Karen Schott walked into The Broadmoor in 1994 as a teaching pro. She spent eleven years learning under Dennis Ralston — a five-time Grand Slam doubles champion and International Tennis Hall of Famer — before taking over the program in 2005.

She's been running it ever since. Thirty-two years at the same club. One of the most recognizable names in racquet sports at the same property.

In 2021, she stood at the USPTA World Conference and told a room full of tennis pros: if you don't learn to teach pickleball, you'll be out of a job in two to three years. The title on her office door changed from "Director of Tennis" to "Director of Racquet Sports" shortly after.

In this conversation, we get into:

• Walking into The Broadmoor at 24 and what she saw on day one
• Eleven years learning under Dennis Ralston and what he passed down
• The standard of a five-star property — what it demands and what it protects
• The USPTA conference moment and telling her peers the hard truth about pickleball
• How coexistence actually works when you have tennis diehards and pickleball beginners on the same staff
• The economics of running racquets at a resort vs. a private club
• Women in leadership — how many are in the room and what needs to change
• Working alongside her husband David on the same team for nearly a decade
• What she'd tell a young woman who wants to be a director someday

If you run a racquets program, manage a club, or want to understand what thirty-plus years in the industry actually teaches you, this one is worth your time.



ABOUT COURTSIDE
CourtSide is a podcast about the business side of racquet sports. Long-form conversations with the owners, directors, and head pros shaping tennis, pickleball, padel, and squash. Hosted by Evan Dechtman, founder of TopSpin Digital.

New episodes every two weeks. Subscribe so you don't miss one.

Want to be a guest? Book your spot: https://topspindigital.co/courtside/book Email Evan directly: mailto:evan@topspindigital.co

Full show notes: https://topspindigital.co/courtside TopSpin Digital: https://topspindigital.co HEARD Digital Marketing: https://heardmarketing.io

CONNECT WITH KAREN SCHOTT
The Broadmoor: https://www.broadmoor.com/sports/racquet-sports/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-schott-45409422/

#CourtSidePodcast #RacquetSports #Tennis #Pickleball #TheBroadmoor #DirectorOfRacquetSports #KarenSchott #ClubIndustry #WomenInSports #TennisProfessional

Jarrett Chirico had a racket in his hand at three years old. By 11, he was at the Bollettieri Academy on a full scholarship. By 16, he was the top-ranked junior in America, playing all four Junior Grand Slams.

Today he builds racquets programs at private clubs and turns them into the highest-revenue departments in the building. He took Baltimore Country Club from $7,000 a month to nearly $100,000. He grew Royal Oaks Country Club from $1 million to over $2.5 million a year in racquets revenue, without raising prices. In 2022, he founded the Directors Club of America, a network of over 1,300 leaders across 400+ clubs.

In January 2026, Jarrett moved to North Hills Club in Raleigh to take on his next challenge: 22 tennis courts, 6 pickleball courts, and 3 padel courts.

In this conversation, we get into:

• Growing up at Bollettieri, playing Grand Slams, and the decision not to go pro
• Playing World Team Tennis for the Philadelphia Freedoms, coached by Billie Jean King
• The $7K-to-$100K turnaround at Baltimore Country Club and the $1M-to-$2.5M run at Royal Oaks
• Building the largest pickleball program in the Northeast (1,000 players a week) and pioneering clay court pickleball
• Why his crossover rates hit 80%+ when the industry average is 30%
• Founding the Directors Club of America and building a network of 1,300 directors
• The move to North Hills and what padel looks like from a director's chair

If you run programs at a club, manage a racquets facility, or want to understand what separates the best directors in the country from everyone else, this one's for you.

ABOUT COURTSIDE

CourtSide is a podcast about the business side of racquet sports. Long-form conversations with the owners, directors, and head pros shaping tennis, pickleball, padel, and squash. Hosted by Evan Dechtman, founder of TopSpin Digital.

New episodes every two weeks. Subscribe so you don't miss one.

Want to be a guest? Book your spot: https://topspindigital.co/courtside/book

Email Evan directly: evan@topspindigital.co

Full show notes: https://topspindigital.co/courtside

TopSpin Digital: https://topspindigital.co

HEARD Digital Marketing: https://heardmarketing.io

CONNECT WITH JARRETT CHIRICO

The Directors Club of America: https://www.thedirectorsclubofamerica.com

North Hills Club: https://www.northhillsclub.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jarrett-chirico-dca-b7712649

#CourtSidePodcast #RacquetSports #Tennis #Pickleball #Padel #DirectorsClubOfAmerica #NorthHillsClub #ClubIndustry #RacquetsDirector #JarrettChirico

Sam Hitman has been managing Gates Tennis Center since 1993. In 30+ years he's turned a public facility into the host of the country's largest sanctioned tennis tournament, launched two more facilities across Colorado, and built a scholarship program for kids who can't afford lessons.

Sam is the General Manager of Gates Tennis Center in Denver, Director of Tennis at Pueblo Tennis & Pickleball Center, and founder of The School of Tennis Management. He and Evan go back to before either of them got into racquet sports, they played on a championship basketball team together at their local community center.

In this conversation, we get into the parts of the job nobody puts on a podcast:

• How the public-private partnership with The Park People actually works, and what a $4.7M reconstruction looks like when the city owns the land
• Running three facilities at the same time across different markets
• The real economics of public vs. private tennis facility pricing
• How Gates added quiet pickleball courts, the paddles he tested, the investment, and a league that sold out in three days
• The School of Tennis Management, why he started teaching facility operators, not just players

If you run a facility, manage programs, or want to understand how public tennis centers actually operate, this one's for you.


ABOUT COURTSIDE
CourtSide is a podcast about the business side of racquet sports. Long-form conversations with the owners, directors, and head pros shaping tennis, pickleball, padel, and squash. Hosted by Evan Dechtman, founder of TopSpin Digital.

New episodes every two weeks. Subscribe so you don't miss one.

Want to be a guest? Book your spot: https://topspindigital.co/courtside/book Email Evan directly: mailto:evan@topspindigital.co

Full show notes: https://topspindigital.co/courtside TopSpin Digital: https://topspindigital.co HEARD Digital Marketing: https://heardmarketing.io

CONNECT WITH SAM HITMAN
Gates Tennis Center: https://gatestenniscenter.info

#CourtSidePodcast #RacquetSports #Tennis #Pickleball #GatesTennisCenter #FacilityManagement #Denver