By: Erin Schettler

Pickles and Beer is a social gathering of pickleball players of all ages and ability levels that meets every Friday night. During the summer, we meet at McGaw Park in Fitchburg, WI, and during the winter months, we meet at Princeton Club East (PCE) in Madison, WI.

Pickles and Beer was started by Dan and Erin Schettler after being invited out to have a few beers after a night of pickleball. Dan wondered why other sports had regular social gatherings after their games (softball, baseball, basketball, etc.) but pickleball didn’t... so we utilized PlayTime Scheduler to put out the opportunity to play, and also to socialize. It is now the single largest weekly event in the Madison, WI, area, drawing up to 100 players on 8 courts outdoors and 45-50 indoors on 4 courts. No one cares that they wait between games—we talk and get to know one another. We have learned about careers, significant events in people’s lives, and just fun facts about each other. We also talk about pickleball sometimes!