There is just seemingly no easy way to get to Naples, Florida.  Wish we could’ve just hopped on Southwest Airlines, as we do for many tournaments, and landed at the US Open with all our gear and Pickleball Rocks inventory of shirts and hats in hand.

So, as we do for most east-of-the-Mississippi tournaments, we loaded up the Pickleball Rocks mobile (our Chevy Suburban) and made the 17 hour drive to Naples. An easy drive, but still 17 hours on the road. And there was absolutely zero back up in Atlanta.  Everyone had us scared silly with the horror stories of backups on I-75. Not this time.  Sailed right through.

And really glad we’re here.  What a great looking event.

One of the first things I noticed, wasn’t what most people likely noticed.  I noticed as we approached the entrance to East Naples Park that the road was lined with large beautiful American flags.  You could tell that someone or some organization had taken great pride in welcoming people from all over the United States and many countries with a heavy dose of American pride.  I absolutely loved that greeting.  After all, this is the United States Open Pickleball Championship.  (We’ll do the International Championships in September in Spain.)

Of course the first thing you notice after you are in the park is the great addition to center court, a huge permanent dome-shaped shade structure that now protects the center court players from the hot Florida sun.

Today, was practice day and Party in the Park day.  Not all vendors were set up, but we were.  We try to be ready anytime a player might be in the area. 🙂   We worked a little on our setup and staked our tent down and did a little wind proofing since it sounds like the forecast has some substantial winds coming in the next couple of days.

Soon the crowd starting coming by.  Always great seeing Cookie Drake and Gigi LeMaster.  They have been big supporters of the Pickleball Rocks family for many years and we love them both.

Interesting to find that players were already checking inside their player swag bags and they were already showing up at our booth with their Pickleball Rocks $5 coupons and to pick up their FREE car magnets.

So if you are at the Open, make sure you use your coupon. Nothing beats FREE!

The highlight of my day though was getting some great on-court practice games.  Zack agreed to watch the PB Rocks booth while I got my practice in.  I’m entered in 2 events this week, so should be ready.  Hopefully Dave Kovanda has some big shoulders. 🙂

If you are at the Open this week, I hope you’ll stop by the booth (across from the First Aid station) and say hi.  Gonna be great seeing old friends and making new ones.

Should be a fun week.  – Rocket

Stay tuned to the Pickleball Rocks blog for updates throughout the week.
Have a great week everybody!