Tag: Mike Nealy

USA Pickleball Select Series

USA Pickleball Creates 2024 USA Pickleball Select Series

USA Pickleball, the national governing body for the sport in the United States, announced five events as part of the inaugural 2024 USA Pickleball Select Series between July and October in Virginia, Alabama, California, New Jersey and Colorado. “We’re excited to offer the USA Pickleball Select Series for our members to continue to hone their […]

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USA Pickleball Cares

USA Pickleball Launches Charitable Arm

USA Pickleball has launched the organization’s official charitable arm, “USA Pickleball Serves,” as National Pickleball Month will be celebrated in April. In conjunction with the announcement and beginning of National Pickleball Month in April, USA Pickleball will host an introductory clinic at Arizona Athletic Grounds for over 120 local students on April 2, the day […]

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USA Pickleball Arizona

Mesa to Host 2024 USA Pickleball National Championships

Mesa, Arizona, will host the 2024 Biofreeze USA Pickleball National Championships from November 10–17 at the Arizona Athletic Grounds, a venue that includes 41 courts and a 2,000-seat dedicated stadium. “We look forward to welcoming our community to the Valley of the Sun to enjoy this year’s Nationals along with the beautiful weather, outdoor activities, […]

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USA Pickleball Golden Ticket

USA Pickleball Unveils New Golden Ticket Tournament Format and Schedule for 2024

USA Pickleball will have a new format for its Golden Ticket tournaments in 2024, the only guaranteed path for amateur players to play in the 2024 national championships. As featured tournaments where bracket winners earn pre-registration access to nationals, Golden Ticket events offer participants the opportunity to compete at some of the best facilities around […]

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USA Pickleball National Championships
The 2023 USA Pickleball National Championships attracted an estimated 10,000 attendees on its final day of competition. (Photo courtesy of USA Pickleball)

USA Pickleball to Explore Championships Location

At the close of its national championships, USA Pickleball has announced it will reassess plans for the future location of the event. The national governing body hosted the 2023 Biofreeze USA Pickleball National Championships powered by Invited and the PPA Tour at the Brookhaven Country Club near Dallas and said it expects to decide on […]

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USAPickleball

USA Pickleball Launches ‘Quiet Category’ of Products

USA Pickleball will launch a “quiet category” for pickleball products, an initiative that aims to reduce the sport’s sound output during recreational play. The quiet category will promote products that deliver 50% or less acoustics of the equipment used in community parks. The quiet category will include specific USA Pickleball guidelines for manufacturers with limits […]

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USAPickleball

USA Pickleball Names Mike Nealy as Chief Executive Officer

USA Pickleball has named Mike Nealy as its new chief executive officer. Nealy, a longtime sports executive, will begin his position at USA Pickleball in mid-June. Nealy served for eight years as executive director of the Arizona Sports Foundation, which operates the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl. Nealy, who becomes the second chief executive officer in USA […]

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Mike Nealy

Mike Nealy Steps Down as Fiesta Bowl Executive Director

Mike Nealy is stepping down as executive director of the Fiesta Bowl after eight years in charge of the organization with Jim Hatfield stepping in as interim executive director. The Fiesta Bowl has remained one of the biggest in the bowl postseason. The organization credited Nealy in a statement for growing community involvement around the […]

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Fiesta Bowl
Clemson's victory in the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl sent the team to its fourth national title game in five years. Photo by Jason Gewirtz/SportsTravel

Bowl Season Prepared for Anything

It has already been a rollercoaster fall for any organization that puts together a college football bowl game, or a destination that hosts one. In the summer and early fall, there was fear that the fall season would be severely downsized due to the coronavirus pandemic and it would lead to many bowl games not […]

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Rose Bowl Football
(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

So, What Happens to College Football’s Bowl Season?

Last year’s college football season was historic — the 150th anniversary of the sport became a season-long celebration culminating with one of the modern era’s most dominant teams ever, LSU, crushing Clemson to win the College Football Playoff championship game. This year’s season will be perhaps even more historic … and not for celebratory reasons. […]

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