Life Lessons from Pickleball™
Life Lessons from Pickleball™
Shelley Maurer and Sher Emerick
E94: Will Parton: Building Pickleball Community Through Hitch
26 minutes Posted Feb 10, 2026 at 8:00 am.
Welcome And Book Announcement
Introducing Will And The Connection Problem
Will’s Move And Pickleball As Community
Why Hitch: From Idea To App
Player-First Matching And Best Fit
Groups, Habits, And WhatsApp Reality
Courts Now And Future Booking Integrations
Skill, Strategy, And Matching Guidance
How People Actually Use Hitch
Bootstrapping, Team, And Growth
From Tennis Drives To Dinks
Confidence Showing Up To Play
Pricing, Plus Features, And Duper
Vision: One Million Hitches
Tech For Real-World Connection
Health, Accessibility, And Family Play
Kids, Safety, And Future Expansion
Where To Find Hitch
Closing And Subscribe CTA
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Show notes
Will Parton shares how a major life move and starting over in a new country led him to discover the true power of the pickleball community. As a lifelong racquet sport athlete, Will found connection through pickleball and turned that experience into innovation by creating Hitch, an app designed to help players find partners, games, and meaningful community. In this episode, we talk about belonging, entrepreneurship, technology that enhances human connection, and how pickleball makes it easier...