Pickle4's ICONIC (MLB) BALLPARK SERIES: ORACLE PARK Summer 2023

0:01 [Music] 0:02 right time right place right now to 0:04 bring something like this into a iconic 0:06 venue 0:07 [Music] 0:09 Weinberger leading a lot of the media 0:12 and digital areas of pickle four 0:14 we're running a large event today in 0:17 Oracle Park the idea was we really want 0:19 to be the amateur platform for 0:21 pickleball and really help grow the 0:23 sport through iconic opportunities like 0:25 playing in Oracle Park and Fenway Park 0:27 last week it's a fantastic opportunity 0:29 for amateurs to come together and this 0:31 is what pickleball really needs and 0:33 really needs to have opportunities to 0:35 grow the sport 0:37 I've been ready such a cool experience 0:40 you know our goal this week is just to 0:42 shine a brighter light on pickleball as 0:44 a sport most of the players out here 0:46 this week have not competed in a 0:48 tournament before they've been playing 0:50 recreationally some at a higher level 0:52 than others but this was an opportunity 0:54 for them to come out and compete against 0:55 other amateurs and do so in a Major 0:57 League field pretty pretty cool stuff 0:59 well I think randomly I got an email 1:01 about a pickleball tournament at Oracle 1:03 we've been playing a lot together still 1:06 relatively new to the game we're tennis 1:07 players originally I saw the sport in 1:10 Cabo that couldn't get over the sound of 1:12 it so I rejected it at first that Dinky 1:14 Dinky sound and then they said no you 1:17 just do it and I did it I feel it's more 1:19 social than tennis because you're closer 1:21 great weather and something to do with a 1:22 good friend once you're on the courts we 1:25 had our first match and that was 1:26 actually our toughest match of the day 1:27 these guys were pretty competitive and 1:30 we were up 8-3 and then they came back 1:32 to 9 to 11 by the time we were sweating 1:35 a little bit and so we took a time out 1:37 and then we just took it from there or 1:38 59 and just got aggressive and that's 1:42 kind of what you need to do to be 1:43 competitive Local 4 really wants to 1:46 create these iconic amateur 1:47 opportunities for competition part of 1:50 our opportunity is you know what are the 1:52 best venues out there 1:55 we figure this is the first time they're 1:57 ever putting something together on a pro 1:59 baseball field we're like hey we love 2:01 the Giants here so we figured we'd uh 2:03 help come out and support and uh play 2:04 the game we love and they did a really 2:06 good job with the courts like just a 2:07 really interesting uh pickleball setting 2:10 in the case of Oracle Park in San 2:13 Francisco last week we were at Fenway 2:14 Park in Boston both are historical in 2:17 nature one's much older than the other 2:19 but both have played hosts the World 2:21 Series games and World Series 2:22 Championships and both hold a unique 2:25 place in their community and nationally 2:27 you know fans walking out there for the 2:30 first time as pickleball average or 2:32 athletes their jaw dropped 2:34 [Music] 2:35 you know the stadium I've never been 2:37 here I have a bucket list 2:39 13 so far 2:42 so far I've done that one off 2:46 it's just an all there's a lot of people 2:47 here that haven't played in pickleball 2:50 tournaments but they wanted to be here 2:51 in Oracle park or in Fenway Park and 2:54 they're absolutely loving it we're 2:56 standing in the middle of Oracle Park 2:57 man in on a beautiful day it's awesome 3:01 one of the things people for was focused 3:04 on is it's really important to show 3:06 people the levels that you can be at and 3:08 so you can come in you can have fun it 3:10 can be very recreational You Can level 3:12 up and you can become competitive and if 3:14 you really want to There's an 3:15 opportunity in pickleball to be true 3:17 Elite athleticism and be professional 3:20 it's actually one of the unique aspects 3:22 of pickleball where you know the 3:24 relationship between Pro players and 3:26 amateur players is really unlike 3:28 anything I've seen in any other Sport 3:30 and we have some of the top Pros here 3:31 today 3:34 I'm Catherine parento and I'm ranked 3:36 number three in the world I was probably 3:38 eight years ago I was playing tennis at 3:41 the University of Michigan State 3:43 University and I once I ran out of LGBT 3:45 I couldn't compete anymore so I had no 3:47 idea what pickleball was but I give it a 3:50 try just fell in love with the sport and 3:52 that was eight years ago and just still 3:54 enjoying it I can't believe I'm here 3:56 that's crazy I'm playing with Anna 3:58 Wright which is um I've never played 4:00 with her and I've always competed 4:03 against her so it would be fun to play 4:04 with her in this event because we're 4:06 actually in a month from now we're 4:08 playing in a tournament together so it's 4:10 like a little uh nice little I guess 4:12 warm-up for us for a Knicks tournament 4:14 but not just looking forward to playing 4:16 maybe against Anthony Waters it's always 4:18 fun to play against the number one in 4:19 the world and just kind of test yourself 4:21 so it'll be fun 4:24 there's always all types of flavors in 4:27 pickleball you name it you know it's a 4:28 such a big demographic right here 4:30 specifically we met people from Oregon 4:32 we have met some other people for I 4:34 think from LA and um you know most some 4:37 people acquire some be a little louder 4:39 and I also make pickleball music uh 4:41 believe it or not I go by pickleball I 4:43 got that on my shirt here 4:48 my mom plays pickleball it's brought her 4:50 a lot of joy in her life 4:53 um for her 70th birthday my husband 4:56 passed away and a half ago and so for us 4:59 I started doing this when he was sick 5:03 and so it's been really cool to have 5:06 that and they used to play tennis 5:08 together so we played tennis until he 5:10 blew his AC but you know short of that 5:12 but anyway yeah it's it's my new rise 5:16 after a loss yeah 5:20 I think that the sport is continuing to 5:22 grow pickleball is the fastest growing 5:24 sport in America and I think that as the 5:26 sport continues to grow you're going to 5:27 see interesting unique venues 5:30 opportunities in iconic stadiums or 5:32 ballparks or other large scale amateur 5:36 tournaments professional exhibitions I 5:39 think the continued adoption of the 5:40 sport is going to just mean more people 5:42 looking for more places to play in their 5:44 local parks and communities uh bigger 5:46 events the US Open championships will 5:48 continue to grow 5:51 I just want to thank the people 5:52 associated with pickle four in the 5:54 baseball Series obviously it's showing 5:56 that it was a great idea people are 5:58 having a great time the referees were 6:01 having a great time we're all here to 6:03 support it and we are very appreciative 6:05 for being a part of it it's not a fad 6:07 it's here to stay 6:09 now I play three four times a week um I 6:12 was able to rekindle a relationship with 6:15 this guy and obviously we just won Gold 6:18 so it's been a great ride and journey 6:20 he's my best friend now I can't take no 6:23 love