If you play pickleball anywhere in Austin, odds are you have already bumped into Austin Pickleball Update (APU). What began in November 2023 as a way to untangle the city’s scattered courts, clubs, and tournament listings has grown into the go-to newsletter that thousands of local players actually open every two weeks.
We sat down to dig into the story behind APU: where the idea came from, how the team decides what makes the cut, and where they are taking independent pickleball news next.
Origins and Mission
Austin Pickleball Update is the premier source for pickleball courts, clubs, tournaments, events, and news in Austin, Texas. We launched in November 2023 and to date have published 21 volumes of our newsletter, with new newsletters coming out every two weeks.
Inspiration Behind Austin Pickleball Update
The genesis of Austin Pickleball Update came from a lack of resources available during their pickleball journey. The team started playing pickleball in Austin in March 2023 and quickly found that information around pickleball in Austin was fragmented across text and Facebook groups, one-off mobile apps, and social media. There was no independent, centralized source for where to play, how to play, and news around the rapidly changing pickleball landscape. For example, if someone wanted to play pickleball at SARC or Pan Am, how would they do that? What is the court etiquette? How do challenge courts work? Do they need to bring their net and people to play with? What about all of the local clubs that were popping up?
They had all of these questions and more and went about finding the relevant answers as a normal part of their Austin Pickleball journey. As they progressed further, they realized that the information they were learning about pickleball in Austin like where and how to play would also be valuable for other players to know and stay updated on. Lastly, for local events, clinics, and tournaments, they realized that bringing this information in a curated and easy-to-digest format would provide a base level of value for their audience. The north star of everything they do with Austin Pickleball Update has always been how to create and provide the most amount of value for their newsletter audience on an ongoing basis.
Nearly a year later the reception to Austin Pickleball Update has far exceeded the team’s expectations! Their newsletter’s open and click-through rates far surpass industry standards, showing how eager and engaged pickleballers in Austin are when it comes to their favorite sport. For anyone who’s new to Austin Pickleball Update, check out APU Volume 20 where they have recapped some of their favorite volumes from the first 20 issues of APU.
Content And Community Engagement
When it comes to deciding what to include in their newsletter, there are different sections, with the information in each section shifting from newsletter to newsletter. Each newsletter includes a feature story, which is usually a court/club feature, interview piece, or information about their local Major League Pickleball Team, The Texas Ranchers.
In addition to their feature story, there is a smaller news and updates in the Community News section to keep everyone in the loop on the latest news. Lastly, their newsletters always include tournaments, leagues, and community clinics & events section, where they bring information and links to upcoming events that players may be interested in.
They intend that each of the newsletters bring a new piece of information or content to their audience that they would otherwise not know or have come across.
Growth and Development
Austin Pickleball Update has evolved substantially since launching in November 2023. You need only take a look at APU Volume 1 and compare it to Volume 22 to see how much the newsletter structure and content they include have shifted.
One of the best parts of operating Austin Pickleball Update is that they are always evolving their strategy based on audience engagement and feedback. They ask themselves:
- Would the audience care about this?
- What would provide the most value for them?
- What do pickleballers in Austin need right now to have the best possible pickleball journey?
As of September 2023, the Austin Pickleball Update reaches a community of over 2,700 people and grows with each newsletter it publishes.
The Challenges
Balancing the amount of content they provide without making it too much information is always a fun challenge. With the content included in APU, nearly everything they share has some sort of action a reader can take if they want to engage with a piece of content or learn more.
The team takes the engagement of their readers seriously and understands that it is a privilege to directly interact with pickle ballers in Austin via email. This is why they are constantly iterating based on reader feedback and input to improve the newsletter. Like all newsletters, ensuring their community consistently grows is always a focus and opportunity at the same time.
Local Impact
Austin Pickleball Update influences the pickleball community in Austin by being THE source for all things pickleball. As a third-party content provider, their only goal is to create and provide value to their audience. They’re not focused on pushing the messages of any one club, court, brand, or service, and that means their readers trust the information they bring to them compared to if they were just an email list for a single club in town.
Austin Pickleball Update influences the Austin Pickleball community because they are a trusted, independent third-party source that shares and validates the messages and information of the Austin Pickleball Market.
APU is focused on sharing uplifting, positive stories and information for its audience. They stay away from stories or items that have any negativity or gossip and only focus on sharing what’s relevant and actionable to foster and build the amazing Austin pickleball community that we all know and love.
Upcoming Events and Initiatives
The team is running a giveaway contest with local pro Zane Navratil, which interested parties can learn more about by subscribing to their newsletter. The team is particularly excited about seeing the continuing evolution of the pickleball landscape in Austin. As a metro with so many professional players, a professional team, and an extremely active and vibrant amateur landscape, it will be exciting to simply continue bringing the latest and greatest of pickleball in Austin to their audience.
Additionally, the next step is to be a home for information for Austin’s professional Major League Pickleball team, the Texas Ranchers. As an unaffiliated, third-party news source for The Ranchers, they want people to know they can rely on APU for updates and news about the best of professional pickleball, including teams, in Austin.
Future Plans
The long-term goal for Austin Pickleball Update is for all pickleball players in Austin to know, be aware of, and engage with Austin Pickleball Update. When a new person starts playing pickleball in Austin, Austin Pickleball Update should be a part of their journey in an engaging, supportive, and fun way.
The team wants to remain THE source for all things pickleball in Austin. The aim is to have players think of Austin Pickleball Update when they think about pickleball in Austin. Across news, events, activities, discount codes, and other pickleball opportunities, the team is excited to support its journey. Last but not least. Austin Pickleball Update is a part of a larger vision for local pickleball news. Pickleball Update plans to launch in additional markets in 2025!
Personal Team Insights
SARC is where the team first started playing pickleball in the spring and summer of 2023. One can consistently find 4.0+ play on the challenge courts, in addition to bringing their net and setting up a space where they can meet new people, drill, and play as many games as they would like. SARC is the pickleball epicenter of Austin south of the river and is a great option for anyone looking to uplevel their game. A special shout-out is also for Pan Am, which has one of the best communities in Austin pickleball where pickleball enthusiasts can meet all kinds of awesome people who have just started or are well into their pickleball journey.
For clubs, two of the team’s favorites are the new Austin Pickle Ranch and Urban Pickleball Club. Austin Pickle Ranch’s new Braker Lane facility sets the standard for pickleball in Austin in terms of what a facility can look, feel, and operate like. Everything there was thought out extremely well from a player’s perspective and it shows in how quickly the community has gravitated to this new space.
Urban Pickleball Club is another club to check out. You cannot beat the views of downtown Austin while enjoying some great pickleball, and Urban Pickleball Club also has one of the best club communities in Austin in addition to being a great value for membership.
Lastly, while new to the Austin pickleball club scene, the awareness, engagement, and reception of Pickleland has been extremely positive and the team is pumped to see how Pickleland will continue to grow and evolve with pickleball in Austin!
Engaging the Community
The readers and community members are encouraged to engage with the team directly, either via email ([email protected]) or via DM on Instagram. All of their newsletters end with the paragraph, “If you have any Austin pickleball news, tips, or topics that we should cover or may have missed, reach out and let us know! We’re always grateful to hear from our readers” and they mean that. Everything they do is to create and deliver value to their readers, and their feedback is integral to APU as they grow and evolve further.
They also have an internal folder called “APU Love” where they take screenshots and save feedback notes from their readers and community. It has been incredible to see the reception to Austin Pickleball Update, and they hear so often that players appreciate and are grateful for their publications and the information they share. These notes mean the world to the team because it’s the reason they created APU.
How has the Community Influenced the Publication?
Early on in their newsletter, they were including content around tips and skills for pickleball. After several issues, they received feedback from the community that this information was less important to readers and that they were most interested in content specific to Austin rather than general pickleball content. This helped them further refine their offering, as we realized the pickleball tips and tricks market is hugely saturated on YouTube and Instagram, so it wasn’t an area we would focus on going further.
Another area where the community has influenced the publication is streamlining its content. If you read their older newsletters you’ll see a lot of information about each tournament posting. However, readers let them know that they just wanted the high-level information (dates, tourney, location), in a streamlined way, which they incorporated into their newsletters.
APU Team’s Expert Advice for Aspiring Content Creators
- Pick a topic that you care about and enjoy: This one seems basic, but a lot of content creators will chase a fad or trend rather than stick to something they know and enjoy. It will come across in your writing whether you are passionate about your topic or not, and readers will know and resonate with someone who is being authentically themselves with what they create.
- Stick with the program and keep creating: Too many people define success based on an outcome, rather than understanding that success is giving yourself fully to the process independent of the outcome. With a lot of online content today, people stop creating because they don’t have the outcome they desire or have “nothing to show for it,” again not realizing that the outcome should not ever be and is not the focus. Content creators don’t realize that you need to build something for 2-4 years before it’ll take off, and until that time you will have zero **“**success” to show for it. But I have seen it time and time again, people who stick with the process and keep creating will ultimately be successful.
- Collaborate with others who share your values and are striving to build a larger community. We are stronger together in the community than alone.
- Have as much fun as you possibly can: Content creation should be fun, so how can you inject fun into the process at every step? Content creation can be a hobby, but it can also turn into a successful business if that is what you want. It’s just about getting clear on what you want to create, mapping that process out, and enjoying the journey as you take it to where you’re meant to be.