Ten years ago, Melissa McCurley remembers the world of pickleball.
The best players in the world were in their 60s. There were two companies manufacturing paddles and PickleballTournaments.com was home to about 100 tournaments per year.
Now, as McCurley just finished her last day on the job as CEO for PickleballTournaments, com, pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in the country for another year, there are hundreds of paddle companies, pro pickleball is consumed on every platform including the Big 5 TV networks, and the best female player in the world isn’t even 17.
And PickleballTournaments.com is the landing spot for more than 1,000 tournaments and tens of thousands of players.
It’s been quite the run for McCurley, who can take responsibility for a large part of the growth of pickleball over the past decade.
“I am not sure anyone could’ve foreseen that kind of explosion,” she said. “All I know is, I was being called to leave my corporate information technology career at Ross Perot’s EDS and American Express after almost 20 years to go serve the pickleball competition community.”
McCurley was approached by the owners of PickleballTournaments.com to come take over, which she did, and helped lead a transition from a small-time operation with just herself and her brother running things to what it is today with more than 40 employees.
She’s overseen thousands of tournaments, run nearly 150 of them, and trained hundreds of people on how to operate and organize tournaments. McCurley estimates she’s processed more than 300,000 scoresheets during her time at PickleballTournaments.com.
“I may not know a person, but I’m sure I’ve seen their name on a scoresheet,” McCurley admitted.
McCurley had been working on tour before there was a tour, giving her the chance to meet and befriend players across the U.S. She is well-known to many of the pros currently touring, including World #1 Ben Johns.
“Melissa has been a staple in the sport for longer than most players,” said Johns. “She has given so much to pickleball, knows the pro circuit inside and out, and is a friendly and familiar face at tournaments. Pickleball has been lucky to have her.”
It’s been a good run in pickleball for McCurley where she has been able to influence the direction of the sport through her website. That influence also led her to help others launch big pickleball brands like the PPA Tour, USA Pickleball regionals and nationals, the U.S. Open and more.
“We have known Melissa for many years, and she has worked behind the scenes tirelessly for our sport,” said Leigh Waters, PPA Tour player and mother of No. 1 singles and doubles player Anna Leigh Waters. “She has done so much to support the growth of pickleball, and most people probably don’t realize what an impact she has made.”
McCurley said she was thinking about retirement a lot during the past few years, but the opportunity didn’t really come up until recently.
“With acquisitions, mergers, transitions, staff training, and customer service needing to keep up with the unprecedented growth in tournaments and players, it wasn’t the right time,” she said. “Fast-forward two years, much progress has been made in all areas and a small window of opportunity presented itself to retire.”
There’s no doubt McCurley’s expertise and years of experience running tournaments will be missed.
“I’ve been working with Melissa since the PPA Tour’s inception in an industry where the unexpected is your bread and butter,” said Conner Ogden, the PPA Tour’s VP of Tournaments. “Running tournaments for hundreds of players week in and week out is no joke, but Melissa has always kept us on track and worked countless hours behind the scenes to keep things running smoothly.”
Andie Price will take over McCurley’s role on-site at tournaments.
“Melissa was and still is my mentor in the pickleball world,” Price said. “She has shared a wealth of wisdom, but she has also supported me in my professional and personal journey over the past year. She taught me many things and pushed me when I needed to be pushed beyond what I thought I was capable of. She has an uncanny sense of what people can handle, and she knows when they are ready to fly on their own.”
Pickleball is still relatively new, having flourished recently over the past 10 years. McCurley’s PickleballTournaments.com wasn’t just a place to register for tournaments, it was a service-providing operation where she and her staff did everything from tournament operations to staff training to registration management, both on and off-site.
“Melissa is one of the toughest and hardest-working people I know,” said Hannah Johns, PPA Tour TV Reporter and Editor-in-Chief. “Her emphasis on structure, process, and customer experience, even when it would be easier to cut corners and make exceptions, is something that I really respect. She has always worked to preserve the integrity of the sport and is a wonderful ambassador for pickleball. She will be so missed!”
Now, McCurley will head into retirement from PickleballTournaments.com. She’ll still involve herself in the sport, helping run a few tournaments. But she won’t have any regrets.
“I have accomplished all I wanted to, and more, in these past 10 years,” she said. “I don’t have a single regret. There will always be things we wish we could’ve done differently or done more of or less of, or none of, but I believe things happen the way they are supposed to and that we should wake up each day grateful for what we do have and not complain about what we don’t.”
What the pros are saying about Melissa:
“Melissa has been a huge staple in the pickleball community for as long as I’ve been playing pickleball. Not only did she create PickleballTournaments.com, but she has always been such a positive pickleball figure for everyone she’s been in contact with. Thank you so much [Melissa] for all the countless hours of hard work and taking care of us all throughout the years. It will not be the same without you, and we wish you all the best.”
Michelle Esquivel, PPA Tour player
“I will definitely miss her around, not only because she played a key role in the growth of pickleball, but also because she is an awesome person and friend. Thank you for everything, Melissa.”
Lucy Kovalova, PPA Tour player
“We are thankful for Melissa and can’t wait to see what she does next.”
Leigh Waters, PPA Tour player
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