Live The Story

Gear up at Gear Garage. Join other enthusiasts at the Dink Tank to conjure ideas on how to become a veritable Pickleball Professor.

Become a dominant force on the courts of Slate Pickleball Club and experience true Elation.

Read on of the origin tale Slate and all of its wonderful characters. 

The Pickleball Professors

In 1965, Dr. Vincent Volley lived two houses down from Joel Pritchard's summer home on Bainbridge Island. He watched from his window as the sport of pickleball was developed. He was only a child of 11 at the time and saw the potential of the game, potential that would reach across the aisles of culture, connecting more people than any other sport would before. 

He, of course, had to tell his best friend Dr. Sophie Spin. 

They joined in on the fun during pickleball's inaugural hot summer. It instantly became their favorite activity, let alone sport. It consumed their days, their thoughts, their dreams, their sheer identities. 

Into adulthood, they became professionals, shooting up to the top of the game. After becoming Doctors of Sports Science to better understand the kinetic chain, they colloquially became known as Pickleball Professors. They were untouchable on the court, their knowledge of pickleball deeper than anyone's. 

The Managers

Techniques are off. Shot selection is less than ideal. Balance teeter-totters. Legs are flipped the wrong way. Drops fly. Drives flop. And let's not even start on strategy!

The Pickleball Professors have created a comprehensive learning and growth environment to progress up the corporate pickleball ladder at Slate, but in order to take full advantage, consistent participation in STAGE programming is required. 

Full development requires patience, time, energy, investment. Just ask any Pickleball Professor. The skill-gap of pickleball has risen substantially! 

But at the end, Elation will come. The unbeatable feeling of seeing how you've improved, the joy and satisfaction of progressing through the ladder, the new connections and friends made along the way. Your quality of life will improve dramatically!

The Interns

The Pickleball Professors Dr. Sophie Spin and Dr. Vincent Volley knew that as the game grew, a proper learning pathway for beginners was critical to grow the game. After their years of incredible success, Slate was founded to create the next generation of Pickleball Professors. 

The Interns are there to guide and educate you at the Dink Tank, how the world of Slate truly works, how to integrate into all of STAGE and the brainstorming sessions, how to meet others and step into an exciting world of play, exercise, and competition. 

As a beginner, start your adventure at Slate with the Foundations program by clicking HERE. We are here for YOU! Elation starts with us. 

The Pioneers

Absolutely! Children as young as 3 can become Pioneers and join the quest for Ultraslate. 

Register your child for our Junior Programs HERE. 

The Prodigies

As skill and age increases, the importance of competition follows. 

The Prodigies were ecstatic when the Professors presented the Circuit, a competitive and play program designed for players just like them. 

Now they have an age and stage appropriate outlet for getting some fun games in and apply what they've learned in class, creating an environment where love of sport and sportsmanship-centric competition can continue for a lifetime. 

The Ultras

The Junior PPA. National Junior Pickleball League. Junior APP. 

Competitive opportunities are flourishing. Becoming a pro pickleball player has rapidly become a viable career path. 

High School and College Pickleball are exploding. 

Pickleball is the sport of the 21st Century, and Slate is way ahead of the curve in the quality of its High Performance Program. And its mayors Chloe and Winston are here to guide players who have the talent and drive to make it to the highest of peaks. 

Slate is the first of its kind to offer a true High Performance program.