The Pickleball Tournament Survival Guide with PIG’s Mike Hoxie: How to Skip the 4-Hour Wait, Spot the Good Ones, and Make It to Happy Hour on Time
Dinks On Tap: The Happy Hour Pickleball PodcastShow Notes
You’re standing on the court, paddle in hand, staring at an empty net while the Tournament Director is nowhere to be found and your "10:00 AM start time" has officially become a suggestion.
We’ve all been there… trapped in a bracket that feels more like a gridlocked parking lot than an elite player experience.
In this episode, joining us in the hot seat is Mike Hoxie, the "Tournament Titan" and founder of Pickleball Is Great (P.I.G.). Mike has spent years modernizing pickleball tournaments from paper and pencil to seamless, text-messaged operations. He’s the expert on keeping the game moving, from coordinating the senior games at the Huntsman to managing high-stakes matches with prize money.
We're gonna dive into the organized chaos of the pickleball community with a man who has seen more court time than a Franklin pickleball. We talk about the massive pickleball growth of the last decade and the transition from the retail sports management grind to the "island style" pace of running over 150 pickleball events a year.
Here’s what we’re pouring out in this episode:
Why elite sports management means ditching the "zero occupancy" money grab to prioritize early finishes and cold drinks over keeping courts 100% jammed all day.
How referee certification diffuses 50% of on-court "hooking" and arguments just by letting players know the teacher is watching.
How the pickleball community is leading the charge by turning pickleball events into massive fundraising engines for non-profits.
Why your pickleball training should include playing against fresh bloods to see if your pickleball strategy actually holds up outside your local bubble.
We’ll also discuss why recreational pickleball players often get burned out by bad experiences and why the best pickleball strategy starts with reading the fine print before you hit that tournament registration button.
So, grab a Kahlua and cream, put down the rulebook, and find out how to spend more time dinking and less time checking your watch. Let’s get you out of the parking lot and back into the kitchen!
Cheers,
Casie & Lauren
Dinks on Tap
Let’s keep the conversation going! Connect with us:
Instagram: @dinksontap
Facebook: @DinksonTap
Website: dinksontap.com
Learn more about the Mental Caddie or LPV Coaching, check out Lauren’s website or book a Chemistry Call.
Ways to connect with Mike Hoxie and Pickleball is Great (PIG):
Pickleball Is Great - 10 Years!
https://pickleballisgreat.com/
www.facebook.com/PICKLEBALLISGR8/
twitter.com/pickleballisgr8
https://www.youtube.com/@PickleballisGR8/
**We are celebrating 10 years in the Tournament Management Business. Coast to Coast and now international with tournaments in Japan, Mexico, and soon Tahiti
Upcoming Tournaments
2026 Pickle Money Ball - Mar 19, 2026 - Mar 22, 2026
https://pickleballtournaments.com/tournaments/2026-pickle-money-ball
**New tournament with $600,000 in prize money - paid down to the 16th position. DUPR Skill based. Last minute registration ends 3/4/26
USA Pickleball Golden Ticket - Washington 7/9/26 to 7/12/26 (seattle)
https://pickleballtournaments.com/tournaments/usa-pickleball-golden-ticket-washington
**Our first USA Pickleball Golden ticket tournament! Registration starts in April! Challenger membership of $12 a year required for every player
Kimo Dejon's 1st Annual Tahiti Senior Pickleball Tournament
Jun 02, 2026 - Jun 03, 2026
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
Making friends as an adult can be surprisingly hard, but the pickleball community has a way of bringing people together fast.
Have you ever made it to the front of the paddle line at pickleball open play, only to have your partner dis you because she didn't want to play with "a beginner"?
We all love a Gail. We've met her at open play, we've been her on a bad-line-call day, and we've absolutely texted the group about her afterward. We love her enough that we tracked down the woman behind the Gail character in the movie, The Dink, and brought her to your favorite pickleball happy hour podcast.
What really goes on behind the scenes of Major League Pickleball?