EP 42 Transcript

Mark:   Hey there! It’s Mark Renneson, and today I’m recording this podcast on June 30, 2020. And why am I telling you this? I don’t normally tell you this at the beginning of the show. That’s because just yesterday, June 29, 2020, an announcement went out. It was made public that in fact, the 2020 USA Pickleball National Championships have been canceled for this year. I wouldn’t say a lot of surprise about that but a lot of disappointment for sure. And what I did, was I sent an email to Karen Parrish. She is the chairperson of the USA Pickleball National Championships. She is also the USAPA’s managing director of competition. So I sent an email to Karen and said, “Hey, people have questions. I have questions. Do you want to hop on the phone with me?”

And she said, “No problem, Mark. Let’s do it.”

So, coming up is my conversation about why the USAPA canceled the 2020 National Championships and what means for you as a Pickleball player.

Why the “Decision” Was Made [1:15]

[Phone ringing…]

Karen:  Hello?

Mark:   Okay, yeah, we’re good. Thanks!

Karen:  Okay!

Mark:   I really appreciate you getting on the call so quickly. It was just yesterday – so today is Tuesday – it was just yesterday afternoon that we saw publicly, it was announced, the decision to cancel the 2020 USA Pickleball National Championships. I want to start with asking you – I think I know what the answer is – why was this decision made?

Karen:  You know, it’s because of the uncertainty of what the future holds, right? So we look at everything, and it’s for the health and safety of everybody; the players, the fans, staffs, sponsors, everybody that would be there. What we hear is there is a second wave coming. When is that coming? How big is it going to be? There are just too many uncertainties. And with the plans that people have to make; travel plans, the cost of flying, getting a car, finding a place to stay, and then if we have to cancel at the last minute that would just be devastating. And we did not want to put anybody in that position. So we made the hard decision that we needed to postpone until next year.

Mark:   Right. California, of course, Is considered one of the emerging hotspots for COVID-19. I guess one of my questions is to what extent this is a USAPA decision and to what extent was the team on the ground at Indian Wells that helps to put on that even. Who was at the table when it came to these discussions and how the decision got made?

Karen:  Sure. We were both at the table. We’ve been working with the Indian Wells team since day one. From the time setting up the tournament, from bracketing to all of the important decisions, and this just happened to be one of them. So we’ve been on the phones, on calls and video conferences with the team at Indian Wells trying to see what could be done, what couldn’t be done. So it wasn’t necessarily that it was their decision or our decision, it was a team decision because we work together as a team. It was a hard decision but one that was necessary.

Mark:   Right. And of course, the major tennis event that was scheduled to be at Indian Wells. It uses the same venue where the Nationals are. That event, of course, was cancelled earlier this year. So I’m wondering because some people say, “Okay, but wait a second? We’re not even in July yet and this tournament isn’t scheduled to happen until the beginning of November.”

Why not wait another month or two to kind of see how things can pan out? Why was the decision made several months in advance rather than waiting a little bit further into the summer?

Karen:  Preregistration starts July 15, so once we get into that, then we’re hot and heavy into using the tournament software, sending out our emails, people are making plans. Again, they’re at the point where they’re like, “Okay, this is going to happen. I got my preregistration ticket. I’m good to go. I need to make my airline flights and others.”

That’s why we made the decision as far in advance that. And again, following the pandemic and what we’re hearing is there is going to be a second wave coming. And when does that second wave come? I live in Florida and they’ve literally just shut things down – not everything but some things down for another 30 days. So we were told that for a while once the summertime got here, it’s going to be hot and it was going to kill off the virus. We know that didn’t happen and now they’re saying a second wave is coming. When is that going to happen? So we couldn’t risk that. Hindsight 2020, it is what it is and we’re already working towards next year.

Mark:   Right. And so, just sort of prioritizing the health and safety of everyone and sort of hedging on the side of being more safe rather than less. And it’s true, imagine how frustrating it would be. the Nationals is an event that thousands of people, over the course of the tournament, come down to the venue and those are people who are spending money on cars and hotels and plains and airfare and all that. So I guess that’s the reason is to get out in front before those final decisions are made on top of the fact that preregistration would happen mid-July.

Karen:  Correct.

Mark:   You’re listening to my conversation with the USAPA’s Karen Parrish about the decision to cancel the 2020 USA Pickleball Nationals.

In a moment, we’re going to come back and talk to her about what does it mean for people who might have qualified for this year’s Nationals. And what do people have to do from now until next year to be able to qualify for those ones. Stay tuned!

Sponsor: Pickleball Coaching International

Golden Ticket [7:17]

Mark:   Speaking of registrations, one of the reasons I wanted to be able to chat with you is to ask some of the questions I see people online asking and try to answer some of those for them. So one of the questions, one of the real concerns for a lot of people has to do with people who had qualified for Nationals. That’s so-called “Golden Ticket” either because of how they did at previous Nationals or if they met the criteria through medaling at certain tournaments throughout the year. So one of the things people ask me is, “Hey if I earned that preregistration, if I have a Golden Ticket for the 2020 USA Pickleball National Championships, what does that mean for 2021? Is it still good for next year?”

Karen:  Right! So all of this information is included not only on our website but through the member email that went out to everybody. And I know a lot of people would rather just hear it as opposed to read it, but in case you need that information, it is posted, so it’s there in the USAPA website.

But your preregistration, your Golden Ticket comes from our regional championships, which our regional directors do an amazing job of putting together these championships that get people this opportunity. Unfortunately, we were not able to hold all of our regional championships. And through the regionals, we had I believe it was 876 Golden Tickets that would have qualified them for the 2020 Nationals. So with that, we had decided to not take that away. We are going to let them keep their Golden Ticket for the 2021 National Championships, but they will need to participate in a National qualifying tournament between July 15 of this year and July 15 of next year.

Again, those qualifying tournaments are your regional tournaments, and then we also have a list on our website of what national qualifiers are out there. I believe there are two right now that have applied for sanctioning and we’ll have more come on board as the year goes on. But you can keep your Golden Ticket and use that as long as you participate in another national qualifying tournament between July 15 and July 15 of next year.

Mark:   Okay, so people who had earned their right to be in the Nationals this year because of how they did previously, that’s going to carry over to the next year so long as they play one of the qualifying tournaments, and they’ve got a year to do so. I guess one of the questions then would be – I think you said 800 and some Golden Tickets?

Karen:  Yes.

Mark:   Let’s round it up to 1,000 Golden Tickets. Then over the course of that next year, from July 15, 2020 to July 15, 2021, will there still be Golden Tickets given out based on results from those qualifying events? And does that mean that you’ll have possibly twice as many people with that direct entry to the Nationals?

Karen:  We will be giving out Golden Tickets from our regional tournaments again that take place from July 15 of this year to July 15 of next year. So we anticipate close to 1,800 people to maybe 2,000 that would have those Golden Tickets. Keep in mind that some of these people, they would have already received their Golden Ticket one and if they win again, they’re not going to get two. So some of these people are top in their class, top in their skill level, and they very well may win that gold medal again. But you do only get one Golden Ticket.

Mark:   Right, right. So just because there are 2,000 Golden Tickets given out based on tournaments doesn’t mean that there are 2,000 people who will get those direct entry because the fact that they’re winning might mean that they win in multiple events. But I guess one of the questions our audience might be wondering is, “Well wait a second? If more direct entries happen, more of these Golden Tickets, then what does that mean for the chances of the regular player who doesn’t win a medal, who plays the qualifying events but doesn’t win a medal at them?” Is that going to then hurt their chances for being able to get into the even next year?

Karen:  No, we’ll still have the open lottery registration on August 1. So even though you don’t win a medal, we’ll still have open lottery registrations. They’ll still have an opportunity to go through the lottery.

Mark:   And will there be as many spots available for that lottery as there would have been this year? Or does that now get reduced because you now have more direct entry participants?

Karen:  It may be reduced but again, that’s going to depend on how many people have won that gold medal more than once, right? But yes, that’s a very strong possibility that it could be reduced. So instead of giving out 400 open lottery registrations, maybe it’s only 300. We’ll have to wait and see once people come through these regional tournaments and these qualifiers.

Mark:   Right. And I guess a follow-up that people might have, and I don’t mean to put you on the spot because I’m sort of one major concern at a time, but is there consideration given to expanding the size of the draws, the size of the brackets and the tournament either to accommodate the general interest because we know how many people love this tournament but also kind of the specific situation where you sort of get this backlog now a little bit because of this first year is canceled. Is there any thought to expanding how many people could participate in the event?

Karen:  Absolutely! We’ve got a lot of things that we’re working on right now towards next year. We have a year and a half to basically work on those – or a year, I guess you could say – with preregistration opportunities and stuff. But yes, we are looking at all kinds of scenarios on different ways that we can accommodate all of the players that want to participate in the National Championships.

Mark:   Okay, so people would want to stay tuned to that. We’ll make sure that we include the link to the USAPA website and specifically to where they can get information about this so they can follow along as well.

The Consequences [13:51]

Mark:   I was wondering in a more general sense, for the USAPA as a whole, what are the consequences of having to cancel this tournament? Is there a significant financial hit to the organization? If so, what does that mean for the USAPA as a body, but then also the kinds of programs and kinds of events and kinds of plans that the USAPA has?

Karen:  Sure! It is a financial hit too. Not only the USAPA but to Indian Well. As you know, they lost the BNP and they lost the National Championships due to this COVID pandemic so yes, there is some financial concerns with that.

But I see every day, we have sanctioning applications that continue to come in for late summer, fall. Even next year, people are already setting up their sanctioning tournaments because they’re ready to get back out there and play. And with sanctioning, you must be a member with the USAPA in order to play in a sanctioned tournament. So we’re continuing to see people not necessarily just join the USAPA to play in a sanctioned tournament, but to support the national governing body and all that we do and bring to Pickleball in general. So we’re continuing to grow every day even that we’ve had to cancel our National Tournament.

Mark:   So if I – and you may correct me if I’m wrong – so I believe when it was announced a couple of years ago that the Nationals were moving from Paso Grande, Arizona to Indian Wells, California, I believe it was announced that it was a five-year contract signed with Indian Wells. The question that we had from someone on Instagram asked us if the fact that this tournament is not happening this year in 2020, is that counting as one of the years for the contract? Or is that year being carrier over to the contract as it was before?

Karen:  That’s something that we’re working on right now with Indian Wells in regards to the contact. I can’t answer that question today considering we just put out yesterday. So we’ll just have to stay tuned when it comes to that. But yes, we’re in talks with Indian Wells in regards to that.

But if you think about it, it is the premier event at the state of the art location. It’s a beautiful venue. We would love to be there forever. They do an amazing job with their staff and volunteers and working with USA Pickleball. And we’ve enjoyed being there and would like to continue to be there for as long as we can.

Mark:   Yeah, and I think judging from the anecdotal feedback I got from people last year, was that what a treat it was to be there. And I think that’s part of the disappointment so many people have. It’s not just not being able to compete this year, not having the chance to win a national medal or whatever, but also for those who were there last year; either as competitors or as participants, even volunteers, it was such a great environment, a great experience. It felt like there was sort of momentum building into this year. And then like so many things because of COVID-19, all of a sudden the breaks get put on it. I think in large part, it’s the disappointment of not being able to go to the event as much as it is that sort of lack of Pickleball that’s going to happen.

Karen:  That’s very true. I mean, what this event brings from – we’ll just say a spectator view that someone who’s never played Pickleball, never heard of Pickleball, didn’t know what it was, and stepped through this gate, they were overwhelmed, amazed and addicted all in one. From all of the sponsors that we had there that were so willing to talk to our fans and our spectators and work with them, our staff, the players who were there with their boots on the ground talking to people, it’s just an amazing environment to be in, and that’s why Pickleball is so addictive. I love it and that’s why everybody else does too. We’re such a social sport. You don’t find that in a lot of other sports. I come from competitive softball and women’s baseball, and it’s very different. I mean the competition level is very high and you’re part of a team which is great and I loved it. But there is nothing like Pickleball. It’s like a family that you want to take home with you even though you just got beat maybe 11 – 5, 11 – 5, then you want to go hang out with them later because that’s just the way it is.

Mark:   Right, yeah it is social and so much socializing goes on at that event, both during the tournament and like even in the evening after the courts open up in the open play.

You’re listening to my exclusive interview with Karen Parrish from the USAPA. And in just a minute, we’re going to talk to her about next year’s Nationals, the 2021 Nationals, and why they might conflict with another major Pickleball tournament.

Sponsor: Jigsaw Health

Sponsor: Selkirk Sport

Conflict with 2021 Nationals [20:36]

Mark:   We had a question from some who said, “Hey the future date that’s posted on the USAPA website is for November 6 to 13, 2021.”

And, someone noticed that that overlaps with the National Senior Games which are scheduled to be November 5 to 18.

Karen:  That’s right.

Mark:   And there was some concern there about this overlap that that might make people choose one or another. Can you say something about the decision on the date?

Karen:  Yes!

Mark:   And is there a conflict with the National Senior Games?

Karen:  Well, the situation with Nationals – our Nationals has always been the first week of November since I’ve been involved. This year it was October 31. Next year, we wanted to go on October 30. But we decided to stick with the November 6 to 13. The National Senior Games, as you know, changed their dates because they’re going to be, I believe, in South Florida. And the time that they would have normally had their tournament would have been during the summer which where it was hot and it would have been raining. So they decided to move their date to the first week of November. That’s when we always have our National Tournaments. It is a tough decision to make and we would love for people to be able to participate in both but we’ve always been around the first week of November and that’s why we stuck with this date.

Mark:   And you’re right, they are scheduled to take place in Fort Lauderdale next year, so I guess that’s a decision players will have to make for themselves. It’s tough, I mean this is one of the things I’m sure you deal with all the time, the challenge of as there are more and more Pickleball events happening. You can’t always find an open slot where it doesn’t conflict with anything.

Karen:  Yeah, that’s very true. The only thing we can hope for is maybe the National Senior Games will come in and say, “You know what, we’re going to change our Pickleball dates towards the end of the National Senior Games.” That way, they can compete at Nationals the first week, then fly to Florida and compete in the National Senior Games.

Mark:   That would be quite something!

Onward to 2021 [22:54]

Mark:   I really appreciate your time. My last question is actually kind of a personal question. I know as someone who, yes you are a senior member of the team at the USAPA and you’re the chairperson of this event, I’m wondering what this has meant for you personally in your capacity as a USAPA official? What does this mean to have to navigate all of this? Will the tournament run? Will it not run? And to make the decision to eventually pull the plug on 2020. I’m wondering if you could say something about what’s that has meant for you personally?

Karen:  Sure. It’s been a roller coaster for me personally, because we put in a lot of work and a lot of time behind the scenes that a lot of people don’t understand. But I will say this, when it comes to throwing in an event like this, you cannot do it without a team. And I have the most unbelievable team that would have been working at Nationals this year.

I’m going to go ahead and give a shout out to them! So my tournament team which is Donn Paben and Terry Carter. I have Melissa McCurley with PT.com. Of course, our executive director, Justin Maloof and George Bauernfeind, our marketing director. Mark Peifer is our director of officiating. George McCauley who would have been running the referees. Yourself who would have been in the booth there. And then you can’t say enough about the Indian Wells team.

Although it may have been very, very hard on me personally because you put a lot of time and effort in, it affects everybody who’s a part of this team. And once you make that hard decision, you sit back for about 24 hours, you take your lump, and then you get the next morning like I did this morning, went and got my large cup of coffee and we’re already working towards next year. I will say it was funny, I walked out this morning and I had 15 boxes sitting on my front doorstep of our 2021 USA Pickleball National Indoor Championship medals waiting for me. So that just told me that it’s time to get up and go and start planning for next year, and I’m super excited to do that with a great team.

Mark:   I wish you good luck getting everything ready for what can be salvaged from 2020 and going forward into 2021. Karen Parrish, thank you so much for joining me today on Pickleball Problems.

Karen:  Thank you so much, Mark, for all that you do. I appreciate it! And again, if anybody has any questions or whatever, they’re more than welcome to reach out to me and I’m happy to help.

Mark:   Alright! We’ll link to that. Thanks again! Enjoy the rest of your day!

Karen:  Alright! Bye, Mark!

Mark:   Okay, take care!

Conclusion [25:39]

Mark:   And we’ll leave it there. Thanks so much for listening to the show this week. And thanks to Karen Parrish for joining us to talk about the Nationals and their decision to cancel it. It’s a sad day for us in the Pickleball world, for those of us who either play in the tournament or spectate at the tournament or people like myself who work at the tournament. All of a sudden, that work is not happening.

And speaking of work, if you like this podcast, you can help to support it or any of the other work I do at Third Shot Sports. Head over the thirdshotsports.com/support, and you can find a way to kick in $5 a month. Pretend you’re buying me a beer once a month for all the work that we do. Anyway, if you want to do that, that’s great. If not, just keep listening, keep enjoying. See you next time!