GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Orlando Squeeze, a Major League Pickleball franchise owned by Ryan DeVos, is in Grand Rapids this week for Major League Pickleball's mid-season tournament. The tournament will be held July 10-14 at Belknap Park.
"We saw pickleball was really taking off, and people were playing it, people were interacting with the sport and engaging with it," DeVos said. "We thought it was a good opportunity to transition those grassroots players to becoming professional fans."
The team is practicing at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel in preparation for the 22-team double-elimination tournament.
DeVos bought the Squeeze in 2023 and has since been focused on growing the game in any way he can.
"We're all kind of figuring it out and figuring out how to get all the, 30 plus million people who are playing pickleball on a regular basis...over to watch actual professional," DeVos said. "It's been fun and daunting at the same time, but it's kind of a test lab."
The Squeeze roster features Vivienne David, who started pursuing professional tennis in 2013, after working at her dad's Southwest Florida tennis and pickleball retail store.
"My personal favorite thing is you can see grandparents playing with their grandchildren," David said. "You don't have to be a top, like extremely athletic to play it. If you have a little eye-hand coordination, you can."
David is joined by Tyson McGuffin, who has been an ambassador for the sport "since day one" and has a shoe and apparel deal with Sketchers.
"The main focus for me since day one was just trying to be as marketable as I can build my brand," said McGuffin. "When I'm all said and done, I...want to have a foundation to fall on."
Major League Pickleball's midseason tournament is the latest example of how the sport continues to grow. But it is far from reaching the end goals of the league and its players.
"... I want to see it grow internationally. We want to be on bigger TV networks. We want bigger prize pools, and we want to see as many people out here as we can playing," said McGuffin.
"I think a lot of the juniors that start just with Pickleball is going to take it to a whole nother level," David said.
Many pickleball players start off in tennis, but she is looking forward to pickleball being many athletes' first sport.
"...really excited to see...juniors playing, and I don't know, eventually kicking my butt," she said. "Then obviously...the Olympics. I'd love to see that."
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