Kevin Richards is the owner of a new 22,000-square-foot indoor pickleball facility in Clackamas, just off Interstate 205 near the Fred Meyer.
Richard’s first entrepreneurial foray into pickleball was developing the first algorithm-based ratings system for the sport. For a few years, at pickleballratings.com, he processed player ratings for clubs all over North America before entering a two-year contract with USA Pickleball to provide player ratings for tournaments.
“I only ever did that to try to raise money for this venture. It wasn’t at all lucrative, but ironically it was all the other things I got out of that experience — the entrepreneurial lessons, the networking, and the in-depth knowledge of the pickleball world — that equipped me to make this business a reality,” he said.
Richard recently answered questions from Pamplin Media Group about himself and his new facility.
How did you get into this?
This idea had been in the works for over eight years. Some friends and I were playing another hybrid sport (soccer tennis), and I was reintroduced to pickleball.
Watching people play and then playing again myself, I realized that all the things we love about our sport were the same for what people love about pickleball — it’s easy to learn, hard to take yourself too seriously, and it’s incredibly social. That’s when I came up with the vision to build a business focused on creating a social sporting experience. Since that time, pickleball has just exploded in a way that I don’t think anyone could have predicted.
RECS stands for “Recreate, Exercise, Compete, Socialize,” four critical human experiences. When we opened in March of this year, it was clear that a lot of people who discovered pickleball during the pandemic were eager to connect with others again. Our timing was good, but the ingredients to the experience that we’re providing are really timeless.
Best part about owning this business?
My favorite part about owning the business is building a really positive community. I’ve met so many amazing people through pickleball, and to be able to provide essentially a clubhouse has been really fulfilling. It feels like the kind of place, with the kind of energy, that is really needed these days.
Finding the right location, though, wasn’t easy. We looked all over the Portland metro area for years for the right building for this venture. I grew up in Gladstone, and when this unicorn of a building popped up on the market, immediately adjacent to where I grew up, I was determined to make sure we were able to get it.
