What started as a New Year’s resolution to try something ne, has not only turned into a love for pickleball, but a thriving business for Christy Howden.
“I wanted to try something new and pickleball was it,” said Christy Howden, founder and co-owner of Wolverine Pickleball in Ann Arbor.
She said she fell in love with the sport and started playing often in 2017 with Leslie White, who is now her business partner and co-owner of Wolverine Pickleball. After forming groups to play at school gyms and activity centers, the ladies opened their first pickleball gym.
“It was an old warehouse, with a fight club feel,” White said.
In December 2023 they opened Wolverine Pickleball, a 38,000 square foot state of the art facility with 12 custom pickleball courts. The ladies said, the players there not only have a great time, they are forming special relationships. They hear stories all the time of how pickleball is more than a game, it’s a way people connect with the community, and the friendships they form go beyond the courts.
To see the entire story, click the video above.