In 1965, Vincent Volley lived two houses down from Joel Pritchard's summer home on Bainbridge Island in Washington State. He watched from his window as the sport of pickleball was invented. 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 Sophie Spin. 

They joined in on the fun during pickleball's inaugural hot summer up in Washington. 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. 

New blood was entering the tour. Athleticism requirements skyrocketed. Father Time does not permit any to escape his grasp. 

While they had advanced the sport by introducing the tactics of spin and higher power to the game, the aging Pickleball Professors were struggling to keep up after being at the pinnacle of the professional tour for so many years. 

They shared a vision that came to them in a deep dream, an element hidden deep within the earth, an energy unseen and unread. It's unique radiation reached through to them, calling, yearning to be mined. 

They searched. Found a hint of something otherworldly in the magnificent mountains of Washington, of a certain rock never before seen. Digging, chipping, drilling, they found a grand bed of deep grey slate imbued with golden and emerald rivulets. 

They carved it. Grinded it to sand. Spread it on their paddle face like they had done in their vision. Wrapped their grips with it. They called it Ultraslate. And it imbued them with youthful pickleball powers. 

They were back on top. Their spins doubles in RPMs. The control they had for drops and dinks was unmatched. The addiction of the win, at first, surpassed the guilt of using the otherworldly material. 

But it was soon too much to bear. They admitted their discovery, apologized, and gave back the medals and trophies won under the influence of Ultraslate. But the concept of Ultraslate inspired them to build something amazing...

The Professors made the decision to retire from the pro tour and bring all of their research and knowledge to the world in a different way. 

They found a perfect location in Northbrook, Illinois to start an upscale pickleball club, to share their wide breadth of knowledge, to create an environment where players can congregate and discuss ways to truly improve their game.

And it wasn't going to be your everyday club. It was going to be better in every way. Better environment, better surface, better amenities, better bar, better coaches, better programming, and more.

Because pickleball deserves better. 

And thus, Slate Pickleball Club was born. 

Time. Effort. Understanding. Repetition. Patience. Fortitude.

You'll feel the forces beckoning you to give up your quest for this unparalleled rank. You cannot cave.

Mastering the 57 tactical parameters will take years. 

The Professors' wisdom flows through every facet of the STAGE program. We have the tools to make you the best you can be. 

You must learn, mold your strokes and tactics in every way. You must practice, maximizing repetitions. You must move, pushing your body to the max. You must compete, putting into play the newly acquired skills as the final test to prove your improvement to the Professors. 

Only then, will have you the chance to join the highest rank of Professor.