This holiday season, Pickleball in the Sun is helping you pick the best pickleball gifts for the entire family!

Peruse through the following guide full of paddle options to bring on your next destination with family and friends, apparel to wear on and off the courts, accessories, and of course, some of our top pickleball destination recommendations to book your next vacation.

Plus, we are extremely excited to officially launch an exclusive collaboration with Go Coastal, a Florida-based artist and friend who has designed a coastal “Pickleball in the Sun” piece that creates a unique gift for your family and friends. Check out some of the items available below and visit our Pickleball in the Sun shop.

Pickleball Paddles for the Whole Family

Franklin Sports

Franklin Sports is known for being a family brand and recently sponsored some of the best pros in the world, Julie, JW and Jorja Johnson. Their Signature Pickleball Paddle is $100 and comes in multiple colors to get one for every member in your family.

Visit FranklinSports.com to purchase your paddles!

Selkirk

Started by the Barnes family, Selkirk is a leader in pickleball paddle innovation and technology. Paddles range from $49.99 to $333 and they make it easy to shop for the right paddle for you by categorizing with the player in mind, such as best paddle for beginners, and best paddles for spin.

Visit Selkirk.com to check out their complete paddle selection for all levels of playing.

Tangerine Paddles

Tangerine is a fresh pickleball brand and having just announced their line of pickleball paddles to go along with their classic style bags, you now have the opportunity to custom order paddles with your club or brand logo on them!

Contact them for more details, but in the meantime, browse their three paddle designs that will make everyone look stylish on the courts, for an affordable price of $85 per paddle.

Visit TangerinePaddle.com to shop their pickleball bags and paddles.

Paddletek

Paddletek is one of the most seasoned paddle brands in the business, founded in 2010. As a well-respected brand in the game, whether you’re a recreational or competitive player, they have a variety of paddle options to work your way up from beginner to pro. They sponsor some of the best professional athletes in the game, including 15-year-old Anna Leigh Waters and her mom, Leigh Waters. Be sure to also check out Catherine Parenteau’s signature paddle.

Browse the Paddletek paddles available on PickleballCentral.com, ranging from $69.99 to $179.99.

Costa Pickleball

The Costa Pickleball paddles have been some of our favorite paddles since we were first introduced last year! All paddles are $99. Made with a Honeycomb Carbon Core and offering a variety of designs, these paddles will not only help your competitive game but also look stylish in your court selfies and podium photos.

Be sure to check out the “Little Monster” collection that your kids and uncles will enjoy. Visit CostaPickleball.com to check out their paddles.

Pickleball Apparel

Pickleball in the Sun Apparel

We have been proudly sporting our Pickleball in the Sun logo and now apparel items are available to you in our shop…with more on the way! This winter as you’re either playing pickleball in cooler temperatures, or cozying up on the couch with your pickleball partner, we’ll be honored if you’re wearing the Pickleball in the Sun logo.

Visit the Pickleball in the Sun shop to pre-order your holidays gifts.

AvaLee by Selkirk

Recently launched, the AvaLee line from Selkirk is some of the softest and perfectly designed apparel for women in pickleball. Created by the wives of Selkirk’s founders, AvaLee is named after their two daughters Ava and Lee and we couldn’t be more in love with the brand and story behind it.

Visit Selkirk.com to view the apparel items and paddles available. Use code ADV-PBINTHESUN at checkout to earn gift cards with each purchase. Shop for your friends and family, and after checking out the Selkirk team will send you a gift card as a thank you.

• Orders from $50-$100 will receive a $10 digital gift card

• Orders from $101-$200 will receive a $20 digital gift card

• Orders from $201-$300 will receive a $30 digital gift card

• Orders over $300 will receive a $40 digital gift card

• Orders over $500 will receive a $50 gift card

Pickleball Accessories & Gifts

Pickleball in the Sun Beach Towel

Featured in Forbes Holiday Gift Guide as a gift that is “perfect for a vacation” and “a pickleballer’s paradise!” The Pickleball in the Sun Beach towel is plush and oversized for your next getaway. 

Designed exclusively for Pickleball in the Sun by Florida-based artist, Melissa Rinaldi, of Go Coastal. The perfect gift! 

Visit the Pickleball in the Sun shop to purchase yours for $45. 

Swinton Pickleballs in a Winer Bag

Headed on a pickleball getaway for the holidays and not sure where to hold your pickleballs or your wine? Look no further than the unique “Pickleballs in a Wine Bag” carrier Swinton Pickleball has created where you can buy two and carry three pickleballs in one, and your booze in the other.

Plus, they also sell uniquely designed pickleball paddles with their top-notch Swinton branding. Visit SwintonPickleball.com to purchase.

Portable Pickleball Net

One of the reasons why the sport has grown so fast is because you can put a pickleball court just about anywhere! Pickleball brings families together just how the game first began in 1965 on Bainbridge Island.

This holiday season, purchase a portable pickleball net and get your entire family out in the driveway, in an open parking lot, at your local community park, wherever you find a 20×44 foot space, play some pickleball. Visit PickleballCentral.com to purchase.

Georgie & Lou Pickleball Bags

Mixing function and fashion, the Georgie & Lou pickleball bags will look great on and off the court. We can already picture us stepping onto an airplane with our computer and sunglasses in the bag ready for business, and paddle handle and added touch as a conversation piece for new friends to invite us onto the court.

Visit GeorgieandLou.com to view their unique designs and enter code “PBintheSUN” for 10% off.

Pickleball Blanket

A 6-foot pickleball blanket may just be what your friend or dog wants this holiday season. Soft, comfy and shaped like a pickleball, this blanket is $25.99 and you can use the code “INTHESUN” at checkout to receive 10% off.

Visit Amazon.com to purchase the pickleball blanket!

Gift a Pickleball Destination

Pickleball has made the headlines over the last couple of years because people have discovered this incredible lifestyle of getting to play a fun game that provides exercise, a social opportunity to play with friends and meet new ones, bringing families together of all ages with a common interest, and as more resorts and hotels add pickleball courts as an amenity to attract guests, we’re easily packing out paddles in our suitcases and exploring new destinations from coast to coast.

Experiences are one of the best gifts you can give to your loved ones. Add in pickleball, and that’s even better. We’ve provided our top 4 pickleball destination recommendations to jumpstart your getaway plans. Don’t forget to bring along your Pickleball in the Sun beach towel!

Find a Court on Vacation!

Already have a vacation planned and not sure if there are courts nearby? Download the PicklePlay app to easily search for pickleball courts where you’re visiting, connect with people to play together and find details on open play times.

Pickleball on a Cruise

A Pickleball in the Sun, all-time favorite vacation – a cruise! Cruise ship directors are fully aware of the pickleball addiction and the need to play while on vacation, even if you’re in the middle of the ocean. We recently cruised on the Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas and we can’t get enough as we’ll be jumping back on a couple more times this year.

On most of their ships, they have specific open play times on the sports court where they provide the pickleball net, court lines and equipment for the whole family to play with an incredible ocean view.

Visit RoyalCaribbean.com to explore your cruise options.

Omni Amelia Island Resort – Amelia Island, FL

Nestled on 1,350 acres at the tip of a barrier island off the Florida coast, the beautiful Omni Amelia Island Resort offers luxurious oceanfront accommodations with unparalleled views of the Atlantic Ocean, world-class resort pools, championship golf, and a full-service spa.

After strolling on the beach each morning, or spending the day kayaking, head over to the tennis center where they host 7 pickleball courts surrounded by canopy trees. As part of their Cliff Drysdale program, signup for lessons with their onsite pro or reserve a court to play with your family and friends.

Visit OmniHotels.com for more details.

Laura Gainor joined Greg Matzek, host of Wisconsin’s Afternoon News on WTMJ to talk about the growth of pickleball, big names like Drew Brees, LeBron James, Tom Brady, Kevin Durant and other well-known celebrities investing in Major League Pickleball, the addition of pickleball entertainment clubs around the Midwest like Real Dill Pickleball Clubs, and where local Milwaukee fans can play pickleball. 

MAJOR LEAGUE PICKLEBALL INVESTORS

Over the past few weeks Major League Pickleball has announced big name investors who have purchased teams to grow their league from 12 teams to 16 teams in the 2023 season. These strategic partners to help grow the game include LeBron James, Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Kim Clijsters and Kevin Durant. For more information, visit MajorLeaguePickleball.net.

Front Office Sports and The Dink also report on these exciting announcements.

PICKLEBALL NIGHT WITH THE BUCKS – OCTOBER 29TH

For those in the Milwaukee area, be sure to check out the Pickleball Night with The Milwaukee Bucks on October 29th. Visit their website for more details.

REAL DILL PICKLEBALL CLUBS

In Laura’s interview with WTMJ, she talks about how pickleball entertainment venues are helpign grow the sport and bringing more courts to the U.S. to keep up with the demand for the sport. For more information about our client, Real Dill Pickleball Clubs, and their mission to bring multiple clubs across the U.S. in the coming years, visit PlayRealDill.com. 

Feature story for the Pickleball Magazine July/August 2022 Issue written by Jennifer Brozak. Read the full issue HERE.

As the saying goes, when opportunity knocks, open the door. Over the past few years, Laura Gainor has heeded this ageless wisdom by transforming an unexpected opportunity into a flourishing career promoting the sport of pickleball.

Gainor is the founder of Vossberg Gainor, an agency focused squarely on pickleball marketing. She is also the creator of “Pickleball in the Sun,” a website that promotes pickleball as a luxury lifestyle and destination sport.

After a successful 15-year career in corporate and sports marketing—including a period of time that required weekly commutes between Milwaukee and Chicago–Gainor decided to launch her own agency so that she could spend more time with her young children.

“In 2019, as we were living in Chicago and I was commuting a few days a week back and forth between Milwaukee and Chicago, I decided it was time for me to venture off on my own and start my own business with the goal of getting a client or two—not knowing what was about to come and change my life,” said Gainor.

Shortly after launching her agency, Gainor’s husband Brian, a sports marketing executive, introduced her to George Bauernfeind, a marketing director with USA Pickleball. Baurenfeind had been searching for someone to assist with the organization’s rebranding efforts.

“I always say I wish I had that first call with George recorded, because I had no idea what pickleball was,” says Gainor. “I was royally confused when he was talking about the sport, but I was committed to jump in and figure it out.”

Intrigued, Gainor asked three of her friends to sign up to learn how to play pickleball at the local community center, which was hosting free clinics to teach people how to play the sport.

“Like everyone else who plays for the first time, we were hooked,” she said. “We were laughing so much and having so much fun that by the end of the night, we officially knew how to play pickleball.”

While living in Chicago, Gainor used her professional event-organizing skills to start the Chicago Pickleball Club, which met at a local gym on Friday nights. As an entrepreneur, Gainor quickly realized the potential both for the sport and for her budding agency.

“While the sport of pickleball is continuing to grow at an immense rate, there are not many marketing agencies that focus solely on the promotion of the sport, its player, and its brands,” she said. “With the need for pickleball marketing growing just as fast as the sport itself, I knew that there would be a need for agencies like Vossberg Gainor to help pickleball players and brands to distinguish themselves throughout the pickleball community.”

“We were playing pickleball weekly, but that came to an abrupt halt when indoor events were shut down,” she said. “It was devastating.”

However, in the summer of 2020, another opportunity presented itself—this time, for her family of four to relocate to one of the country’s pickleball hot spots: Florida.

“In June of 2020, after the four of us were about to hit our breaking points of being inside and forbidden to do what we loved most, we went down to Florida to visit my sister and family, who had just moved to the Nocatee community, which had 12 brand new pickleball courts and multiple waterparks for the kids,” she said.

Shortly after the visit, the Gainors made the decision to sell their home in Chicago and move to Florida to live near family. The move also allowed pickleball to become a lifestyle. Following the move, on the one-year anniversary of her business, Gainor decided to pivot her agency to become the first-ever pickleball marketing agency. The agency’s goal, she says, is to help pickleball brands, organizations, and players successfully market themselves throughout the worldwide pickleball community.

This past year, inspired by her love of travel, lifestyle, and leisure, she launched her passion project, “Pickleball in the Sun,” a website that promotes the “luxurious side of pickleball,” including exclusive destinations around the world that pickleball players can visit to play the sport. The website also partners with a variety of brands that are helping to grow the sport, such as paddles, eyewear, social clubs, activewear, and more.

“Together, this brand is focused on defining pickleball as a destination travel-worthy game, while simultaneously sharing deluxe brands and lifestyle opportunities the sport offers along the way,” she said.

As pickleball continues to grow along with her marketing agency and website, Gainor hopes that more people will find a passion for the game and discover the lifestyle that accompanies it.

“I’m excited to see more pickleball enthusiasts build more courts so that more people can have the chance to play the game,” she said. “We have a lot of exciting opportunities in the works that will bring this game from 5 million players to 10 million players faster than you think. I look forward to looking back 10 years from now and remembering these ‘early’ days, when pickleball was the hottest topic in the nation!”

Over the last nearly 3 years since having USA Pickleball as a client, it has been thrilling to see so much exposure for the growth of the sport, getting the opportunity to work with talented entrepreneurs, and seeing those efforts highlighted on national television.

On Saturday, June 18th Lester Holt’s producer reached out to USA Pickleball as they were working on a pickleball segment that focuses on kids telling other kids how to play the game to be a part of their show, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt: Kids Edition. 

I jumped at the opportunity, and in less than 24-hours time, we had arranged for their film crew to come to Nocatee, my home community in Ponte Vedra, Florida, and sent messages out to rally together more than 30 local kids to join us to film that coming Monday afternoon and have the chance to learn how to play with local USA Pickleabll Ambassador, Mike Guyot, and certified youth pickleball instructor, Ivan Ramirez. 

The kids ranged from age 4-23 with varying levels of experience playing the game. With their true reactions of either playing the game for the first time or having fun playing multiple games with their friends, the pickleball showcase was a smashing success highlighting the game as a social, yet active sport of the summer. My passion project, Pickleball in the Sun, had the opportunity to represent the sport with USA Pickleball by showcasing the community environment that pickleball brings throughout all 50 States, while outfitted with Pickleball in the Sun gear and sporting their USA Pickleball paddles.

In addition, professional pickleball photographer, Bruce Yeung‘s kids spent 5 minutes easily explaining the game to other youth as to why they love the game, who can beat their dad in a game, and how to get started as a young player.

For the live filming, I worked with the GMA producer to coordinate for the crew to film at the Brooklyn Bridge Park courts, thanks to Sarah Krauss, as their beautiful new courts with views of the New York City skyline had just opened.

Once aired on June 29th, the segment was filmed live in New York City at the Brooklyn Bridge Park with GMA correspondents Eva Pilgrim and Will Ganss as they learned how to play the game with USA Pickleball Ambassadors, Paul Curiale and Amote Sias. Paul and Amote rallied local Brooklyn players to join them for the on-air play time and lesson.

The full segment featured clips from other pickleball enthusiasts, including Nocatee interviews with my son Garrett and Barry Sams. 

Special thanks to Maris Kirs Photography for joining us for both filming days to capture behind-the-scenes photos of our Nocatee pickleball players!

NBC NIGHTLY NEWS WITH LESTER HOLT: KIDS EDITION

Behind-the-scenes photos by Maris Kirs Photography from the June 20th filming for NBC Nightly News in Nocatee, Florida.

Behind-the-scenes photos by Maris Kirs Photography from the June 21st filming for Good Morning America in Nocatee, Florida.

Pickleball in the Sun collaborates with NBC Nightly News: Kids Edition to teach Florida youth how to play the great sport of Pickleball.

Unsurprisingly, the sport of Pickleball has continued to gain traction throughout the United States, this week most notably with a primetime feature on NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt: Kids Edition! Pickleball in the Sun had the opportunity to represent the sport with USA Pickleball on national television by showcasing the active yet social environment that pickleball brings to communities throughout the country.

NBC Nightly News: Kids Edition is a segment on NBC igest of the top headlines, broken down for kids to best understand the world today. The topics range from cooking, weather, travel, sports, lifestyle, and more. 

In just two-days time, Pickleball in the Sun helped coordinate a video shoot for NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt: Kids Edition. The segment shines a light on youth pickleball and the benefits of kids learning how to play the game!  

More than 30 kids from the Nocatee community in Ponte Vedra, Florida jumped at the chance to learn how to play pickleball and be featured on NBC. The kids ranged from age 4-23 with varying levels of experience playing the game. With their true reactions of either playing the game for the first time or having fun playing multiple games with their friends, the pickleball showcase was a smashing success. 

USA Pickleball ambassador, Mike Guyot, and Nocatee’s certified youth pickleball instructor, Ivan Ramirez, both attended the shoot to teach kids how to play the game. Each adolescent that attended had the opportunity to learn the sport, practice shots with their friends and family, and experience first-hand what it is like to be a part of a television segment. 

When asked what they love about Pickleball in the Sun, the kids answered that, “Is the fact that it’s a family-oriented sport and we look forward to more kids across America learning how to play Pickleball.”

Tune in to NBC on Saturday, June 25th at 12pm EST (check your local listing) to watch USA Pickleball and Pickleball in the Sun, and other youth around the country,  tell kids how to play pickleball! Follow @NightlyKids and if you’re watching, share your photos on social media and tag Pickleball in the Sun at @pickleballinthesun. 

Photos: Maris Kirs Photography