Rick Witsken (born January 1972) is a former American tennis player and pickleball player, ^{[1] [2] [3]} tennis coach, ^{[4] [5]} and entrepreneur. ^{[6] [7]} He is the founder of Team Witsken and ^{[6] [8] [9]} co-founder of the National Pickleball League (NPL).

Education

He was a State Champion in Carmel High School ^[10] in 1987 and 1988. ^{[6] [11]} Witsken pursued a bachelor's degree in Sports Management and Marketing from the University of Alabama. ^[12] At the University of Alabama, he was an NCAA tennis player and a two-time All-American. ^{[13] [6] [14] [15]}

Career

Witsken began his post-playing career working with his brother, Todd Witsken, at the Indianapolis Tennis Center. ^[5] He was the director of tennis at Woodstock Country Club. ^{[6] [16]} He coaches Zionsville Eagle Rec and is the head coach of the Zionsville girls and Carmel boys and girls middle school teams. ^{[6] [1] [4]}

After his brother died in 1998, Witsken formulated Team Witsken Tennis in 2001. ^[13] It is an organization that provides professional instruction to tennis and pickleball players in Indianapolis. ^{[6] [1] [9]} In 2010, Witsken represented the US in the Tony Trabert Cup in New Zealand. In 2011, he and Matt Schiller defeated Matt Allare and Steve Williams 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 in the men's open final of the Bernard Master Tennis Classic. ^{[14] [15]}

In 2021, he organized a 2-day match at Brickway Tennis and Pickleball Club. ^[17] In 2014, Witsken started competing in pickleball tournaments professionally. ^{[17] [18] [12]} Witsken founded the first public educational middle school pickleball team at Zionsville Middle School. ^{[18] [12] [19]}

Witsken and his wife, Bridget Witsken, lobbied to bring a pickleball tournament to Indianapolis and secured the Indianapolis Pickleball Open, an Association of Pickleball Professionals tournament. ^{[20] [5] [17]}

In 2020, Witsken brought the first-ever pro pickleball tournament, the Indy Open, to Zionsville. ^{[4] [21]} In December 2022, he established NPL with Beth Bellamy. www.USA-NPL.com ^[22] In 2022, Witsken hosted the Pickleball tournament, the APP $35k Indianapolis Open, at Mt. Vernon High School in Fortville, Indiana, sponsored by Arnold Meyer Realty. ^{[23] [24] [12]} In January 2023, Nike Pickleball Camps, a division of US Sports Camps, teamed up with Witsken to offer multiple camp sessions at different locations in the US. ^{[16] [18]}

Accomplishments

Witsken is a two-time IHSAA State Singles Champion ^[12] and Indiana State Champion. ^{[14] [6] [25]} He received four gold medals at the US Open Pickleball Championships. ^{[8] [7] [1] [26] [27] [28]} In 2019, Witsken won gold in Men's Open Doubles at International Indoor Pickleball Championship. ^[29] He earned gold in Pro Men's Doubles in Atlanta, Georgia ^[30] and at the Association of Pickleball Professionals Sacramento Open in 2022. ^[31]

He was world-ranked on the ATP Tour in both singles and doubles. ^{[6] [8] [11]} Witsken is ranked #1 on the APP Senior Pro Men's Standings ^[18] and Pickleball Professional in America for Pro-Seniors. ^{[4] [19]}

Personal life

Witsken lives with his wife and three children in Zionsville, Indiana. ^{[4] [14] [28]}

References