Pickles & Beer
About 5 years ago, my friend, Mike—a pickleball instructor—asked my wife and me if we could help him teach a beginner's lesson to several new players. We were still pretty new ourselves and we thought it would be fun. Plus, we wanted to return the favor to Mike for everything he had done for us when we started playing ourselves.
After the lesson, Mike asked if we’d like to get a beer with him. As we were "quenching our thirst," we started thinking—why don’t more pickleball players do stuff like this more often?
Other “adult rec” sports seem to enjoy the tradition—bowling, volleyball, etc—and, heck, golf and softball teams don’t even wait until afterwards!
We ran the idea by a few of our friends and they loved it. So, we got about eight or nine friends together for the first ever “Pickles and Beer” and it was a hit!
The next week, thanks to word-of-mouth, about 24 people showed up, and the following week there were around 50 participants!
We started using Playtime Scheduler to organize the weekly events and it kept growing and growing. By the middle of the summer we were getting over 100 players almost every week—and we only had eight available courts at our local park—McGaw Park—in Fitchburg, Wisconsin.
Players would bring snacks, cookies, and a beer or two, and between games we would share stories, get to know each other personally, and, of course, talk pickleball.
In the winter—when it was too cold to play outside—we moved to a local fitness center with four available courts and still had about 60 players each week.
The feeling of community is what we love most about pickleball. Being able to meet and play with new people who become fast friends—both on and off the courts.
Fast forward to 2026, Pickles and Beer is still going strong and shows no signs of slowing down. Our beloved McGaw Park has added four more courts and now lights!
What started out as a beer with friends has become a weekly tradition—and the largest pickleball event in the entire County!