Unlocking the Social Network for Racquet Sports - DUPR Nationals

Back in April, I went down to DUPR college pickleball nationals with my cofounder Rob. We wanted to talk to players about our app, SetPoint, and how we could improve group chatting for them using our AI tools.

What we heard surprised us: group chatting wasn't the biggest problem. Connection was. Staying in touch with each other was the real pain. Players graduate, transfer, take a break from playing, travel to a new city for an internship, go home for the summer — and they lose touch with each other and their club captains. And that's all just within one club.

When we kept talking to players, we realized how cool it was (and how excited they were) about being able to connect with players from other schools — their rivals — after a match. The insight: these kids are all the same age, all love pickleball, and would be great friends if they simply went to the same school.

So Rob and I decided to refocus the app on being the social network for racquet sports. Connecting your childhood friends, high school teammates, college club, and post-grad crew all in one network.

We streamlined the app to feel more like Strava and leaned into features that build community even when you're apart — like our automatic social feed.

This was a huge unlock for us.

How do you stay in touch with your old teammates? I used to scroll Instagram or check Facebook. Now it's much easier.