgan Evans:
Do you teach pickleball as well?

Catherine Parenteau:
Yes.

Morgan Evans:
Excellent. Whereabouts do you teach and how can our esteemed listeners come and get a lesson?

Catherine Parenteau:
So I teach at Colliers Reserve Country Club in Naples. I teach there Monday through Friday, but on Tuesday I teach at the YMCA, Peak Performance Academy, where Simone teaches. They can find me online, they can find my schedule online on Peak Academy website. I believe it’s under clinics or lessons. Then you can see my name and you see the times available for Tuesdays. I’m not going to be doing a lot of private lessons this summer as Athena and I, we’re going to be traveling to do some clinics all over the country a little bit.

Morgan Evans:
Oh nice.

Catherine Parenteau:
So I am looking forward to that, that’s going to be fun. They can also always add me on social media and they can always send me a quick little message and ask me if I can come to their location, or if they want to book a lesson with me, that’s always the [inaudible 00:22:33] as well.

Morgan Evans:
Awesome. Great. Well, you got to come to the desert and do a camp with me. That’d be fun.

Catherine Parenteau:
Oh, that would be fun. Yes.

Morgan Evans:
Excellent. I will put it on the books.

Catherine Parenteau:
Sounds good.

Morgan Evans:
All right, sweetie. Well, thank you so much for all your time and congratulations again on your historic victory. We’re all so proud of you.

Catherine Parenteau:
Thank you so much, Morgan. That was a lot of fun.

Morgan Evans:
You’re very welcome. We’ll see you on the court soon and good luck with your definite wins in the Georgia Open.

Catherine Parenteau:
Thank you, Morgan.

Morgan Evans:
All right. Take care, sweetie.

Catherine Parenteau:
Bye-bye.

Morgan Evans:
Cheers. Bye.

Morgan Evans:
That’s all we’ve got time for today, folks. Hope you enjoyed our time with the one and only Catherine Parenteau. As always, this podcast has been powered by Selkirk. If you haven’t checked out Selkirk TV, go ahead and download it, it’s available on Roku, Apple TV, Fire Stick things, those are great, all your tablets, your phones, yeah, everything, it’s everywhere. We may have even broken the internet. It’s great. Trust me. All right. Stay safe, everybody. I’m Morgan Evans, and this has been More or Less Pickleball.

Morgan Evans:
I’m always in deep admiration for anyone who goes hiking.ayers. But the way tournaments are currently structured, there isn’t a good way to do that.

Mike Barnes :
Some of them like US Open nationals, they’re trying to put medal matches at specific times, which is great because it allows people to plan and say, okay, I can watch Tyson McGuffin at 2:00 PM Sunday, or whenever that medal match is playing.

Mike Barnes :
And that’s a big part of tennis. So we work with the Indian Wells team for nationals and in tennis they have the advantage of being able to say, hey, we’re going to put Serena on court one at this time. And we know we’re going to sell tickets for that court. We know people are going to tune in to watch Serena at that time, and you don’t really have that in pickleball yet.

Mike Barnes :
So we think with exhibitions we’ll be able to sort of capture some of that where we can say, okay, instead of having a live stream, Saturday 2:00 PM, which is the absolute worst time to air content, because on Saturdays, people are out doing things.

Mike Barnes :
We’re able to say, okay, we’re going to air this content Monday evening, Thursday evening, when people actually tune in to watch content on their TV. And we can promote the players, promote what’s going to happen, when it’s going to happen and people can plan around it and actually engage with the content there. So we think there’s a lot of opportunities with PPA, with nationals, as well as exhibitions, to engage more people with the pros and with the topic of all play.

Morgan Evans:
We’re going to hold it just there with Mike. For a quick tip from our sponsor, CoachME Pickleball. Practice makes perfect, right? My name is Morgan Evans, and I have to tell you that practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes progress. That’s why we’ve created CoachME Pickleball. At CoachME Pickleball, you’ll find an extensive and growing library of lessons on topics covering every aspect of pickleball for every level of player. For one small monthly fee, you’ll get access to every video in our library, with new content added every month. Check out, coachmepickleball.com to sign up for a free seven-day membership.

Morgan Evans:
All right, let’s head back over to Mike, and learn a little more about Selkirk TV. I’m sort of seeing a real parallel between pickleball as a game and how the gateway to play and to enjoy the game is so simple, so easy, versus something like tennis or, and other racket sports that takes a lot more work and effort to enjoy.

Morgan Evans:
That side of things hasn’t happened yet in the media side of pickleball. And it looks like you guys are looking to make that gateway that much easier to get through. So more consumers can enjoy a wonderful sport. So seems like a good step in the right direction mate.

Mike Barnes :
That’s the thing about pickleball. It’s such a unique sport. It’s such a great sport with so much potential still. I don’t know if you saw recently, the Chicago Cubs team was playing pickleball in the bullpen. It’s starting to blow up and it’s such an easy sport for anybody to start in.

Mike Barnes :
You don’t need lessons like you do in tennis, but what’s also great about pickleball is there’s always room to improve. There’s always sort of that sense that I can get better, I can play better, I can improve my game. I could move up in the rankings. And that’s really what makes it, I think, addicting for people and sort of that ease but also that challenge.

Mike Barnes :
With that, pickleball five years ago, it was known as a senior sport because pickleball did blow up in the senior communities five, six years ago. But we really see it transitioning into a younger, more athletic sport. And that’s where it’s important for us and for pickleball in general to put forward the best athletes and the best pickleball players.

Mike Barnes :
So we’ve seen a ton of engagement with highlight videos that we’ve been posting. We went on TikTok, received 75,000 views. And just reading the comments, you see young people being interested in the sport and wanting to start playing the sport because it’s actually cool, it’s actually fun, it’s actually athletic.

Mike Barnes :
And if they’re engaged and they’re interested, and they actually go out and play they’ll realize it’s also easy to get started. And then there’ll be a pickleball player for life. So, that’s really the goal. Our goal is to help pickleball and grow the pickleball world through Selkirk TV.

Morgan Evans:
Honestly, I’m still just a little taken back. I had no idea we were Tik-Toking. I really thought Emily Waters was the only pickleball TikTok person on the planet, but I’m glad to hear we’re getting that many views, no matter what it is.

Mike Barnes :
That goes with some of the women’s doubles matches [crosstalk 00:15:43] actually. Yeah, yeah. That’s another, just a unique thing about pickleball. And I think we’ll see a large amount of engagement and acceptance of the sport, is women’s doubles and men’s doubles are very, both very exciting to watch.

Mike Barnes :
So in other sports there’s been a lot of controversies on equal pay, understandably, and I don’t think we’ll have those controversies in pickleball because women’s doubles is very exciting to watch. It’s very fast paced. A lot of our best highlight videos are actually from women’s doubles. So it’ll be exciting to see that grow as well with the sport.

Morgan Evans:
Excellent. So obviously this is a pioneer ground for the sport in general. Being the first to offer high quality content in an app. It gives Selkirk, that’s what’s called, the first movers advantage. I mean, any industry, the first person into the space often has an advantage in that they can develop quick brand recognition and loyalty. However, to a large extent, Selkirk already has that, but it has a paddle company. Do you expect consumers to apply your existing paddle credit, so to speak? To an assumed quality that you will have in the media world?

Mike Barnes :
Yes, we hope so. We definitely have developed our brand in the pickleball equipment space and that will help us jumpstart Selkirk TV as well. We already, even before the launch of Selkirk TV, we’ve been very engaged on social media and publishing content. I believe our social media page has more engagement, more people engaging with the content than all of our competitors combined. So-

Morgan Evans:
Wow.

Mike Barnes :
We’ve really focused on media from the start, and this is just an opportunity to really ramp things up. So because we already have a very engaged community, that’ll allow us to jumpstart Selkirk TV and get it going. And like you mentioned, it is important to be the first mover. It is important to just get something out there and then run with it and improve it over time. So for example, with Selkirk, the first paddle we ever launched, wasn’t a Vanguard.

Mike Barnes :
The first time we ever launched, we called it the 208 First Run because we knew there’d be some problems. We knew there’d be hiccups, but it’s something that we’d fix over time. So continuous improvement is a very core principle to our company and something that we’ll be applying to Selkirk TV as well.

Mike Barnes :
So we think we’re going to have a lot of great content. We’re going to have must-see videos from a variety of creators. We’re going to have pickleball shows, which previously pickleball shows were not… Specifically video shows have not been extremely popular on YouTube and Facebook, but we think with a platform like ours, we’ll be able to really spotlight them and get them additional audiences and also previous matches.

Mike Barnes :
So we’re going to have a lot of great content to start, but what we have to start isn’t where we’re going to be six months from now. So we’re really going to start ramping things up, building things out, especially based on customer feedback. So if we see certain content doing very well, that’s where we’re going to focus on, so that we bring what people actually want to watch on the platform.

Morgan Evans:
And luckily the app’s free to download. So it’s not like the average viewer has to gamble and agree to a $9,95 payout for an undisclosed amount of content. So that’s good.

Mike Barnes :
Right, exactly. It’s zero risk.

Morgan Evans:
Yeah, that’s great. Paddle customers, of course will be… There’ll be happy that Selkirk is expanding. However, some of them might be a little curious how Selkirk contends to deliver the same quality paddle now that your attentions are in the media world as well. What’s the plan there? Just devil’s advocate.

Mike Barnes :
Sure. So, I think there’s a few ways to tackle that. One is, there are three partners in the company. So there’s myself, my brother, Robin, our dad, Jim. We all have different roles and abilities and skills. And it’s worked out really well for our company because not everybody is good at everything. And so we’re able to apply what we’re good at to our company.

Mike Barnes :
We’re definitely going to be focusing still on product. My brother, Rob is still driving R and D [forward 00:19:43]. We’re very excited for this year. There’s some products and initiatives we’ll be launching this year that we think will be very interesting to the community and really put our R and D efforts on display in front and the center.

Mike Barnes :
So we’re still very excited about everything we’re working on with R and D. And really our company, our slogan is, we are packleball. We’re trying to, as our mission statement says, feel the pickleball obsession found inside every player. We want to do that any way we can. So we’re going to do that with having the best equipment and the best R and D, but also with Selkirk TV, the best content, so that people can engage with the pickleball world and put their best foot forward and pickelball overall.

Morgan Evans:
Excellent. So just to start to wrap things up a little bit, I’m curious if people are out there and they think their content might indeed be good enough to go on Selkirk TV. What should they do? Is this a don’t call us, we’ll call you deal? Any thoughts towards those players, those people?

Mike Barnes :
Great question. I mean, we would love to hear from any content creators. What you have going on or what you’d like to do and definitely reach out to us. So just reach out to us via email and send us maybe a sample of what you’re thinking and we’re open to posting content.

Mike Barnes :
So, it’s one of those things, especially in this pandemic world, it sort of opens up a lot of opportunities with production so that we’re willing to look at a lot of content, a variety of content, especially anything unique and creative and run with it on Selkirk TV, as well as our Facebook, social media, YouTube. We have a large reach and a growing reach. So we’d be excited to work with a lot of content creators.

Morgan Evans:
Fantastic, great. So you heard it here first folks, if you want your 15 minutes of fame, Selkirk TV could be it. Who knows?

Mike Barnes :
That’s right.

Morgan Evans:
So for people who haven’t downloaded it yet, what’s it available on? How do they get a hold of Selkirk TV?

Mike Barnes :
Yes. So it will be available on Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, iPhone, iOS apps, Tablets, and Android apps as well. So the way the system’s designed, you’re able to download it on your Apple TV or your smart TV, and also on your mobile phone. And it’ll sync the content you’re watching, your favorites and you can engage whether it’s on your phone or on your TV.

Morgan Evans:
Sweet, nice. All right. Well, I’m excited. By the time this airs it’ll be out. I’ll be probably watching it while I’m listening to this podcast.

Mike Barnes :
Right, yeah. You can listen to this podcast right on Selkirk TV.

Morgan Evans:
Beautiful. Well, Mr. Mike Barnes, I got to say, I love having you and your brother on, not just because… Well, you’re decent humans for sure but you always say, great question. It doesn’t matter what I ask. It usually comes, a great question and I think it just makes me feel better about the questions I’m asking. Because I don’t know if they’re all great, but hopefully at least three or four were interesting.

Mike Barnes :
Hey, well you’re one that said great question too. Those were the good ones.

Morgan Evans:
Those are the good way, everything else was… I’m not sure about that one. All right, mate. Well, thank you so much for your time. Appreciate you coming on the show and telling us about this new venture. Selkirk TV, get it while it’s hot.

Mike Barnes :
Thank you, Morgan.

Morgan Evans:
Pleasure, thanks mate. Take care. This podcast was powered by Selkirk. This podcast is also brought to you by the next generation of Selkirk paddle, the Vanguard. Well, that’s all we’ve got time for today folks. I hope you’ve enjoyed our time together. As always I’m Morgan Evans and this has been pretty much, pickleball. No, wait, More or Less Pickleball, that’s it. Yep. Got it.