Dec 18th, 2025

Why Great Clubs Win: Tech, Community, and Surviving the Boom Cycles

Part 2 of our conversation with Ashley Owens of CourtReserve and Tim McLaughlin of GoTab zooms out from CourtReserve’s funding story into the broader racquet-sports and hospitality landscape. Ashley and Tim dig into why pickleball, padel, tennis, and multi-sport venues are exploding, and how automation is reshaping both the operator and player experience. They compare the racquet-sports surge to past boom-and-bust cycles like craft beer, share what separates thriving facilities from struggling ones, and talk candidly about the stubborn persistence of pen-and-paper operations in public parks and rec centers.The episode closes with Ashley’s outlook on staying ahead of trends — including the careful, “safe” adoption of AI — plus a preview of CourtReserve’s Catalyst Tour and upcoming events.