Ivan Jakovljevic’s Pickleball Journey Started with a Crush (and Ended in Pro Pickleball)
Dinks On Tap: The Happy Hour Pickleball PodcastShow Notes
Let’s be honest: switching careers is hard. But switching athletic careers after more than two decades? That’s a whole different level.
In this episode, we sit down with Ivan Jakovljevic, who walked away from a 23-year soccer career to go all in on the world of pro pickleball. And it all started because he had a crush!
We dig into his unexpected pickleball journey, what it’s like learning a totally new sport later in life, and how he keeps his athlete mindset sharp even when he’s running on very little sleep and way too many gummy bears.
From emotional discipline on the court to learning how to find joy in the grind, Ivan shares what helped him make a big change in career, found purpose through pickleball coaching, how he stays focused, and why connection in the pickleball community matters just as much as competitive drive.
If you’ve ever considered a bold pivot, wondered what it’s really like to go pro, or just want to hear a story that proves it’s never too late to start over, this one’s for you.
Let’s dink, sip, and get into it.
Cheers,
Casie & Lauren
Let’s keep the conversation going! Connect with us:
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Website: dinksontap.com
More from Dinks On Tap: The Happy Hour Pickleball Podcast
How did a game three grown men made up on a badminton court, because a 13-year-old was bored, turn into the thing your group text runs on? We found the kid who complained, and he still can’t believe it either. In this episode, we get into our summer vault, full of conversations, stories, and a little pickleball drama we never got around to airing. We sat down with Frank Pritchard, the bored kid himself, who can answer “When was pickleball invented?” because he was there when his dad, Bill Bell, and Barney McCallum made up the game on Bainbridge Island. We also cover Picklr’s Chapter 11 filing and the “is pickleball dying” headlines that followed, Genie Bouchard’s paddle-tap walkout and what it says about pickleball etiquette, and why the drinks after play keep the pickleball community together. You’ll learn: Why it's called pickleball, and the Pritchard family member who came up with the name A firsthand account of who invented pickleball, from the teenager whose complaining started it What the original pickleball paddle was made of, and which founder designed it The pickleball history most players don’t know, including how scoring and serving used to work Why Frank took a 30-year break from the game, and what brought him back What Picklr’s Chapter 11 filing means for your local club, according to the general manager of the Picklr in DFW How the pickleball business can struggle while the number of people playing keeps growing Why Genie Bouchard skipped the paddle tap, and whether we think she was justified How we won a tournament this summer by giving a screaming team a taste of its own medicine
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