Life Lessons from Pickleball™

E80: Ezekiel and Matthias Wagner: The Next Generation of Pickleball

Shelley Maurer and Sher Emerick Episode 80

Brothers Ezekiel and Matthias Wagner represent the next generation of pickleball, young players using their passion for the game to build community and connection. As Selkirk Junior Advocates, they have brought pickleball to their schools, church, and even their local fire department, inspiring others with their heart, humility, and drive. Their story is about family, faith, and the joy of growing the game together, one court at a time. 💛🎾 Tune in at: http://www.lifelessonsfrompickleballpodcast.com

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SPEAKER_04:

Hi, I'm Shelly Mauer. And I'm Cher Emrik. Welcome to Life Lessons from Pickleball. Where we engage with pickleball players from around the world about life on and off the court. Thanks for joining us.

SPEAKER_05:

Welcome everyone to Life Lessons from Pickleball. We are so glad you've joined us. And for those of you who are new and watching on YouTube, you will see that Shelly is wearing a very serious neck brace. So, Shelly, tell us about it.

SPEAKER_03:

Well, for those of you that have to hear this every week, I'm sorry. But for the new listeners, we just want to make sure everyone knows this is not a pickleball accident. This happened. I was hiking on a mountain in Switzerland and had a fall. And I've had this on for a couple months now. And hopefully it's going to be taken off very shortly. And I can't wait.

SPEAKER_05:

Can't wait. She can't wait to get on the pickleball court too. Yay. And how excited are we to have Ezekiel and Matthias Wagner, two brothers who represent the next generation of pickleball. Ezekiel and Matthias, the energy and the heart and the commitment that you bring to growing this game is really inspiring.

SPEAKER_03:

Ezekiel and Matthias, you are Selkirk Junior advocates who have taken your love of pickleball and turned it into something much bigger by using the game to connect with your schools, churches, and communities.

SPEAKER_05:

And you're not just talented young players, you are also role models for how passion, hard work, and humility can make a difference both on and off the court.

SPEAKER_03:

We can't wait to hear about your journey. But first, let us know how did you guys get introduced to pickleball in the first place?

SPEAKER_02:

You want to start? I'll start. Okay. First of all, that was quite the introduction you gave us, so thank you very much. It was probably a lot more than either of us really deserved. But um I first got started with pickleball. Back to the question in Southern California while on vacation. Number of years ago, I don't know, how many would you say? Probably eight. Eight eight something like that. Um and oh, I don't think it's been that long, but whatever it was, it was at a local park. And now I have five younger siblings, so I'm the oldest, and Matthias is third in line. And so we were going to this, you know, community park, and there were lots of pickleball courts at the park. So as kids, you know, we're just there for the playground and that kind of thing. But I had walked over there and asked if I could get in on a game. So somebody was kind enough to loan me a paddle, and I played on the pro side, as they coined it, um, not knowing at all. And I played as a single, you know, with another uh older lady, and she was excellent in teaching me, but we got whooped. Um it was a lot of fun, but we got whooped. So ever since that one time on vacation, uh, it was very enjoyable, but we didn't play it, uh, or I didn't play it at all that summer, you know, here at home. It was actually the following trip at the same park that we kind of went back into it. I think Matthias can speak to that a little bit.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, so we go about twice a year, and I didn't I didn't learn alongside of him the first time he he learned it. But um there was an older man who gave us four paddles and for our whole family of eight. And so we took turns using them um every time we went back to that park, and so I kind of learned alongside of him. I think he kind of taught us the rules. Um, but mom was also very influential in the teaching um for us, and I think we learned very slowly in the next couple of years, and we only played at that one park, and we never played at home. So it was kind of a slow process in getting uh really started, but yeah, it it was fun.

SPEAKER_02:

Which is interesting because that one park is in you know Southern California and Palm Desert area, Fritz Burns, Fritz Burns Park, an amazing park. I'm not sure some of your listeners may know of it. Uh they just expanded. I think how many courts do they have now? You know, like 16. I think. Is it is it 16? I thought they had like more. I thought they put eight more in, but whatever it is, it's a lot of courts, and the energy is great every morning. And being up here in Washington, that's where our house is, going to Southern California for vacation to that one park is just so refreshing. Uh because we're at the tail end of summer, kind of autumn now, and even today I was like, I wonder if it's gonna be nice enough to sit outside. So that's that's kind of how we started.

SPEAKER_05:

That's so cool. So your whole family plays?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, yeah. Our whole family plays now, and um, they kind of started playing maybe two or three years ago. Um, and we always go to parks and we play as families, but now that we have our own court at home, we're always playing.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

And you just had that put in, you told us. How long ago? How long ago?

SPEAKER_01:

It was about two months that we finally got it finished. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02:

It was quite it was quite the process uh to have a home court here. So where we live, there was a large kind of forested area behind our home. And so personally, uh, dad and us boys and a couple of a couple of the younger siblings took out 30 trees, 30 tall cedar trees uh here by behind our home. And then, you know, we hi hired out some of the equipment, that kind of thing, and uh, it's pretty crazy that we have done it. And we just finished two days ago putting in our own lights, so full aluminum posts and everything, but it's pretty awesome.

SPEAKER_03:

Wow. Yeah, so that just shows you guys are a serious pickleball family.

SPEAKER_00:

We are, yeah, yeah.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

So what what is it about pickleball that made you guys want to keep playing?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I'd say um we went to I signed up for a tournament, I think one year ago in August, and that we still hadn't been playing very much. We had bought our own net and we were going to like a park maybe once a month, but that was really it. And I was dedicated. I was like, okay, I want to sign up for a tournament and beat some people because I'd just been playing against my family. So I was like, I'm gonna do this. So I went and I signed up for a men's 5.0 plus open. I had played against my family only. I was it was crazy. Yeah, I had so much confidence in myself. But um, so I went to that tournament and I played against the 90th best player in the world, another Selkirk um advocate. And I lost 11-1, 11-1, and I was so destroyed and humbled. But it was great. From there on, he referred me to the Selkirk Youth Program. And for the past year, we've gotten so big um and really impacted the community and our family. So yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

But I think even that you got one point off of that, those put I mean, that's really impressive, right? Yeah, you didn't get golden pickled.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I got one, yeah. And likewise for me, I after Matthias had signed up for that tournament, a singles tournament, you know, I was like, I guess I'll sign up for it as well. It was in Bend, Oregon. Uh I think one of Selkirk's larger tournaments. And so I was playing with this. Well, he was playing with an old YOLA, and it was all battered around the edges, and the referees were like, I'm not even sure if this is allowed. You know, had a it's electrical tape wound around it. It was crazy.

SPEAKER_05:

I hope you have pictures of that.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I think we do, yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

You need pictures of where you've been and where you're going. So you mentioned being uh Selkirk advocate. So had you at what point did you guys decide, yeah, let's check that out?

SPEAKER_01:

So it was when that player, that Selkirk advocate that had beaten me, he referred me to that program. He said they have a great program for youth, and um you can get like free gear, free paddles right off the bat. Um, all you had to do was really submit your duper rating, and it had to be, I think, like above 4.5. And my duper said above 4.5 because I had played against him and he was like 6.0. And so oh, okay. So they accepted me, and I've had it for a year and it's been great, and I've gotten, I mean, tons of free gear. I've been able to um influence our church specifically. Um, so I've really enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. And like again, likewise, Matthias had been in touch with that one player, and after he had been accepted to Selkirk's advocate program and was given right off the bat, like he said, you know, these uh free paddles, which were nice paddles and stuff, I was like, okay, I can't let this slide, you know, I have to apply for this as well. And so I did, and you know, it it wasn't that difficult. I had played in the one tournament, and I was more fortunate than Matthias to not play against the 90th best player in the world and actually won a match, you know, and lost lost two others. But yeah, it worked out well, and then since then just renewed another one-year term. So we're both on our second year of advocacy for them. So it's been great.

SPEAKER_03:

Until you guys reached out to us, I had never heard of the Selkirk Junior Advocacy Program. So could you tell our listeners what is it?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, so the purpose is to grow pickleball and the enthusiasm for pickleball in the community, um, and just wherever you are around you. Um, and the brand and selkirk. And the brand. Yeah. So the main thing that they want you to do is called a demo day, which is where set up a table and you have like six different paddles of theirs, and you advertise on social media, um, just buy flyers, whatever. And you have people come and test out the paddles on a court, and they get to see what fits them best. And so you explain the different shapes, the different models, that type of thing. So um that's kind of the main way that they want you to uh incorporate their brand um into your, I guess, your pickleball life. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

And do they have specification on how many hours or how many presentations? I mean, are they is it loose or is it pretty?

SPEAKER_02:

It's pretty, it's pretty loose uh as it regards like what they require of you. Now, Selkirk, you upload you can you have a choice to upload your events each month to their website, basically. And the more things you upload, the more store credit you receive. I see. So if you want to retain your advocacy and you want to actually be, you know, a good salesman, basically, for them, then you better be doing a lot of events. So we've hosted clinics. Uh, we're trying to get pickleball into the schools, and then Matthias is trying to get it into the fire department. Um then you can also upload videos on social media. So that's what we've been doing a lot of recently is like our drills and what we like about Selkirk's products specifically. And then obviously, that's seen by everybody, as I'm sure you know, with your podcast.

SPEAKER_05:

So yeah, and you guys are double partners, right? You're doubles partners or no?

SPEAKER_01:

We've played one tournament as doubles partners together. We played that, I think, two months one or two months ago. And um, we got we got pretty destroyed again. Um we signed up for a tournament kind of beyond our level. We're just hungry for competition, um, because it's a lot of it with um locals. So uh we definitely got our competition. Um, but we we play fairly well together. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

And do you see that as what you're going to pursue in the future? Do you prefer singles? Do you want other doubles partners? What what is your thinking at this point?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, so for me, I am still young. I'm still 14 years old.

SPEAKER_05:

So I'm You are 14. OMG. All right.

SPEAKER_01:

So I'm thinking of kind of pursuing pickleball more, and I haven't done a junior PPA yet. So that's what I'm looking, looking forward to. I think I might do one um the Masters in California. Oh yeah. Um, so I'm looking toward more pickleball, but I don't know about with him necessarily because he's he's kind of moving on. I'll let him speak for himself, but he's kind of moving on. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I guess for for me, I am it's hard to say because I love I love the sport of pickleball, and I'll keep doing it all of my life. And uh right now I'm just very busy. So I play with Matthias only, and Matthias has only been playing with me. But I uh I'm 17 right now. I'll be 18 in November, and after that, I am ineligible for like the junior PPA. So I gotta get Matthias's turn to like, you know, kind of dominate the junior PPA and not bring him up with me so that we can be crushed once again uh higher level. So I'll probably play in the masters, I'll probably play in a few more localized tournaments, but I'm not sure how professional I'll go, and it'll be doubles for me. Um, I might do some singles, but my body is just not quite built for the singles like his is like he beats me in singles, and he's three years younger than me. So there's something to be said about that.

SPEAKER_05:

That feels tumbling, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Really good, really, really good.

SPEAKER_03:

Well, so what's your favorite part about representing Selkirk and helping grow the sport in your community?

SPEAKER_01:

So let's see. I'm going with my favorite part of representing Selkirk is probably guiding the church along. Like our church had not even known of pickleball.

SPEAKER_00:

Not at all.

SPEAKER_01:

And we really hadn't either. And then when we first learned about it, we spread it right away and we got it growing really fast. So we had this one family in particular who got really gung-ho about it, and so they were at the park every day playing, and so just to be able to share, I guess, the Selkirk brand and the sport of pickleball to them. Um, and they're all Selkirk now, too. They have Selkirk shoes, Selkirk clothes, Selkirk paddles, like they're all for it too. So it's just so good to see it um growing in that way. Um, and our church has like pickleball nights now, so now like every Friday night we go play pickleball. So it's just really good to see it grow.

SPEAKER_02:

For me, um, Selkirk doesn't seem like they're trying to get a ton of money, like maximize their interest. And then they're also a Christian company at one point. Um, I th I think they still have it on many of their paddles, but some of the first paddles that we had purchased from them uh had these Bible verses printed on their packaging. And I just love that they kind of represented the Christian faith in what they sold. And so with that in mind, and they're family-oriented as well. If you go to Selkirk's kind of about us page, they're run by a family. It's family-owned and it's made in Idaho and that kind of thing. And I just love kind of how local they are and how they sponsor some of the more local tournaments. It seems like they've, at least from my perspective, it seems like they've shrunk away from like the larger PPAs to sponsor a lot more local tournaments. So it seems like they're really for your local community. And I love sponsoring or being sponsored by Selkirk because that way I can, you know, communicate to other people that their products are meant for players like you. They're not just meant for the pros. You know, they're meant for beginners, they're meant for intermediates, and they're meant for the pros. Um, so I think that's probably the largest thing that I love about Selkirk.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, I love Selkirk. They're my favorite court shoes, and my Selkirk Lux Air is my favorite paddle. Some people will have a whole bag of paddles. I don't want to play with anything except for my Selkirk Lux Air. I just love it. Yeah, it's good.

SPEAKER_05:

And I bought three pairs of my Selkirk shoes because I don't want anything to get in the way of me having really good souls. And so, and I don't want, in case they change the style or something, I want to have the my favorite shoes. So I just love my Selkirk shoes. Yeah, well, and you're right. I mean, it's very family-oriented. I I didn't know about the Christian perspective, but I did know that they were very family. It's a family business, they even their marketing feels very family-oriented. And like it's pickleball for the people, like you said, it's definitely for the pros too. They love it too, but I love how they're expanding it just in the regular communities. And kids, you know, it used to have so many of our guests would say, I didn't want to play this game. It's for old people, it's yet, and then they realize, ha ha ha ha. And now the kids definitely are into it. And I it's very sweet that you guys now have your church involved and Friday night pickleball. What a great community-building experience, right? So good.

SPEAKER_03:

And tell us about you're thinking about getting into the fire stations, you said. Tell us about that.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, so Selkirk has an excellent growth program for schools and um first responders. So I have a couple friends and they're firefighters, and so I'm like, okay, this is a great opportunity to get pickleball in the department. And he had already told me that there was some pickleball um in his department, that everyone kind of brought their own paddle, that it was they moved the trucks out and they set up a net and they played in their in their garage. But I was thinking if they all had really nice paddles, then they could play like department pickleball, and like one department plays against another, kind of like they it was softball leagues and things like that. So um he filled out the form, and we're still waiting for Selkirk to get back, but um, we're really excited for what Selkirk's gonna do. Um, they give away free paddles for things like these. Um, so we're just excited for what Selkirk's gonna do in the department.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

I love that. I know that that is happening around the country for first responders, police, firefighters, medical professionals. It's such a great and even mixing, like having police and firefighters mixing it up, not against each other necessarily, but side by side. And there's it just breaks down the barriers that may very well be there. And you you forget those barriers when you are playing side by side on the court. I have a question for you guys. Um, what would you say you've learned about yourselves in this journey that you're on?

SPEAKER_02:

Recently this July, I had come back uh from visiting a college, and when I had come back, it was, you know, our court was fairly new, and we played with our family, right? And I have five younger siblings, so I I like to count myself above average within our family, at least, for my pickleball skills. And so one thing that I had kind of picked up from my visit and some of the people who were speaking there was that I should really be categorizing my games differently than I was. Before that, I had been playing my games as okay, this is either gonna be a non-competitive game or it's going to be a competitive game. And I'll just treat it like such. But then afterwards, I was like, that that's probably a poor way to think about it for my teammate and for my opponents, because every time I decide it's a non-competitive game, it feels like maybe I'm shaming them or something like that. And obviously, I'm not telling them, okay, this is a non-competitive game, but you give the idea, you know, you have this stage in your mind where you're like, you know, I'm gonna I'm gonna tone it down a little bit. And so instead, I started to transition to say that I should categorize my games into this is a game where I'm going to be more likely to give my teammate compliments, or this is a game where I'm more likely to not. Like we're gonna be working together and then we fail as a team, that kind of thing. And so that's kind of shaped my perspective on at least playing pickleball a little bit more. That now I can still try hard, I can try well, I don't have to tone it down, but I can at the same time be playing a little bit more lightheartedly than I would otherwise. So I'd say that's probably the biggest thing for me.

SPEAKER_01:

And for me, I would say it's thinking of myself, I think a little less, a little less good of myself. I think I put myself a little too high when I think of pickleball. Like we enter 5.0, and really I'm like a four-five or something like that. Um, so I just kind of realized I've been playing against my family, I'm always beating them. But it's like, okay, well, I'm not actually that good because I need to realize that there are other people out there who are playing against better people who are learning all the time, and I gotta realize that I'm not the best out there, you know. And there are so many others that are better than me, and I just gotta kind of humble myself.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

Which is so important for a 14-year-old. Because this is kind of the time when you're really figuring yourself out, uh, generally speaking. Um, not that we have our not that I have myself figured out, but it's a really important part of the of li of growing up. And it can kind of take over, like, wow, how good am I? If I'm good on the pickleball court, I'm the best at everything. No, yeah, it's good for you for recognizing, okay, I want to keep my ego in in check. And also when you're playing with somebody who is not quite as skilled as you, it gives you an opportunity to just kind of practice some of those shots that you are wanting to get more control over and not necessarily try to beat the socks off the other person. But how fun that you have this family unit to be able to practice all this because it here you are, Matthias, having this really important insight at 14. A lot of kids don't have that yet, and so good on you. And as you and then it's how important is it to you, your personal life, winning and losing? Can you can you lose a game or a match and still feel okay about yourself? I think a lot of times people who excel in sports or anything, when they don't succeed, it crushes them personally as opposed to I didn't win the match. How do you guys deal with your losses?

SPEAKER_01:

So for me, I've always been super competitive. I used to play baseball and I would I would go in tears when I lost the game or when I dropped the ball. Like I was so frustrated with myself. Um and growing up a little bit, just a little bit, um I've kind of kind of figured out that you can't get on yourself for losing that one match. You maybe had a bad day, you had you had something go wrong, and you can't just blame it on your partner. I've had that temptation a lot of times, and I've done it before. It's like, well, he made the mistake, you know. Um but I've just kind of learned to kind of take it on myself, but not take it too hard on myself, and just to know that it's one loss, you have good days and bad days, and get over it, you know.

SPEAKER_05:

So and you're more than pickleball, yeah, definitely. And it's and so often to be reminded that it's the relationships and the people that are so much more important than the game. Yes, that's what we keep being told. And we have agreed.

SPEAKER_03:

Uh one guest that I loved what they said, they said instead of thinking of it as a win-loss, thinking of it as a learn-learned. So what did I what did I learn through the winning? What did I learn through the loss? Right. So just always looking at it from that perspective. It was really helpful to me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

So in your adventures of life and on the court, have you come across some, I guess, Matthias, you've just kind of reflected a little bit. We're talking about life lessons. Either a life lesson that you learned in your family and growing up and you put into place while you're playing the game, or like you, Matthias, realizing, whoa, I I'm taking these losses really hard and it's affecting how I feel about me. But are there things that you've learned on the court, life lessons, and you think, whoa, you know what? I'm gonna make sure that's a part of my life. Can you share some life lessons?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I'd say one main life lesson for me is when you're playing with someone who's a lesser skill level than you. Because I do that a lot. I play with my younger siblings, I play with my mom and dad, and which they used to beat you consistently. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

There was a time.

SPEAKER_01:

Like about a yeah, just over a year ago, I started beating them. But for like two or three years, they were beating me. Yeah, and so now it's hard to even imagine. Um it is But anyway, when I'm playing with someone a lesser skill level, I just gotta think of it as a teaching and less of a like you made the mistake, what did you do wrong? I gotta think of like here's what you should do next time. And think of it a little more lightheartedly and a little take it a little softer on them. Because I'm always taking it hard and be like, hey, you hit that into the net, you did something wrong with your foot, you know, just tell them what to do right instead of pointing out they're wrong. Something like that.

SPEAKER_06:

That's a good one. Yeah, yeah. For me, Ezekiel?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I'll give it a go here. For me, I haven't been much of a competitive person, just by nature, right? If I don't, if I don't get my way in a pickleball point or whatever it may be, you know, I kind of just flail on the ground. I don't really like take after it and be like, okay, I I just gotta beat them in the next point or something like that. I'm just like, okay, whatever. Um, so I think the largest maybe life lesson that I've learned on the court is actually as it regards pickleball strategy and doubles. Um, and that's it's not your own box. I just gotta say. I've all I we love to poach with Matthias and I. And even when we're on, you know, a team together. But you have your right box and your left box. And just because, you know, you start in the right doesn't mean that you stay in the right for the whole point. Like, you gotta have a lot of lateral movement from side to side on the court, and applying that to my life off of the court, which is probably the majority of my life, is really invaluable. Um it probably can't be stressed enough that you don't have your task, and this is your task only. Like your responsibility files into so much of somebody else's life as well, especially being a part of a family of eight. Um, whatever my life is, it's also my brothers, my sisters, my other sisters, my other brothers, my mama, my mom and dad's. Um and so remembering that is very helpful. Like I don't stay only in my little box and do the dishes on my night or anything, but we just take turns, we do it together as a family. And so being a part of a family and being a part of a team whenever I'm playing pickleball is helpful to remember, you know, that I am not in my own world on my own. I'm with it, I'm sharing it with everybody else.

SPEAKER_05:

Beautiful, beautiful, and that go carries into when you're at your church or when you're in the community, when you're in a store, when you're doing anything else, and you're at school, going to your new college. Yeah, wow, very, very cool. You guys makes me feel very hopeful for our future in this world. Yes, indeed. Because you you both bring such a sense of uh self at your young ages. 18 is uh moving in you are an adult any minute now. I mean, technically, right? But you guys both have very adult hearts and um very inspiring. Very inspiring indeed. Wow. So, how can people find you and follow you?

SPEAKER_01:

So I guess they can find us and follow us. We have a social media page. Um, I think it's Bert and Ernie with underscores. So I think it's like Bert underscore and underscore Ernie. You're close.

SPEAKER_02:

You're close. Or am I close? Yeah, you're close. So on Instagram and YouTube, on Instagram and YouTube, the handle is just underscore bert underscore and underscore Ernie. Spelled E-R-N-E for the Ernie. So just Bert and Ernie um for Instagram. And uh yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

So those are the So for those who who don't know in pickleball what's an Ernie.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay. You take yeah I'll take the Ernie, you take the Bert. Oh okay you Ernie. Yeah. So yeah so the Ernie shot was developed by a a man I think whose name was Ernie and he lived, I think only 20 minutes away from where we are right now. And it's a shot where you're up at the net and the opposing team hits a shot, you know, up kind of above the net and it's not a dink. It's not necessarily a lob and you don't want to step into the kitchen and take it out of the air because that's a big no-no. So instead you dodge the kitchen on the outside of the court while hitting it out of the air. So you're kind of leaping over the kitchen corner, hitting it out of the air kind of still right in their face and then landing outside of the kitchen. So it's a very technical shot and it's a very um aggressive move. One that I'm not known for particularly so yeah and then Bert?

SPEAKER_01:

A Bert, yeah. So a bert is the same thing as an Ernie except you jump across your neighbor's your partner's kitchen. So you're in your own box, you run over to their side and you jump across their kitchen and hit it. So that's really complicated.

SPEAKER_05:

That doesn't happen very often that is really complicated and I've never heard of it. Had you shell no I didn't know a bird was a thing no I love it. Yeah bird and Ernie yeah we've got to practice those yeah are you guys flying in the air are you guys known for your Ernie's not known for our birds and earnies no we're not but we are definitely avid tenant uh pickleball players avid pickleball players yeah very good oh my gosh what fun to talk with you both and Selkirk's very lucky to have you representing them we this was not this is not a marketing episode but I'm really happy to promote Selkirk it's meant a lot to us our very first paddles yeah and um yeah it's an amazing company and we believe pickleball is changing the world it's certainly changed our lives clearly it's changing yours and this whole concept of bringing the world together on one court sounds pretty awesome. Yeah so thank you both thank you very much for being with us today thank you thank you it's been awesome it has been it's been a lot of fun and thank you all for joining us today okay just underscore bert underscore and underscore Ernie E-R-N-E. Correct am I right that's right oh you guys follow them all these guys and and we said Shelly and I said maybe this is the next Colin and then John's so we knew you win guys we knew you win. Yeah that's right well thank you all thanks for joining us and we look forward to a new conversation next week.

SPEAKER_03:

Bye bye bye if you love our podcast we'd be so grateful if you'd take a few seconds to follow or subscribe to Life Lessons from Pickleball. This ensures you'll never miss an episode and helps us continue these wonderful conversations.

SPEAKER_05:

On Apple Podcasts Spotify or wherever you listen go to the show page and tap the follow button in the top right corner. And on YouTube click the subscribe button under any of the episodes. Thanks so much. Hope to see you on the court