Mike's been a huge help in managing our third largest region – Greater Boston, Massachusetts. Whenever players have a question, Mike always takes the time to write a detailed response. He's been a big advocate for PlayTime Scheduler, helping local parks departments and players understand the benefits of the tool. We asked Mike a few questions about his experiences.

How long have you been playing pickleball and where did you learn to play?
I started playing pickleball in June of 2016 when my wife and I took a beginner class that was offered through our town’s recreation department. The class was taught by our regional pickleball ambassador, who we ended up becoming good friends with, and I have helped him organize several local tournaments over the years. We still play with some of the people that we met in that beginner class.

When did you first join PlayTime Scheduler as a regional admin?
I started setting up the Greater Boston region in September 2019. I learned about PlayTime Scheduler when I was looking for places to play while I was in Denver earlier that year. When I got back home, I discovered that there was nothing on PlayTime Scheduler for the Boston area, so I submitted a request to add the Greater Boston region. By default, I became the regional admin, and I’ve just kept with it ever since.

What do you think is the most rewarding part of being a regional admin?

It’s been satisfying to see how the local pickleball community has used the site to communicate amongst players and organize sessions on their own, independent of the times that are scheduled by the town recreation departments. Boston is surrounded by many smaller towns and cities, each of which has their own recreation department. Before PlayTime Scheduler was available, most of the opportunities to play were limited to fixed times scheduled by those local recreation departments. Now, players are able to organize groups on their own and know that enough people will show up to play. Some of this was happening before through email lists and things like Doodle polls, but PlayTime Scheduler has made it easier. I think having PlayTime Scheduler has helped fuel the growth of pickleball in the area, especially at a time when most local recreation departments were not able to offer programs during the pandemic. The region started with just a dozen or so court locations that I was aware of and had played at, and now we have a total of 100 locations and over 2800 players signed up. 

What’s the biggest challenge?
One of the challenges is making sure that people understand that PlayTime Scheduler is a scheduling and invitation system, and not a court reservation system. Also, some people when they first sign up on the site don’t understand how the system works, so I end up having to send the occasional email explaining various aspects of using the site. Ensuring that new court locations are listed accurately can sometimes be a challenge, but using Google Maps satellite views usually lets me “see” what’s there, and each town’s website usually has the information needed to confirm the address and the facilities at public parks.

What advice would you give to a new region considering setting up PlayTime Scheduler?
Get the word out to your local community of pickleball players by handing out flyers or posting them at pickleball venues. I made up a simple one-page flyer that explained what PlayTime Scheduler is and provided the URL. The business cards that PlayTime Scheduler provided were also helpful for getting people to check out the site. Set up areas within your region that make sense geographically and add the court locations that you know. As more people join, they will suggest additional locations that you aren’t aware of.