A university lecturer once told Harvey Ravenscroft that his business plan would not work. The start-up costs were too high, the break-even point too far off and the market unproven.
The plan was real. Harvey had submitted the business he, Josh Yeng and Ben Tolley were already building as his assignment. It is now Courtside Pickleball, eight permanent courts in Stourbridge, and we spent an afternoon there on court and in conversation.
Three founders, three routes in
Josh, 35, came from a property background with a lifelong love of tennis. Harvey, 22, was a tennis and padel coach who discovered pickleball and stayed. Ben, 21, had no racquet-sport background but an eye for detail and a methodical, operational mind, and he is completing a degree apprenticeship alongside the business.
The project began when Josh asked Harvey's father, also a tennis coach, what might be possible for pickleball in the Midlands. Harvey's answer was that it sounded great and that Ben should be involved too.
Going all in on pickleball
The original plan was to build for both padel and pickleball. They found their venue, Block F on Stourbridge Industrial Estate, and realised the ceiling was about a metre too low for padel. Rather than compromise, they committed to pickleball alone.
Josh put in long hours on the build while Ben and Harvey balanced their degrees. The whole floor was screeded flat before the courts went down, a far more expensive route than rolling out temporary courts, but one they considered essential.
“It cost a huge amount more than rolling out temporary courts, but it's our USP. Quality courts are what we're here for.” – Harvey Ravenscroft
Inside Courtside
There are eight courts, all permanent, on a screeded floor with an acrylic surface, with proper spacing, nets and lighting. An industrial unit sounds utilitarian on paper. In person it has a viewing area, a bar and the background noise of eight courts full of people enjoying themselves.
Some community groups have already moved their sessions here from a leisure centre nearby. The club is open from nine in the morning until the doors close at nine at night, and something is usually on.
The community around it
Ask the team what they are proudest of and the answer is not the courts. It is the people.
Ollie started playing two months before our visit, at a time when he was not doing much physical activity and was unsure he would enjoy it. He is now playing at 3.0 level, posting videos and training with Harvey ahead of upcoming events.
The groups that have made Courtside their base include the Salty Picklers, U3A sessions and Power Pickleball, alongside weekly socials and coached beginner programmes. A doubles league runs across seven divisions with promotion, relegation and a WhatsApp group for every tier. There is a junior championship, and tournaments for outside organisers are hosted most weekends.
What comes next
Courtside is in its first year, and the founders are being deliberate about what follows. Their ambition is a network of Courtside venues across the UK.
“We can't wait to provide the rest of the UK with more venues like Courtside, with the same quality and the same community.” – the Courtside team
Harvey's view is that the racquet-sport clubs that last are the ones that build a community, not the ones that lay down courts and collect pay-and-play fees. If people come in and never see a familiar face or get any real experience, he says, a club can still do well for a couple of years. He pointed to what happened with padel in Sweden as the cautionary example.
A year in, the evidence on court is a seven-division league, a junior championship and a full calendar from morning to night.
Visit Courtside Pickleball
Location: Block F, Bay 5 & 6, Stourbridge Industrial Estate, Stourbridge, DY8 1JN
Courts: 8 purpose-built indoor pickleball courts
Sessions: Social play, coaching, leagues, tournaments and events across the week
Booking: Book online
Contact: harvey@courtsidepickleball.co.uk
Social: @courtsidepickleballuk
