February 13, 2025 • 32 mins
What does it take to own and operate a thriving racquet club in today’s market? In this episode of Racquet Fuel, hosts Kim Bastable and Simon Gale sit down with Elliott McDermed, co-owner of Overland Park Racquet Club, to dive deep into the journey from teaching pro to club owner.
Elliott shares the realities of club ownership - what he and his business partner Eric Rand expected, what surprised them, and how they’ve evolved their roles over the last decade. From revitalizing an aging facility to navigating staffing, financial challenges, and industry trends, this conversation is a must-listen for any aspiring club owner or racquets professional looking to take the next step in their career.
By the end of this episode, you'll learn:
✅ What it takes to transition from coaching or managing programs to full-scale club ownership—and why passion, not just profit, drives long-term success
✅ The behind-the-scenes realities of club ownership, including financial surprises, leadership dynamics, and the challenge of balancing work-life commitments
✅ Proven strategies for retaining top coaching talent in an industry where turnover is high, and why a strong staff culture matters
✅ How successful club owners approach renovations, facility upgrades, and program shifts to create a modern, financially sustainable business
✅ Why racquet sports are evolving beyond traditional tennis, and how clubs are integrating emerging sports like Padel and Pickleball
✅ The biggest lessons learned from experienced club owners—including why hard work, trust, and adaptability are essential for success
Thinking about club ownership? Elliott offers valuable advice for those considering the leap. If you’re on the path to leading a club, this episode provides real insights from an owner who's lived it.
Looking to become a more confident, competent, and clear business leader with a lifelong career in the industry? Become a Certified Director of Racquet Sports. Visit our website to learn more!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome to Racquet Fuel, where we launch into great
conversations and share powerfultools to help you become a
stronger rackets leader. Yourhosts are Kim Bastable, a former
all American tennis player, andnow the director of professional
rackets management at theUniversity of Florida, and Simon
Gale, the USTA senior directorof racket sports development.
Today on racket fuel, going fromacademy directors to purchasing
(00:27):
a twenty five year old club, thechallenges and joys of being
owners. Here's Givin Simon.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Welcome to Racket Fuel. I am very excited today.
This is a subject matter thatkind of goes way back into my
childhood. We're gonna interviewElliot McDermott, who's the
owner of Overland Park RacquetClub, and I just that's the club
I one of the clubs I grew upplaying at in Overland Park,
Kansas and was there on probablyday one back in 1978, and it's
(00:55):
just really sentimental to me.Fortunately, Eric is not that
old.
He is the second owner of theclub. He and, his buddy Eric
ran. And so we get to hear alittle bit about their decision
to buy this club and and thepathway. So welcome, Elliot.
We're excited to have you onRocketFuel.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Thanks for having me, Kim.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Alright. Simon, we're gonna have fun with this one. I
guess I'll get started. OverlandPark is a premier club, so I
know you know Elliot well. Let'sget get your intro on this.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
Yeah. I think this is interesting because there's not
many of us who have gone throughthe teaching pro leader owner
pathway. So I think Elliott'sinsight into that journey and
the trials and tribulations ofbeing an owner, is interesting.
Think in the past, some of thoseepisodes around ownership have
have been really popular. So I'mlooking forward to that insight.
(01:43):
And, yes, being a USDA premierfacility is a badge of honor for
Elliot and and Eric in theOverland Park Racquet Club. So
that's how I've I've met Elliottover the last couple of years.
So thrilled to have him ontoday.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Alright. So, Elliott, let's let's kinda start out. We
know how tell us a little bit.We know we could go back for a
while, but you and and Eric haveknown each other a while. But
how did you two get together?
And then how did you cometogether in the idea of
purchasing a a club?
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Well, we were actually teaching tennis
together here at the OverlandPark Racquet Club back, it had
one owner since 1978, a a guy inSaint Louis, and he owned
another club and had some otherbusinesses. And and Eric and I
were just teaching tennis andand working with juniors and,
you know, kind of that thattypical pathway when, you know,
(02:34):
we decided at one point in02/2008 to go out on our own and
start what was essentially justa tennis academy business that,
you know, specialized in helpingkids that wanted to play college
tennis. So, you know, that'skinda how the the journey began,
as we had to bounce arounddifferent places in Kansas City,
(02:58):
leasing court space from, youknow, variety of private and
public clubs. And, you know,we've got pretty serious winter
in Kansas City, so findingindoor space was always a
challenge. And working withgeneral managers or owners of
these clubs and, you know,coming in with 40 kids and and a
staff of coaches to kinda takeover a a bubble or a a wing of
(03:22):
the club for five or six monthsand then look, well, what are we
gonna do outdoors for the nextsix months.
And so so that that went on, andand and we were able to make it
work up until about 02/2012 whenluckily, we had a student, a
couple of students, and and oneof which one of the parents was
(03:44):
a, you know, successful businessguy and he started to mentor us.
And and and that led us to startthinking, well, how do we go
from being at the mercy of theseother clubs and facilities that
are really, you know, once we'reone step away from not having a
place to run this Tennis Academybusiness? And that's when our
(04:04):
search for a club of our ownbegan. At which point, you know,
there's some luck, there's somegreat timing, there's meeting
the right people and keepingyour eyes and ears open, and the
opportunity came up with thisowner at Overland Park Racquet
Club. He was older.
The facility was running down,and it was just it was the right
(04:27):
time for everybody, and we wereable to purchase the club in
2014.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Yeah. And just for some context, it's a 14 court
indoor club, and it had did ithave six active outdoor courts
at that time? I know some ofthem were in disrepair.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
I think it had eight.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
It had eight. And then now you've you've changed
it. Tell us what what it lookslike today.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
So like I said, it was pretty rundown, which, you
know, are pretty typical for theclubs these days that were built
in that boom of the lateseventies, early eighties where
tennis is a great game. It's agreat sport, and it's not always
as profitable of a business aspeople might think, especially
when you're dealing withoverhead costs of indoors. And
(05:12):
so I think a lot of these clubowners that, you know, have done
the best they could, but alsokinda milked things to the point
where you look at what it takesto to rehab a club and you go,
oh, man. This is gonna be reallytough. And so, you know, we we
just we came in and said, okay.
Well, we're gonna breathe newlife into it, and that involves
everything from skinning a newroof to put in LED lighting,
(05:36):
ceiling. We just knocked downevery wall in the clubhouse
area, just went right down tothe bones of it and reconfigured
layout, the viewing. And once wewere done with that, we moved
downstairs, and we blew out thelocker rooms, built a very nice
fitness facility, and then wentout back, like you said, to the
(05:58):
eight outdoor courts. And whatwe did is we moved a lot of
ground around and got rid of anold pool that nobody was using,
revamped four of our better hardcourts, and then took away, a
couple others and were able tobuild kind of a stadium clay
court and then a bank of threeclay courts. And mainly, we did
(06:18):
that because in Kansas City,there was really no place that
was accessible for people toplay on Hartree, and we thought
that that was a really importantaddition.
So once we are done with that,that pretty much completed the
the purchase and the renovation,which took us about three years.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
So one of the challenges with with being
partners in an ownership of afacility like that is defining
your guys' roles. So if there'stwo of you, you know, what is as
I understand it, Eric is theideas guy and kind of face of
the company. And how do youbalance each other out, and how
would you define your two rolesto make that work so you're not
on top of each other all thetime?
Speaker 3 (06:56):
It's kind of a funny question because he he teases me
that that I'm the face and andhe's the brains. So now that's
not at all entirely true, butbut we like to jab each other.
And and I would say, yeah, Ericis is a really creative side of
this. It is more where he willcome up with an idea, we'll
(07:17):
bounce it around, and then I'llusually then being kind of the
more black and white minded guy,will then put pen to paper and
and get the job done and figureout how to make that idea become
a reality. I mean, the the club,frankly, the purchase of the
club was or it did start withEric.
You know? Eric is a really goodpeople person. He's great at at
(07:39):
meeting and starting small talk.And and so so a lot of a lot of
these conversations, you know,started with him just, you know,
getting to know different peopleand and and coming to me and
saying, hey. You know, I thinkwe have an opportunity with a
couple of guys.
We might be able to putsomething together and and buy a
club. And I and I rolled my eyesand said, yeah. You know? I I
(08:00):
don't know about that, Eric. Butbut I went along for the ride,
and, and and sure enough, Imean, you know, we we got the
job done.
But the other reason thepartnership works, and it's a
fifty fifty partnership, andwe've never really had any
issues. And I think the reasonis is because the two of us
really trust each other. And sothat's very, very rare. We
(08:24):
understand that that's rare. Andmy strengths are his weaknesses
and vice versa.
And so we understand that aswell. And so there's no ego
involved in it, and we're alsonot worried that that one of us
is, you know, in the backgrounddoing something that the other
doesn't know about or, you know,or is selfish on on his side or
(08:45):
whatnot. So so, yeah, that toanswer your question, Simon, I
think I think there's there'sthe it's the rare opportunity
that, strength and weaknessesmatched up and also the fact
that we could admit to havingour own weaknesses and
identifying each other'sstrengths and working together
to to do that.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
That's that's excellent partnership. That's a
good that's a that's, I think,unique. So, kudos to you guys.
Okay. So how has the TennisAcademy evolved through this?
Are you still having a TennisAcademy? What's how big an
emphasis, how much on court areyou?
Speaker 3 (09:20):
I'm still spending about thirty to thirty five
hours a week on the court, andEric does about the the same.
And the reason why we do that isa couple of things. You know?
The Tennis Academy has alwayskinda been our baby, and, and
it's also an integral part tothis club from a financial
standpoint. I think there's someclout in our section of the
(09:43):
reputation of the tennisacademy, and we've tried at
times to allow some otherexperienced good pros, good
coaches kinda take over thatrole of running of running the
college prep side of the tennisacademy, and and it just has
never worked.
And and it's evolved now. Youknow? So so we've been owners of
(10:04):
the club for ten years. It's nowevolved to where I think we're
still involved on court andworking with these kids closely.
I'm actually leaving thisafternoon still for a national
tournament with a kid.
I still like doing that. I don'thave to do that, but I think
that is where our passion lies.And so we've gotten the club
(10:25):
operation to the point where wecan focus on the side of it that
we really like to do. So I thinkfor a long time, you know, when
you're in this business andyou're grinding and you're
teaching a lot, you're thinkinglike, oh, man. I can't wait to
get off the court and, you know,I'd just rather be a director
and, you know, this and that.
And and we've come full circlewhere we thought that's what we
wanted. But in the end, what wereally wanted was to make an
(10:49):
impact on these kids and and andtheir pathway, and and we're
passionate about that. And so sowe just continue to coach
tennis, and we like it. Andwe've got a great staff that
allows us really to do thatagain.
Speaker 4 (11:02):
We could unpack that for a couple of days, I think,
because that's fascinating tome. I don't want you to answer
this question, but my firstthought is when do you have any
time to create a vision andstrategically plan and so on if
you're on the court, thirty fivehours and all that goes with
that. So that would befascinating on a separate a
separate probably, interview. Myquestion within that is you
(11:23):
mentioned that you had tried toempower others to grow into
these roles so that you couldmaybe teach less and so on. It
just hasn't worked out.
If you reflect on that a littlebit now, is there something you
would have done different? Areyou clearer on what that would
look like if you did it again?Like, long term, it sounds like
maybe this is your strategy thatyou guys will continue to be on
(11:43):
court heavily, but where's thegrowth for somebody below you
guys to be able to move upwithin your pathway? So there's
a lot of questions within that,but I think the question is, how
do you empower your staff tomove up if you guys are in the
owner and basically director oftennis roles?
Speaker 3 (11:59):
Yeah. Simon, it's it's interesting because, for
whatever reason, I think thatthis particular side of the
business is more difficult tomanage than what most people
think. And and I base that onthe fact that if the kind of the
high performance tennis academyside of the business were were
(12:22):
easier, there would be a lotmore competition in in that
area. And and now that I've donethis for twenty five years, I've
just seen a lot of three to fiveyear businesses come and go
because of a whole number of ofreasons. Right?
I mean, it's exhausting. It'sit's competitive, and it's
(12:42):
difficult to manage. It's veryeasy to go down a road of
pandering to a parent who is thesqueaky wheel, and you make
decisions, and then thataffects, a huge percentage of
your business that doesn't likethe decision you made. And you
you made that decision for thewrong reason. And so, you know,
there are things like that thatcome up.
(13:03):
Right? And and so I I guess whatwe were able to do in the we're
ten years in, like I said. Inthe first five years, we spent a
lot of time kind of ignoring theTennis Academy side of it in
order to get the rest of thebusiness to look the way that we
wanted it to look. And and Ithink this is this is probably
(13:23):
the most interesting part ofwhat we've done, and that is
that a lot of tennis coacheslook at where they work and they
bounce around and they go, oh,man. If it you know, if I have
my own club, I do this or I dothat.
And and this guy does know whathe's doing and, you know, and
these guys are screwing me andwhatever. And and for us to have
the opportunity to shape thisclub for our members, for for
(13:48):
the staff, and to be able to doit from the side of of that of
that tennis pro looking in andsay, okay. We still teach tennis
every day with this whole staff.We've got 15 full time pros, and
we're still doing it out therewith these guys and and and
girls every day. We need toshape this club the way that's
(14:09):
best for all of them, you know,not just for us as owners.
And I think that's a problem inour industry is that most of the
owners really can't step intoour shoes and relate to what the
people are doing every day onthe court. And so we were able
to do that. So five years in, itit took five years. I mean,
maybe it took seven years. Imean, I really only feel like
(14:32):
the last couple of years whereI've been able to breathe and
not worry about the club openingevery day, the club closing
every day, the the management ofof how you make members happy,
scheduling of the staff,everything, you know, that the
managers and owners have to gothrough.
It took a long time to get tothat point. And so that's the
(14:52):
unique part, I guess.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Yeah. That's that's insightful. And it's interesting
that, you know, what you sayfive to seven years. And I've
I've watched that to a certainextent. I mean, I live in Kansas
City most of my life.
You know, I've seen that clubevolve. More than anything, seen
you and Eric evolve as leadersfrom a little bit more of that
frenetic entrepreneur, like, ohmy gosh. What I get myself into?
Speaker 3 (15:15):
Sure.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
To a a calm sense of we got this. And we've not
cracked it because I don't haveyou have no arrogance about you.
You have a a confidence yet a adesire. Like, you're you guys
are just workers. You guys arejust, like, you're there all the
time.
You're you're very, verypresent. But I guess that
obviously, Simon and I are bigon the, work life balance type
(15:37):
bandwagon. So how has thatevolved for both yourself and
your staff? Like, do you promotethe five day work week? How do
you how do you measure balancein your world?
Speaker 3 (15:49):
Yeah. I I think the balance has finally arrived for
me especially, and I'm 50 yearsold. And so, you know, it it
took a long time. And I thinkthat's an important key for
anybody that's listening thatdoes want to end up maybe being
in the in in this sort of arole, and that is that, you
(16:09):
know, it takes a long time tobecome an expert at something.
And, ultimately, the only way tosurvive all the mistakes that we
have made is through the workethic side because failing at
this business was was not anoption.
And so we had to make it work.And so so the way that I feel
(16:29):
now, yeah, I would agree withyou. I I I think there was that
that early on kinda, like, youknow, running around with, like,
a chicken with your head cutoff, trying to, you know, put
out fires and make sure that,you know, you weren't gonna sink
this giant ship. And so we justdecided even from the days of
02/2008 and starting this kindof rogue tennis academy was we
(16:50):
just need to make sure that weoutwork everybody. And and so I
think that's an importantmessage.
Speaker 4 (16:55):
That's for you guys as owners, and I can relate to
that. As a managing partner of aclub, I swept the courts at five
in the morning, changed thelight bulbs, did it all, but
phased that out over time as webecame more profitable and were
able to hire people to do thosejobs. So that's you as owners.
You have to do that because yousign the checks or need the
money in the bank account to topay payroll. What about how you
(17:17):
manage your staff and themessaging around your team on
what's expected?
Are they expected to have thesame work ethic and work seven
days a week like you guys, or isthat different once you get
below ownership?
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Yeah. I listened to some of your philosophies,
Simon, on on the the work, lifebalance and the the five day
work week and the, you know, thehours. And and I think that that
resonates a lot with Eric and Ibecause we do know what, you
know, what we've gone through.And I think the reality of it is
that the balance is somethingthat's very important that we've
(17:52):
preached to the guys. We don'tforce it, but I think most of
the staff, let's see.
If we have 15 guys, I would say12 of those 15 people find that
very important. You know, therethere are a couple old school
guys that just, you know, wannagrind a hundred hours a week,
and they've been doing that fortwenty years, and and and we
(18:13):
just let them go. Right? But,yeah, I would say most of the
staff finds that important. Theyknow that's important to us.
I live and work by example nowto where they can see that it's
important for me to have timeoff. It's important for me to
have time away from the club,and we make that possible for
them. Now I will say one thingthat they all understand has to
(18:35):
happen because of the way thebusiness works is that we're
gonna work until eight or 09:00at night a lot of the time, but
we're also not coming in untilone or 02:00 in the afternoon.
Right. Depending on which sideof the business you're really
working.
And we try to do that too. Wetry to have staff that is almost
entirely working with our adultmembers and staff that works
(18:58):
almost entirely with juniormembers. And so those shifts are
different.
Speaker 4 (19:01):
And I think that's the message, right, is there's
not one I'm big on, yes, fiveday, but it's more a philosophy
of how are we taking care ofpeople, which leads to my next
question, which is all centeredaround retention. So if we're
taking care of our staff andwhatever that is, some will say
it's I used to work seven days,now I work six. Or I've come in
at two, like you say, and I'mnot not there till 09:00 at
(19:23):
night and back at seven in themorning. It's finding that
balance that works for eachindividual with the ultimate
goal is if the industry has atwo year turnover rate of pros,
that's bad for my business. If Ican take care of my team and
increase retention, ultimately,that drives revenue more
consistently for me as well.
We know that retains customers.So what else are you doing to
(19:44):
help increase retention,especially given that we're in a
climate now where there's ashortage of pros and and a
demand for for play? What otherthings are you guys doing to try
and increase retention?
Speaker 3 (19:55):
Well, you know, I I don't know if it's luck or or or
whatnot, but other than theCOVID blip, the retention of the
staff had I mean, we have wehave majorly bucked the industry
trend on on retention. So we'redoing something right, and and
but I don't profess tonecessarily know exactly what it
(20:16):
is, to be honest with you.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
Are you paying them cash or something? I mean, what
what's the secret sauce here?How does this work, Elliot?
Speaker 3 (20:23):
So the only time that we, like I said, other than
COVID where some people just gotout of the organizational
structure and say, I I feel likeI've reached a ceiling at this
club, and I need to go somewhereelse if I want to continue to
(20:44):
climb the ladder. That's usuallythe only reason we've we've lost
people. But on the flip side,we've been able to retain some
people because we've looked atthings more creatively and
created some more upwardmobility that maybe didn't look
like it was there that we theninvented in in in some respects.
I I think another part of it isis we've also been lucky that
(21:07):
because of Eric and my influencefrom the Tennis Academy side
that, you know, the the love ofthe game, continuing to play in
college, and then deciding that,well, maybe I wanna stay in this
tennis business, and and I thinkI wanna come back and work for
these guys who were my coaches.We've been lucky to have staff
like that.
And these guys come back in, andthey already know what we're
(21:28):
looking for. You know, it'salmost like a built in training
ground where we don't have toreteach a bunch of the
philosophies because theyalready know we're all on the
same page. And those guys andand and girls have have stayed
here because they they like thesystem.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
That's great. I mean, that's what Simon and I have had
the comment about the idea ofhaving you know, at every club,
you sort of have your own juniorpipeline that you could make
your future staff. And beingmaybe intentional about
literally talking to them aboutcareers rather than taking the
chance of them just randomlycoming back. So that's
excellent. I'm glad to hearthat.
Let's just jump to the subjectof the, pickleball padel life
(22:07):
outside of tennis. How hasOverland Park Racquet Club
responded when you when youbought the club? There was none
of that, and that's been sinceyou bought the club. So how have
you responded to those,alternative complimentary
sports?
Speaker 3 (22:20):
Well, we think Padel is an incredible sport as we've
played it and watched andobserved both the pickleball
world and the Paddell world andthe divide maybe that's that's
occurred between tennis andpickle. I think Paddell sits
right in the middle. It's justthis magnet of of both the the
(22:40):
pickleball appeal and the tennisappeal, which I think is gonna
create a popularity that thatwe're just maybe not even not
even sure how big that's gonnabe. The entry into Paddell is
more difficult than Picklebecause of of the cost of
building the courts out. But Ithink everybody's gonna
everyone's gonna see the valuein that that's in my business,
(23:02):
and I think that we have been sohappy with the response in
Kansas City.
I mean, it's only two courts.It's kind of a pop up and
introduction type facility, butthe guys that we partnered with
have done a phenomenal job. It'sa it's a beautiful place, and
the sport is is so fun. Now wehave some multipurpose kind of
(23:23):
pickleball courts on three ofour indoor courts. We host a few
tournaments.
We have some members that thatget out there and play. But
generally speaking, the club hasremained a tennis club and has
not seen very much demand forpickleball. Yet the moment we
put in these Padel courts, itjust caught on like wildfire.
And so if, you know, if I lookat at where I'm gonna be in ten
(23:46):
years from now, I think I'mgonna be involved a lot more in
Padell than I am gonna beinvolved in Pickle and probably
even more involved than I am intennis. I mean, I I just think
that game is fantastic, and Ithink it it's really taking off.
Speaker 4 (24:01):
Great feedback. And I think we're hearing that more
and more too. So way to embraceit and way to evolve. But I'm
just gonna give you a little bitof credit because I I didn't
count how many times you saidit, but at least half a dozen
times you used the word luck orlucky. Not a believer in that.
I think you make your own luck.You've clearly been, attentive
to a lot of things and and takensomething from 02/2014 and
(24:23):
evolved it into a successfulbusiness. So kudos to you and
and Eric, but stop being sohumble and and maybe, feel free
to brag a little bit more aboutyour achievements. So
congratulations to you guys. Butwith all this ten years, eleven
years of history, hopefully, hascome a lot of wisdom.
And I assume when you took onthe club in '14, you had
probably no gray hairs. And nowI hate to say it, but everyone
(24:46):
won't see this because it'saudio, but there's a few
sneaking into the beer there. Iwent through the same thing.
Owning a club is stressful. Whatare some of the lessons learned
along the way?
Because there's a lot ofaspiring pros who talk about
wanting to get off the court, Idon't want to teach forever, and
I want to be an owner. And maybesome of them don't stay the
(25:06):
course and go through the stagesof leading people, owning,
managing, and ending up as anowner. And you don't have to do
all those stages, but there's alot of lessons learned along the
way. What would be one or twokey takeaways from your ten,
eleven years as an owner thatyou would pass on to those
aspiring to be you?
Speaker 3 (25:23):
Well, I I appreciate you you you recognizing, the
sentiment of of luck that Ithrow in there because when I
was when I was, you know,entrepreneur just starting out,
one podcast that I love was itwas called How I Built This. I
don't know if you guys haveheard heard of that. It's
popular one where they interviewall of these, business owners,
(25:45):
many of which failed or almostfailed, right, and and then
became wildly successful at atone of their one of their
businesses. And they always askat the end of the podcast how
much of your success is due toluck and how much of it is due
to, you know, your hard work andand and those other qualities
that you have. And and I'malways so interested in the
(26:08):
answers because they were neverthe same.
And so I think that there is alittle bit of luck in what we
initially were able to createbecause because we kept our eyes
and ears open to opportunities.I think that's a big thing.
Being nonjudgmental of people,not taking sides, just trying to
(26:29):
do right by people no matterwhat. I think honesty is a
quality that maybe doesn't gettalked about, but definitely
gets observed. And I think thatI think that we have a
reputation of honesty andintegrity.
I think that helped attract someangel investors for us. The last
part of it is for whateverreason, Eric and I both think
(26:53):
the work ethic quality isparamount and that everything
that you want out of your,career needs to be earned, not
given. And so we could juststill be teaching tennis and and
bouncing around and doing that,and we would have done that.
Maybe getting to the to thepoint of, of burnout at at at
(27:13):
age 50. I don't know.
But but those things have made abig difference to put us in this
situation.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Yeah. No. That's that's good honesty and I good
honesty about your honesty. Youare honest. You have a
reputation of that for sure.
I think the challenges in frontof you, I'm guessing, you for
lack of a better term, youdidn't know what you didn't
know.
Speaker 3 (27:35):
Right.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
You know? Could you just give us maybe one example
of we had no idea we were gonnaend up having to do x, and we
had to figure it out. Is thereone of those you can share that
might inspire people to knowthat when they hit their own
roadblocks and surprises?
Speaker 3 (27:49):
Well, I I think that the big misnomer about ownership
of a club, especially a clublike this, I mean, 14 indoor
courts, four outdoor clay, twoPadell, four hard sits on eight
acres at at a great location. Imean, we have a lot going for
us. Right? The club is verybusy. We're we're actually close
to full membership where we needto start a waiting list.
(28:12):
That's something that's onlyhappened in the last year and a
half. But I and so I think fromthe outside looking in, people
would say, oh, these guys arekilling it. This club's, you
know, incredible. The parkinglot's always full, you know,
this, that, and the other. Andwhat people don't realize is
that the cost of operating aclub this size is way bigger
(28:34):
than I ever thought, and I'mjust no matter how many how many
months I look at, you know, thep and l at the end of the month,
and I and I look at and go,okay.
We generated a lot of income.Why is there almost nothing left
at the end of the month? Right?I think that that's that's
something that that has youknow, when we have gone round
(28:55):
and round on how do we cutexpenses because there's only so
much, revenue that you cangenerate. Right?
How do you cut expenses andmaybe create a better, revenue
margin for, you know, profitmargin for yourself? And it's
just very, very difficult. Andso I think you've gotta be
careful what you what you wishfor. You know, I think a lot of
people that wanna own clubs, ifthey're thinking of it from a
(29:18):
financial standpoint, need toask themselves how passionate
are they about about thisbusiness. Because I think the
real the part that I like aboutit more than trying to generate
revenue, which just doesn'treally it just doesn't really
happen.
I like being in control of mydestiny ultimately. I do I do
(29:39):
really appreciate that part ofit. I do like having the last
say. I don't mind the milliondollar millions of dollars in
debt risk that I have. Like, Idon't think about that.
It's kinda like thinking aboutlosing a tennis match. Like, I'm
not gonna worry about losing atennis match until I'm shaking
the guy's hand. So I look atrunning my business very, very
(29:59):
similar to to how I would play amatch competitively. So I don't
worry about that stuff, but I'mvery happy that I'm the one
making the final decision. Sothat that's the biggest
advantage as an owner to me.
It's not the financial gain.It's not being able to sit sit
around and watch other people doall the work for me. That's
never gonna happen, and that'snot why I do it.
Speaker 4 (30:22):
Yeah. Good people are expensive, and the owner is the
last person that gets taken careof. And you don't walk out every
Sunday night with wads of cashin your pockets and drive
Ferraris on the weekend. That'snot what that's not what
ownership is. And and I I thinkyou nailed it with the the
reasons why above and beyondmaking money.
You'd be better off putting yourmoney in the stock market and
(30:43):
just letting it sit thereprobably than from a return
point of view. But there's a lotof other reasons that are very
personal to people why ownershipis such a passion project and
why you love doing it. So reallywell said.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
Thank you, Elliot. That's that's really nice. We
appreciate it. We're we'rereally getting close on time, so
we appreciate your time and yourwisdom. And if people have
interest in in learning aboutownership, I assume you'd be a
willing teacher.
Speaker 3 (31:09):
For sure. Yeah. I'd love to talk to anybody that's,
interested in going down thisroad.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
That's great. We appreciate your time. It's
awesome to, get to know thedetails a little bit more of
that club I grew up in. So thankyou very much.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
Thanks for having me. It's fun talking about it.
Speaker 4 (31:23):
Yeah. Cheers, mate. That was that was excellent.
Thanks for your time.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
We'll see you next time on Rocket Fuel.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
That's all for today, but we're not out of fuel. You
can find more information andresources in our show notes and
by visitingracketfuelpodcast.com. If you
liked what you just heard,please subscribe and also leave
a review, which helps otherpeople join the mission to
become stronger rackets leaders.
Speaker 5 (31:58):
This podcast is a production of Athlete plus, the
people, stories, and sciencebehind elite athletes and teams.
Athlete Plus is the officialpodcast network of the Institute
for Coaching Excellence, aresearch, education, and
outreach center in the Collegeof Health and Human Performance
at the University of Florida.The Institute for Coaching
Excellence offers various onlinecertificate programs and degrees
in partnership with theDepartment of Sport Management.
(32:20):
Learn more today atcoaching.hhp.ufl.edu.
Welcome to Racquet Fuel, where we launch into great
conversations and share powerfultools to help you become a
stronger rackets leader. Yourhosts are Kim Bastable, a former
all American tennis player, andnow the director of professional
rackets management at theUniversity of Florida, and Simon
Gale, the USTA senior directorof racket sports development.
Today on racket fuel, going fromacademy directors to purchasing
(00:27):
a twenty five year old club, thechallenges and joys of being
owners. Here's Givin Simon.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Welcome to Racket Fuel. I am very excited today.
This is a subject matter thatkind of goes way back into my
childhood. We're gonna interviewElliot McDermott, who's the
owner of Overland Park RacquetClub, and I just that's the club
I one of the clubs I grew upplaying at in Overland Park,
Kansas and was there on probablyday one back in 1978, and it's
(00:55):
just really sentimental to me.Fortunately, Eric is not that
old.
He is the second owner of theclub. He and, his buddy Eric
ran. And so we get to hear alittle bit about their decision
to buy this club and and thepathway. So welcome, Elliot.
We're excited to have you onRocketFuel.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Thanks for having me, Kim.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Alright. Simon, we're gonna have fun with this one. I
guess I'll get started. OverlandPark is a premier club, so I
know you know Elliot well. Let'sget get your intro on this.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
Yeah. I think this is interesting because there's not
many of us who have gone throughthe teaching pro leader owner
pathway. So I think Elliott'sinsight into that journey and
the trials and tribulations ofbeing an owner, is interesting.
Think in the past, some of thoseepisodes around ownership have
have been really popular. So I'mlooking forward to that insight.
(01:43):
And, yes, being a USDA premierfacility is a badge of honor for
Elliot and and Eric in theOverland Park Racquet Club. So
that's how I've I've met Elliottover the last couple of years.
So thrilled to have him ontoday.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Alright. So, Elliott, let's let's kinda start out. We
know how tell us a little bit.We know we could go back for a
while, but you and and Eric haveknown each other a while. But
how did you two get together?
And then how did you cometogether in the idea of
purchasing a a club?
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Well, we were actually teaching tennis
together here at the OverlandPark Racquet Club back, it had
one owner since 1978, a a guy inSaint Louis, and he owned
another club and had some otherbusinesses. And and Eric and I
were just teaching tennis andand working with juniors and,
you know, kind of that thattypical pathway when, you know,
(02:34):
we decided at one point in02/2008 to go out on our own and
start what was essentially justa tennis academy business that,
you know, specialized in helpingkids that wanted to play college
tennis. So, you know, that'skinda how the the journey began,
as we had to bounce arounddifferent places in Kansas City,
(02:58):
leasing court space from, youknow, variety of private and
public clubs. And, you know,we've got pretty serious winter
in Kansas City, so findingindoor space was always a
challenge. And working withgeneral managers or owners of
these clubs and, you know,coming in with 40 kids and and a
staff of coaches to kinda takeover a a bubble or a a wing of
(03:22):
the club for five or six monthsand then look, well, what are we
gonna do outdoors for the nextsix months.
And so so that that went on, andand and we were able to make it
work up until about 02/2012 whenluckily, we had a student, a
couple of students, and and oneof which one of the parents was
(03:44):
a, you know, successful businessguy and he started to mentor us.
And and and that led us to startthinking, well, how do we go
from being at the mercy of theseother clubs and facilities that
are really, you know, once we'reone step away from not having a
place to run this Tennis Academybusiness? And that's when our
(04:04):
search for a club of our ownbegan. At which point, you know,
there's some luck, there's somegreat timing, there's meeting
the right people and keepingyour eyes and ears open, and the
opportunity came up with thisowner at Overland Park Racquet
Club. He was older.
The facility was running down,and it was just it was the right
(04:27):
time for everybody, and we wereable to purchase the club in
2014.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Yeah. And just for some context, it's a 14 court
indoor club, and it had did ithave six active outdoor courts
at that time? I know some ofthem were in disrepair.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
I think it had eight.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
It had eight. And then now you've you've changed
it. Tell us what what it lookslike today.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
So like I said, it was pretty rundown, which, you
know, are pretty typical for theclubs these days that were built
in that boom of the lateseventies, early eighties where
tennis is a great game. It's agreat sport, and it's not always
as profitable of a business aspeople might think, especially
when you're dealing withoverhead costs of indoors. And
(05:12):
so I think a lot of these clubowners that, you know, have done
the best they could, but alsokinda milked things to the point
where you look at what it takesto to rehab a club and you go,
oh, man. This is gonna be reallytough. And so, you know, we we
just we came in and said, okay.
Well, we're gonna breathe newlife into it, and that involves
everything from skinning a newroof to put in LED lighting,
(05:36):
ceiling. We just knocked downevery wall in the clubhouse
area, just went right down tothe bones of it and reconfigured
layout, the viewing. And once wewere done with that, we moved
downstairs, and we blew out thelocker rooms, built a very nice
fitness facility, and then wentout back, like you said, to the
(05:58):
eight outdoor courts. And whatwe did is we moved a lot of
ground around and got rid of anold pool that nobody was using,
revamped four of our better hardcourts, and then took away, a
couple others and were able tobuild kind of a stadium clay
court and then a bank of threeclay courts. And mainly, we did
(06:18):
that because in Kansas City,there was really no place that
was accessible for people toplay on Hartree, and we thought
that that was a really importantaddition.
So once we are done with that,that pretty much completed the
the purchase and the renovation,which took us about three years.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
So one of the challenges with with being
partners in an ownership of afacility like that is defining
your guys' roles. So if there'stwo of you, you know, what is as
I understand it, Eric is theideas guy and kind of face of
the company. And how do youbalance each other out, and how
would you define your two rolesto make that work so you're not
on top of each other all thetime?
Speaker 3 (06:56):
It's kind of a funny question because he he teases me
that that I'm the face and andhe's the brains. So now that's
not at all entirely true, butbut we like to jab each other.
And and I would say, yeah, Ericis is a really creative side of
this. It is more where he willcome up with an idea, we'll
(07:17):
bounce it around, and then I'llusually then being kind of the
more black and white minded guy,will then put pen to paper and
and get the job done and figureout how to make that idea become
a reality. I mean, the the club,frankly, the purchase of the
club was or it did start withEric.
You know? Eric is a really goodpeople person. He's great at at
(07:39):
meeting and starting small talk.And and so so a lot of a lot of
these conversations, you know,started with him just, you know,
getting to know different peopleand and and coming to me and
saying, hey. You know, I thinkwe have an opportunity with a
couple of guys.
We might be able to putsomething together and and buy a
club. And I and I rolled my eyesand said, yeah. You know? I I
(08:00):
don't know about that, Eric. Butbut I went along for the ride,
and, and and sure enough, Imean, you know, we we got the
job done.
But the other reason thepartnership works, and it's a
fifty fifty partnership, andwe've never really had any
issues. And I think the reasonis is because the two of us
really trust each other. And sothat's very, very rare. We
(08:24):
understand that that's rare. Andmy strengths are his weaknesses
and vice versa.
And so we understand that aswell. And so there's no ego
involved in it, and we're alsonot worried that that one of us
is, you know, in the backgrounddoing something that the other
doesn't know about or, you know,or is selfish on on his side or
(08:45):
whatnot. So so, yeah, that toanswer your question, Simon, I
think I think there's there'sthe it's the rare opportunity
that, strength and weaknessesmatched up and also the fact
that we could admit to havingour own weaknesses and
identifying each other'sstrengths and working together
to to do that.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
That's that's excellent partnership. That's a
good that's a that's, I think,unique. So, kudos to you guys.
Okay. So how has the TennisAcademy evolved through this?
Are you still having a TennisAcademy? What's how big an
emphasis, how much on court areyou?
Speaker 3 (09:20):
I'm still spending about thirty to thirty five
hours a week on the court, andEric does about the the same.
And the reason why we do that isa couple of things. You know?
The Tennis Academy has alwayskinda been our baby, and, and
it's also an integral part tothis club from a financial
standpoint. I think there's someclout in our section of the
(09:43):
reputation of the tennisacademy, and we've tried at
times to allow some otherexperienced good pros, good
coaches kinda take over thatrole of running of running the
college prep side of the tennisacademy, and and it just has
never worked.
And and it's evolved now. Youknow? So so we've been owners of
(10:04):
the club for ten years. It's nowevolved to where I think we're
still involved on court andworking with these kids closely.
I'm actually leaving thisafternoon still for a national
tournament with a kid.
I still like doing that. I don'thave to do that, but I think
that is where our passion lies.And so we've gotten the club
(10:25):
operation to the point where wecan focus on the side of it that
we really like to do. So I thinkfor a long time, you know, when
you're in this business andyou're grinding and you're
teaching a lot, you're thinkinglike, oh, man. I can't wait to
get off the court and, you know,I'd just rather be a director
and, you know, this and that.
And and we've come full circlewhere we thought that's what we
wanted. But in the end, what wereally wanted was to make an
(10:49):
impact on these kids and and andtheir pathway, and and we're
passionate about that. And so sowe just continue to coach
tennis, and we like it. Andwe've got a great staff that
allows us really to do thatagain.
Speaker 4 (11:02):
We could unpack that for a couple of days, I think,
because that's fascinating tome. I don't want you to answer
this question, but my firstthought is when do you have any
time to create a vision andstrategically plan and so on if
you're on the court, thirty fivehours and all that goes with
that. So that would befascinating on a separate a
separate probably, interview. Myquestion within that is you
(11:23):
mentioned that you had tried toempower others to grow into
these roles so that you couldmaybe teach less and so on. It
just hasn't worked out.
If you reflect on that a littlebit now, is there something you
would have done different? Areyou clearer on what that would
look like if you did it again?Like, long term, it sounds like
maybe this is your strategy thatyou guys will continue to be on
(11:43):
court heavily, but where's thegrowth for somebody below you
guys to be able to move upwithin your pathway? So there's
a lot of questions within that,but I think the question is, how
do you empower your staff tomove up if you guys are in the
owner and basically director oftennis roles?
Speaker 3 (11:59):
Yeah. Simon, it's it's interesting because, for
whatever reason, I think thatthis particular side of the
business is more difficult tomanage than what most people
think. And and I base that onthe fact that if the kind of the
high performance tennis academyside of the business were were
(12:22):
easier, there would be a lotmore competition in in that
area. And and now that I've donethis for twenty five years, I've
just seen a lot of three to fiveyear businesses come and go
because of a whole number of ofreasons. Right?
I mean, it's exhausting. It'sit's competitive, and it's
(12:42):
difficult to manage. It's veryeasy to go down a road of
pandering to a parent who is thesqueaky wheel, and you make
decisions, and then thataffects, a huge percentage of
your business that doesn't likethe decision you made. And you
you made that decision for thewrong reason. And so, you know,
there are things like that thatcome up.
(13:03):
Right? And and so I I guess whatwe were able to do in the we're
ten years in, like I said. Inthe first five years, we spent a
lot of time kind of ignoring theTennis Academy side of it in
order to get the rest of thebusiness to look the way that we
wanted it to look. And and Ithink this is this is probably
(13:23):
the most interesting part ofwhat we've done, and that is
that a lot of tennis coacheslook at where they work and they
bounce around and they go, oh,man. If it you know, if I have
my own club, I do this or I dothat.
And and this guy does know whathe's doing and, you know, and
these guys are screwing me andwhatever. And and for us to have
the opportunity to shape thisclub for our members, for for
(13:48):
the staff, and to be able to doit from the side of of that of
that tennis pro looking in andsay, okay. We still teach tennis
every day with this whole staff.We've got 15 full time pros, and
we're still doing it out therewith these guys and and and
girls every day. We need toshape this club the way that's
(14:09):
best for all of them, you know,not just for us as owners.
And I think that's a problem inour industry is that most of the
owners really can't step intoour shoes and relate to what the
people are doing every day onthe court. And so we were able
to do that. So five years in, itit took five years. I mean,
maybe it took seven years. Imean, I really only feel like
(14:32):
the last couple of years whereI've been able to breathe and
not worry about the club openingevery day, the club closing
every day, the the management ofof how you make members happy,
scheduling of the staff,everything, you know, that the
managers and owners have to gothrough.
It took a long time to get tothat point. And so that's the
(14:52):
unique part, I guess.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Yeah. That's that's insightful. And it's interesting
that, you know, what you sayfive to seven years. And I've
I've watched that to a certainextent. I mean, I live in Kansas
City most of my life.
You know, I've seen that clubevolve. More than anything, seen
you and Eric evolve as leadersfrom a little bit more of that
frenetic entrepreneur, like, ohmy gosh. What I get myself into?
Speaker 3 (15:15):
Sure.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
To a a calm sense of we got this. And we've not
cracked it because I don't haveyou have no arrogance about you.
You have a a confidence yet a adesire. Like, you're you guys
are just workers. You guys arejust, like, you're there all the
time.
You're you're very, verypresent. But I guess that
obviously, Simon and I are bigon the, work life balance type
(15:37):
bandwagon. So how has thatevolved for both yourself and
your staff? Like, do you promotethe five day work week? How do
you how do you measure balancein your world?
Speaker 3 (15:49):
Yeah. I I think the balance has finally arrived for
me especially, and I'm 50 yearsold. And so, you know, it it
took a long time. And I thinkthat's an important key for
anybody that's listening thatdoes want to end up maybe being
in the in in this sort of arole, and that is that, you
(16:09):
know, it takes a long time tobecome an expert at something.
And, ultimately, the only way tosurvive all the mistakes that we
have made is through the workethic side because failing at
this business was was not anoption.
And so we had to make it work.And so so the way that I feel
(16:29):
now, yeah, I would agree withyou. I I I think there was that
that early on kinda, like, youknow, running around with, like,
a chicken with your head cutoff, trying to, you know, put
out fires and make sure that,you know, you weren't gonna sink
this giant ship. And so we justdecided even from the days of
02/2008 and starting this kindof rogue tennis academy was we
(16:50):
just need to make sure that weoutwork everybody. And and so I
think that's an importantmessage.
Speaker 4 (16:55):
That's for you guys as owners, and I can relate to
that. As a managing partner of aclub, I swept the courts at five
in the morning, changed thelight bulbs, did it all, but
phased that out over time as webecame more profitable and were
able to hire people to do thosejobs. So that's you as owners.
You have to do that because yousign the checks or need the
money in the bank account to topay payroll. What about how you
(17:17):
manage your staff and themessaging around your team on
what's expected?
Are they expected to have thesame work ethic and work seven
days a week like you guys, or isthat different once you get
below ownership?
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Yeah. I listened to some of your philosophies,
Simon, on on the the work, lifebalance and the the five day
work week and the, you know, thehours. And and I think that that
resonates a lot with Eric and Ibecause we do know what, you
know, what we've gone through.And I think the reality of it is
that the balance is somethingthat's very important that we've
(17:52):
preached to the guys. We don'tforce it, but I think most of
the staff, let's see.
If we have 15 guys, I would say12 of those 15 people find that
very important. You know, therethere are a couple old school
guys that just, you know, wannagrind a hundred hours a week,
and they've been doing that fortwenty years, and and and we
(18:13):
just let them go. Right? But,yeah, I would say most of the
staff finds that important. Theyknow that's important to us.
I live and work by example nowto where they can see that it's
important for me to have timeoff. It's important for me to
have time away from the club,and we make that possible for
them. Now I will say one thingthat they all understand has to
(18:35):
happen because of the way thebusiness works is that we're
gonna work until eight or 09:00at night a lot of the time, but
we're also not coming in untilone or 02:00 in the afternoon.
Right. Depending on which sideof the business you're really
working.
And we try to do that too. Wetry to have staff that is almost
entirely working with our adultmembers and staff that works
(18:58):
almost entirely with juniormembers. And so those shifts are
different.
Speaker 4 (19:01):
And I think that's the message, right, is there's
not one I'm big on, yes, fiveday, but it's more a philosophy
of how are we taking care ofpeople, which leads to my next
question, which is all centeredaround retention. So if we're
taking care of our staff andwhatever that is, some will say
it's I used to work seven days,now I work six. Or I've come in
at two, like you say, and I'mnot not there till 09:00 at
(19:23):
night and back at seven in themorning. It's finding that
balance that works for eachindividual with the ultimate
goal is if the industry has atwo year turnover rate of pros,
that's bad for my business. If Ican take care of my team and
increase retention, ultimately,that drives revenue more
consistently for me as well.
We know that retains customers.So what else are you doing to
(19:44):
help increase retention,especially given that we're in a
climate now where there's ashortage of pros and and a
demand for for play? What otherthings are you guys doing to try
and increase retention?
Speaker 3 (19:55):
Well, you know, I I don't know if it's luck or or or
whatnot, but other than theCOVID blip, the retention of the
staff had I mean, we have wehave majorly bucked the industry
trend on on retention. So we'redoing something right, and and
but I don't profess tonecessarily know exactly what it
(20:16):
is, to be honest with you.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
Are you paying them cash or something? I mean, what
what's the secret sauce here?How does this work, Elliot?
Speaker 3 (20:23):
So the only time that we, like I said, other than
COVID where some people just gotout of the organizational
structure and say, I I feel likeI've reached a ceiling at this
club, and I need to go somewhereelse if I want to continue to
(20:44):
climb the ladder. That's usuallythe only reason we've we've lost
people. But on the flip side,we've been able to retain some
people because we've looked atthings more creatively and
created some more upwardmobility that maybe didn't look
like it was there that we theninvented in in in some respects.
I I think another part of it isis we've also been lucky that
(21:07):
because of Eric and my influencefrom the Tennis Academy side
that, you know, the the love ofthe game, continuing to play in
college, and then deciding that,well, maybe I wanna stay in this
tennis business, and and I thinkI wanna come back and work for
these guys who were my coaches.We've been lucky to have staff
like that.
And these guys come back in, andthey already know what we're
(21:28):
looking for. You know, it'salmost like a built in training
ground where we don't have toreteach a bunch of the
philosophies because theyalready know we're all on the
same page. And those guys andand and girls have have stayed
here because they they like thesystem.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
That's great. I mean, that's what Simon and I have had
the comment about the idea ofhaving you know, at every club,
you sort of have your own juniorpipeline that you could make
your future staff. And beingmaybe intentional about
literally talking to them aboutcareers rather than taking the
chance of them just randomlycoming back. So that's
excellent. I'm glad to hearthat.
Let's just jump to the subjectof the, pickleball padel life
(22:07):
outside of tennis. How hasOverland Park Racquet Club
responded when you when youbought the club? There was none
of that, and that's been sinceyou bought the club. So how have
you responded to those,alternative complimentary
sports?
Speaker 3 (22:20):
Well, we think Padel is an incredible sport as we've
played it and watched andobserved both the pickleball
world and the Paddell world andthe divide maybe that's that's
occurred between tennis andpickle. I think Paddell sits
right in the middle. It's justthis magnet of of both the the
(22:40):
pickleball appeal and the tennisappeal, which I think is gonna
create a popularity that thatwe're just maybe not even not
even sure how big that's gonnabe. The entry into Paddell is
more difficult than Picklebecause of of the cost of
building the courts out. But Ithink everybody's gonna
everyone's gonna see the valuein that that's in my business,
(23:02):
and I think that we have been sohappy with the response in
Kansas City.
I mean, it's only two courts.It's kind of a pop up and
introduction type facility, butthe guys that we partnered with
have done a phenomenal job. It'sa it's a beautiful place, and
the sport is is so fun. Now wehave some multipurpose kind of
(23:23):
pickleball courts on three ofour indoor courts. We host a few
tournaments.
We have some members that thatget out there and play. But
generally speaking, the club hasremained a tennis club and has
not seen very much demand forpickleball. Yet the moment we
put in these Padel courts, itjust caught on like wildfire.
And so if, you know, if I lookat at where I'm gonna be in ten
(23:46):
years from now, I think I'mgonna be involved a lot more in
Padell than I am gonna beinvolved in Pickle and probably
even more involved than I am intennis. I mean, I I just think
that game is fantastic, and Ithink it it's really taking off.
Speaker 4 (24:01):
Great feedback. And I think we're hearing that more
and more too. So way to embraceit and way to evolve. But I'm
just gonna give you a little bitof credit because I I didn't
count how many times you saidit, but at least half a dozen
times you used the word luck orlucky. Not a believer in that.
I think you make your own luck.You've clearly been, attentive
to a lot of things and and takensomething from 02/2014 and
(24:23):
evolved it into a successfulbusiness. So kudos to you and
and Eric, but stop being sohumble and and maybe, feel free
to brag a little bit more aboutyour achievements. So
congratulations to you guys. Butwith all this ten years, eleven
years of history, hopefully, hascome a lot of wisdom.
And I assume when you took onthe club in '14, you had
probably no gray hairs. And nowI hate to say it, but everyone
(24:46):
won't see this because it'saudio, but there's a few
sneaking into the beer there. Iwent through the same thing.
Owning a club is stressful. Whatare some of the lessons learned
along the way?
Because there's a lot ofaspiring pros who talk about
wanting to get off the court, Idon't want to teach forever, and
I want to be an owner. And maybesome of them don't stay the
(25:06):
course and go through the stagesof leading people, owning,
managing, and ending up as anowner. And you don't have to do
all those stages, but there's alot of lessons learned along the
way. What would be one or twokey takeaways from your ten,
eleven years as an owner thatyou would pass on to those
aspiring to be you?
Speaker 3 (25:23):
Well, I I appreciate you you you recognizing, the
sentiment of of luck that Ithrow in there because when I
was when I was, you know,entrepreneur just starting out,
one podcast that I love was itwas called How I Built This. I
don't know if you guys haveheard heard of that. It's
popular one where they interviewall of these, business owners,
(25:45):
many of which failed or almostfailed, right, and and then
became wildly successful at atone of their one of their
businesses. And they always askat the end of the podcast how
much of your success is due toluck and how much of it is due
to, you know, your hard work andand and those other qualities
that you have. And and I'malways so interested in the
(26:08):
answers because they were neverthe same.
And so I think that there is alittle bit of luck in what we
initially were able to createbecause because we kept our eyes
and ears open to opportunities.I think that's a big thing.
Being nonjudgmental of people,not taking sides, just trying to
(26:29):
do right by people no matterwhat. I think honesty is a
quality that maybe doesn't gettalked about, but definitely
gets observed. And I think thatI think that we have a
reputation of honesty andintegrity.
I think that helped attract someangel investors for us. The last
part of it is for whateverreason, Eric and I both think
(26:53):
the work ethic quality isparamount and that everything
that you want out of your,career needs to be earned, not
given. And so we could juststill be teaching tennis and and
bouncing around and doing that,and we would have done that.
Maybe getting to the to thepoint of, of burnout at at at
(27:13):
age 50. I don't know.
But but those things have made abig difference to put us in this
situation.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Yeah. No. That's that's good honesty and I good
honesty about your honesty. Youare honest. You have a
reputation of that for sure.
I think the challenges in frontof you, I'm guessing, you for
lack of a better term, youdidn't know what you didn't
know.
Speaker 3 (27:35):
Right.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
You know? Could you just give us maybe one example
of we had no idea we were gonnaend up having to do x, and we
had to figure it out. Is thereone of those you can share that
might inspire people to knowthat when they hit their own
roadblocks and surprises?
Speaker 3 (27:49):
Well, I I think that the big misnomer about ownership
of a club, especially a clublike this, I mean, 14 indoor
courts, four outdoor clay, twoPadell, four hard sits on eight
acres at at a great location. Imean, we have a lot going for
us. Right? The club is verybusy. We're we're actually close
to full membership where we needto start a waiting list.
(28:12):
That's something that's onlyhappened in the last year and a
half. But I and so I think fromthe outside looking in, people
would say, oh, these guys arekilling it. This club's, you
know, incredible. The parkinglot's always full, you know,
this, that, and the other. Andwhat people don't realize is
that the cost of operating aclub this size is way bigger
(28:34):
than I ever thought, and I'mjust no matter how many how many
months I look at, you know, thep and l at the end of the month,
and I and I look at and go,okay.
We generated a lot of income.Why is there almost nothing left
at the end of the month? Right?I think that that's that's
something that that has youknow, when we have gone round
(28:55):
and round on how do we cutexpenses because there's only so
much, revenue that you cangenerate. Right?
How do you cut expenses andmaybe create a better, revenue
margin for, you know, profitmargin for yourself? And it's
just very, very difficult. Andso I think you've gotta be
careful what you what you wishfor. You know, I think a lot of
people that wanna own clubs, ifthey're thinking of it from a
(29:18):
financial standpoint, need toask themselves how passionate
are they about about thisbusiness. Because I think the
real the part that I like aboutit more than trying to generate
revenue, which just doesn'treally it just doesn't really
happen.
I like being in control of mydestiny ultimately. I do I do
(29:39):
really appreciate that part ofit. I do like having the last
say. I don't mind the milliondollar millions of dollars in
debt risk that I have. Like, Idon't think about that.
It's kinda like thinking aboutlosing a tennis match. Like, I'm
not gonna worry about losing atennis match until I'm shaking
the guy's hand. So I look atrunning my business very, very
(29:59):
similar to to how I would play amatch competitively. So I don't
worry about that stuff, but I'mvery happy that I'm the one
making the final decision. Sothat that's the biggest
advantage as an owner to me.
It's not the financial gain.It's not being able to sit sit
around and watch other people doall the work for me. That's
never gonna happen, and that'snot why I do it.
Speaker 4 (30:22):
Yeah. Good people are expensive, and the owner is the
last person that gets taken careof. And you don't walk out every
Sunday night with wads of cashin your pockets and drive
Ferraris on the weekend. That'snot what that's not what
ownership is. And and I I thinkyou nailed it with the the
reasons why above and beyondmaking money.
You'd be better off putting yourmoney in the stock market and
(30:43):
just letting it sit thereprobably than from a return
point of view. But there's a lotof other reasons that are very
personal to people why ownershipis such a passion project and
why you love doing it. So reallywell said.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
Thank you, Elliot. That's that's really nice. We
appreciate it. We're we'rereally getting close on time, so
we appreciate your time and yourwisdom. And if people have
interest in in learning aboutownership, I assume you'd be a
willing teacher.
Speaker 3 (31:09):
For sure. Yeah. I'd love to talk to anybody that's,
interested in going down thisroad.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
That's great. We appreciate your time. It's
awesome to, get to know thedetails a little bit more of
that club I grew up in. So thankyou very much.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
Thanks for having me. It's fun talking about it.
Speaker 4 (31:23):
Yeah. Cheers, mate. That was that was excellent.
Thanks for your time.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
We'll see you next time on Rocket Fuel.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
That's all for today, but we're not out of fuel. You
can find more information andresources in our show notes and
by visitingracketfuelpodcast.com. If you
liked what you just heard,please subscribe and also leave
a review, which helps otherpeople join the mission to
become stronger rackets leaders.
Speaker 5 (31:58):
This podcast is a production of Athlete plus, the
people, stories, and sciencebehind elite athletes and teams.
Athlete Plus is the officialpodcast network of the Institute
for Coaching Excellence, aresearch, education, and
outreach center in the Collegeof Health and Human Performance
at the University of Florida.The Institute for Coaching
Excellence offers various onlinecertificate programs and degrees
in partnership with theDepartment of Sport Management.
(32:20):
Learn more today atcoaching.hhp.ufl.edu.
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