Pollenating the community with Pickleball

[00:00:20] Speaker A: Welcome to infinite human, where we explore our limitless potential through conversations with guests who have achieved greatness, overcome challenges, and worked to find their purpose. We aim to share and inspire you to do the same. I'm your host, Shona Kerr. I'm a college coach, professor, and businesswoman who is eager to learn from and sharing the wisdom of others. With you and on to the show. Welcome to Infinite Human. I'm Shona Kerr, and with me today is Daryl Wyatt. He is the owner of the Kansas City Stingers, which is a national pickleball League 50 plus professional team. This is how we met. I'm also a co owner of a team, Austin ignite, and I'm looking forward to our team sparring Daryl. So that's going to be fun. And Daryl has a wonderful history and story to tell and is also involved in racquet sports like myself, my history being in squash and Daryl's background being in tennis. I cannot wait to dig in and learn more about you, Daryl, so welcome. [00:01:39] Speaker B: Thank you, Shawna. Nice. Thank you for having me and looking forward to talking. We get to speak at NPL events, but not, we don't get the chance to kind of sit down and hash it out. So this. I'm looking forward to this. [00:01:52] Speaker A: Likewise. This is a privilege for me. So, firstly, I'm going to ask why the name the Stingers? How did that happen? [00:01:58] Speaker B: So we've got our co owner, Julie, she runs an apiary. So we kind of started thinking, and my partner in the new facility, they also own an apiary on top of the building in which we will be. So it kind of, you know, as we were thinking of names and kind of throwing out names and kind of seeing what would appeal to everyone. And then kind of the honey theme and the bee theme just kept coming up, you know, we tried another iteration and it kind of just didn't go. We asked several people and they, you know, yeah, you could. You could hear the kind of apprehension in it. And then when we threw stingers out, that was. That was really kind of the one that stuck and everyone kind of liked it. And then you think about in pickleball, if you get hit by a ball, it stings pretty bad. So then it kind of worked out. Then we started playing with different meanings and it just all worked out perfectly. [00:02:56] Speaker A: I love it. I think it's a perfect name. And the honey theme is wonderful. I think it's brilliant. I'm glad that worked out. Just to give us a little bit of a background. Where were you born? [00:03:09] Speaker B: What was your upbringing, like, so I grew up in Washington, DC. Mom was born and raised in DC. Father is from Cleveland, Ohio actually, you know, ended up in the military which was, which was how he ended up in DC and ended up in the military. And he and my mom actually met in, in law school. He ended up staying in DC, was there, you know, finishing up his, his military kind of, while they paid for school and just kind of stayed in DC. And then they met and, and got married and, and we grew up and have been, I grew up, born and raised, hadn't left for any extended period of time until college, went to high school all through DC, played junior tennis in the mid Atlantic in that Washington DC region and still traveled a good bit, you know, with national and junior tennis and internationally and nationally. So. But through high school I was really in DC primarily. [00:04:07] Speaker A: Got you. So you mentioned the tennis. And of course I have to ask, give me the backstory and how tennis came into your life. [00:04:16] Speaker B: So interesting. I played a lot of soccer growing up as every kid in kindergarten, so I played a lot of soccer but I continued it on and kept playing through. I think maybe I was ten or eleven when I remember seeing tennis. When it really registered, maybe nine or ten, it really registered. There was a park we played at, had tennis courts and I remember asking my dad, saying, dad, hey, let's go play this sport. I hadn't really been exposed to it. Let's play it. And then one day my dad, who didn't play, but he was a good athlete, so he could take me out and hit the ball in the court where I couldn't hit the ball in the court. So then that became our thing. Just before soccer practice, we'd hit the ball for a few minutes and then a few minutes turn into 30, turn into an hour, and then it turned into me trying to beat him, which at that time I could not beat him. So that became really tennis for me, was just trying to beat my dad. And he was no good, he wasn't a great player, but he was athletic enough, he could keep the ball in and I couldn't. So for some time I would just leave the court. I'd go home pissed off, mad, half crying, swearing he cheated me in some, some way, shape or form. And then eventually one day, I mean it, it had to be a year passed, a year passed, a little over a year and then I finally beat him. And now, but the tough part was as I was playing, he was getting better as well. So it was kind of, you know, it was misleading. He was playing just as much as I was. And, and he wasn't the type of, he didn't let me win anything. You know, if we had a race, he was, I was going to earn it and, you know, so it was one of those things. So he'd never let me win. So then when I find by the time I beat him, I was actually a pretty decent tennis player. So then it was just part of life at that time. So then that tennis tournament started replacing soccer games and baseball games and hockey games and basketball games. And then it kind of just progressed from there. So I kind of back ended into it just trying to really beat my dad. That was it. [00:06:24] Speaker A: I love that. I love that. And as a squash player, I can very much relate in trying to beat both of my parents. [00:06:31] Speaker B: Right. [00:06:32] Speaker A: And I did manage to beat my dad. My mother, unfortunately, had to give up the game before I was able to beat her. So that has stuck with me ever since. But I hear you on earning that and how important that feels to you as a child, if I'm not mistaken, in some of the research I was doing. Your mother was involved with tennis to a degree. [00:06:56] Speaker B: She was actually, as a result, so me getting into tennis, and there were so few blacks at the time that were into tennis. So she became a student and started learning about, you know, learning about the organization, USTA, the organization and grassroots programming and anything along those lines. And so she started and she volunteered for groups and organizations, and then she kind of worked her way and she helped out with the Federation cup and she was on USTA competition committees. So she kind of, in kind of an effort to protect me, her son, you know, to make sure everything was fair and was done properly. She kind of entered and opened this other avenue for herself in Usta tennis. So she would go to Jiren meetings and help on committees and all those, those types of things. So that, which also then, now, even though I'm still early on in tennis now, we're somewhat of a tennis family, you know, now beyond just me playing tennis, she has, she has her, she's doing her own, aside from me going to tournaments, she's got her own kind of duties and own kind of ambitions that she's trying to learn and protect those others, you know. And so they kind of grew organically like that. [00:08:16] Speaker A: And had your dad had any tennis experience prior to you saying, you know what, dad? I want to go hit balls over there? None. [00:08:22] Speaker B: None whatsoever. He was actually a baseball player, so he played a lot of baseball growing up, and he had nothing. He knew nothing. Nor did my mom, really. I mean, they knew about tennis. They knew what it was. But having played tennis, I would say maybe once prior to the first time ever, and that was just horsing around, you know, you horsing around. But they. Neither of them knew anything about tennis. So it was. It was interesting as we all grew and learned together and. And kind of went through that journey, which is an interesting journey, you know, through, you know, how it is with junior sports, going through that tournament level and then trying to figure it out level and trying to make that balance between what's too much, what's too much training, what's not enough, when to school, you know, all of these things that are going on and then trying to actually balance. If you were able to do well, how do you balance all of that? So it was really new to all of us, but it was fun growing in it, actually. [00:09:20] Speaker A: That's incredible to think that you as a child actually inspired all of that, you know, inspired your father to become a tennis player, which it sounds like he continued to play, and you're his motivation to get better and a bit of a race to see who can keep up and then inspiring that your mother chose to get involved. And I understand why. And you're being modest about her because reading her, reading your resume a little bit, she was, I believe, co chair of the Federation cup, which is now the Billie Jean King cup. And that's no joke. [00:09:54] Speaker B: Yeah, no, she was. She was really, you know, it's interesting. She. She most definitely, if you want to relate it, you know, my level as a tennis player versus how. Where she kind of went, she far superseded where I was. So I would. I was catching up with what she kind of did. She was kind of one of those ladies that was one of those, if she was once she kind of was into it, she would kind of really delve deeply into it and kind of, and kind of learn. And she was one of those, growing up in Washington, DC, in that civil rights era, she was all about. And as an attorney, she was all about fairness. So everything she did was for that group that was kind of, you know, not overlooked, but not well represented, if that makes any sense. So for her, that was kind of drove her. And I learned so much from her. People knew her. You know, usually a lot of times people will know your kid, you know, the parents through the kids. It was kind of the other way around when it came into tennis for a long time, you know, I was Mary's son, you know, because she had done so much. And she had fought for so many and done so many good things. That was amazing. And then that kind of, you know, navigating through tennis, and there's your ups and downs and, you know, you think about, what's one of those glue things that keeps the glue together? And it's something like that. You know, it's something like there's always, even if it wasn't about me and tennis, there was always something to discuss about tennis that we could sit around and discuss whether it was now, oftentimes, it was about my play. It's about tournaments and how it plays. But then there were those other times where that got to be a bit too much, and then you could talk about other aspects of, you know, the business side or the, or the, or just the organizational side. So that kind of kept it balanced as, as balanced as you can keep it when, you know, and I was fortunate. I did pretty well as a junior. And, you know, with that comes, you know, certain added variables that you don't, you know, it ceases. At some point, it ceases to be a game. You know, when you get to a certain level, even if you're a youngster, it's not necessarily the same game that you came in playing when you were, when you're, when you weren't nearly as good and the expectations weren't the same and you hadn't achieved as much. That kind of played an important part. And she was a huge, huge piece in my tennis development and my kind of persevering, because there's always times when it's easy, when you're really beginning to learn something because there's so much for you to learn, but then as you get, and you start knocking those things off and you get to the small edges, and those are the tedious, very frustrating parts at times. So she kind of kept those. There were times when you're just like, okay, that same big curve that you see in the beginning wasn't there as you get later on and you get better, because it's very, it's the small things that make the difference as you get better. So until she helped keep that in perspective and keep me understanding that, so that when those times come and you feel like, wow, I haven't gotten anywhere, or I'm not making progress or I'm not making the progress that I'd like to make, you know, she always was there for that and to kind of, you know, comic relief to a degree, not necessarily in the comedic fashion, but just that kind of escape. And she was wonderful for that. And also keeping your eye on the prize at the same time. So she had a pulse on that, and that helped. And, you know, that helped. And it took away a lot of the. Sometimes if you don't know about something, it's somewhat more intimidating than if you know a little bit of how it operates. Her knowledge and me learning through her also helped this whole, you know, you see these federations, the french federation, USTA, and all of these big federations, but then you, what is it really? So it kind of helped out in a lot of respects. So she kind of paved that way for me. Not kind of. She 100% did. [00:14:04] Speaker A: Yeah. So it sounds like she was a major influence for you coming through, and you're being modest because you became very good. It's always fascinating to me, too, when there's a female role model to a male athlete. And how do you think that shaped you as a human? [00:14:23] Speaker B: You know, it's really interesting because, okay, so when it came to tennis, and a lot of times because dad would work. Dad would work. So especially for the travel tournaments, it was mom and I. So dad would come, you know, if we got to later in the tournament and later on the weekend in the seventies, quarter finals, semifinals, finals, then dad would come because the workweek's over. Dad can pack up and show up for the tournament. But during the week, by and large, it was mom. So, you know, one thing that I learned and I can look back and appreciate now is as a kid, as how many things that she protected me from that were, that could have affected how you look at things but weren't necessary to know. Does that make sense? [00:15:15] Speaker A: Makes sense. [00:15:16] Speaker B: So she kept all of the negative, as much of the negative influences, and if there was something wrong or some issue somewhere, I rarely knew about it. So she would take those away. So I learned, looking back at that and now having a son and traveling with him, different sport, but doing the same things and seeing. At one point, I remember sitting, this was maybe six, seven years ago, and I toyed around with this, but I remember sitting at one of my son's games and being. And saying, this is what mom went through. And there was some troubling time where you're trying to navigate ten things and it's not necessarily the most fair situation, and you're trying to maintain that for your child, but then you're trying to get the best outcome that's for your child, but you want them to understand and not have to worry about the potential dangers or whatever. So it kind of started to ring home. And I realized how much she really had to do. Especially. It was different for me as a father with my son, but as a mother with a son to try to maintain. I'm your mother, but I want to make sure to maintain the toughness that you need, you know, as a. As a young man and to learn and kind of step outside of herself. I got a big appreciation for what that was, having a son, and it's tough for me, and that's my son. And I know I can. I can be rough with my son. You know, I can do certain things that maybe she couldn't do with me or maybe she had to figure out how to get through to me. Whereas as your son, you can just like boys, you know, a little bit. You have a little bit more leeway. But I realized what the kind of tightrope she had to walk, and I got a big appreciation for that. And all the while, maintaining positivity, not losing her shit, excuse my language. You know, in the midst of me as a. As a. As a teenager, you know how teenagers are. We have. We know everything and we know. So I kind of. I got an amazing appreciation of the balancing act that she had to. That she had to conduct every day and then at the same time, maintain a schedule, maintain. Teach me, you know, teach me lessons. So I really, you know, if it hadn't been and I go back to lessons that I learned from tennis, because sport teaches you so much. I'm a firm believer in life and how she orchestrated and taught me lessons through that, it really wouldn't have been. I would not be here or, you know, everyone can say that, but there's always that one person, if not more. And if you're lucky to get that one person that really pushes you through that in those dark times that really knows you, that really knows you. And despite whether you're open to them knowing you or you're resistant to it, they know what buttons to push to keep you going. And I look at that, and I've learned so much from that, even in raising my kids. So I think she did that and just, just pushing through. We were in some places where. Where I can remember it's just being her and, you know, let's see, I'm. We're 50 now, so this is 30 years. No, 40 years ago now, the world was a much different place, you know, in terms of race relations and all of that. And now we've got a lot of tournaments in the south, and we're driving in a conversion van through Tennessee to somewhere we don't know. We've never been going to a hotel, then we've got to deal with this. And, and I had a conversation with her one time, and I was playing, this is after college, and I was playing on the tour, and we sat down and we were in Brazil, no, mind you, and we were talking and she said, do you realize how scared I was in some of those places that we went overnight while we were driving to get to the next tournament to do this and the hotels that you would have to stay in and x, Y and z, she said, I could never let you see. And it kind of hits home just the strength. And I think that stuck with me, you know, as an adult and raising kids, just having that understanding. Wow. She was actually, I mean, and then you can go back and see, oh, wow, okay, this was an interesting situation, but I had no idea at that time. So it's just that strength and growing up and she was one of those very self motivated people you didn't have to motivate. She was very, very driven woman, came from, from poverty, you know, worked her way up, did well, worked her way through law school, put herself through law school while teaching school, teaching kind of disadvantaged youth. So she put herself through school. [00:20:07] Speaker A: And just one, even back then, women going to school to study was a thing. [00:20:12] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. And then she, then she went in and then she taught law school. And so just so many things that she pulled herself up from. And as I got older and I was able to understand a little more as we had candid talks and things of that nature, and then you realize, wow, okay, there's a lot, it's a lot deeper than you would have ever thought, you know, and that's, I think learning that and understanding that. And then in sport, especially a tennis sport, an individual sport, we travel, we go to tournaments, we spend so much time by ourselves and we, and we actually have to go so far. You know, there's, it's such an international sport that we end up international, we end up this. So then you end up a lot of time on yourself and then you look, what are the things that you kept? And by and large, when I think about it, the majority of the things that you keep are those things that I remember from when we were in Kentucky at twelve that a little lesson that she taught me or a little strength that, that, that she would speak about or something like that. And those are the things that always will ring true with me and, and kind of keep me motivated and on kind of the mission and kind of the path that I'm on at this point in time. No, don't get me wrong. It was shaky at points. Yeah, there are definite shaky points and definite points where, where you sit down and you soul search, especially getting injured, especially when I got injured and I got injured from the tour and then my mom passed in the same six months. So you go through times where you just don't know what's going on, you know, and you don't, and you're, you're, you're trying to figure out, and then where do you, these times, those times are what you kind of call on to try to remember, to try to have some sort of. Some, some semblance of normalcy, if that makes any sense. So then those are the types of things that I remember. And it may, whether it took effect right then or it took some years for it to really kind of manifest and kind of show itself, but, um, those are the things that, that kind of, I will never forget and cherish, and those are what made me kind of as a person. [00:22:16] Speaker A: Well, her strength clearly lives through you. And thanks. [00:22:20] Speaker B: Thank you. [00:22:21] Speaker A: Her integrity, it sounds like her in, she was in credit. Her integrity was through the roof. And that, I know, lives through you, too. Isn't it amazing that these things, those lessons do stick with you just from twelve or 13? [00:22:37] Speaker B: Right. It's amazing, isn't it? [00:22:39] Speaker A: What an incredible woman. I appreciate you describing her to us. [00:22:44] Speaker B: No, thank you. [00:22:45] Speaker A: I'd like to ask, if you don't mind, what was it like being black in that setting and being a good tennis player and were there any others that look like you? [00:22:57] Speaker B: Absolutely. So I can take it. So I'll take it from, from this standpoint, kind of the lead up. So I went to majority private schools growing up, so I wore a coat and tie to school since I was in, like, the fifth grade. So I went to those types of prep schools where there would be maybe 15 or 20 black kids out of four or 500. So I got to, I got to experience that a lot. You know, growing up, I think she was pretty forward thinking and when it came to that, because just knowing, you know, just situations and her being in teaching law school, her teaching law school, being around a lot of lawyers, that was just the environment, you know, even though she taught it. She taught law school at Howard University, which is a predominantly black university. She also taught at George Mason University, which is a predominantly white, at that time, predominantly white university. So kind of see both sides. So the transition, there were several. So my from my year when I first played a national tennis tournament at twelve, there were 128 entrants in the draw. Four were black. So needless to say, we knew who each, we knew each other and we kind of hung out together and, and, and it was an interest. It's an interesting, when I started, there was one other guy, another young black kid named Jimmy Jackson, who was, who had been playing for some years, and he was already a very, extremely good, one of the best kids in the country. So he was an extremely good player. And leading into that time, I was really. I was horrible. So he was, I believe it. We met and we all got to hang out and, and, you know, you could feel, you knew, you knew the situation, you knew the scenario, you knew what it was. We had friends, don't get me wrong, we had friends. But I think at that time, at twelve, it was interesting because you catch a lot of kids. The kids were, by and large, fine with each other. And it's never really the kids until it got a little bit different. You know, you could feel it with the parents and who certain things, and you could feel certain things, but by and large, the kids were all going to play with each other. You got problems, but kids will handle it and figure it out in themselves out, you know, there's no irreparable damage that will come from two kids pushing and shoving, you know, so there's things that happen. And the kids were fine. We'd work ourselves out. Now, you'd get into it where you'd have parents and then that would kind of spill over into how the kids interacted because, you know, your parent and this, you know the scenario. So then that's when it get cloudy. And then you'd go into clubs where you know that their policy, like, you'd never see any black members. You know, you'd go play in a lot of those country clubs that did not have policies for black members. And, and you knew that when you went there to play and, you know, you would. And interestingly enough, the workers would be black in a lot of instances. And it was an interesting dynamic between a twelve year old kid playing a national at one of those tournaments and even the workers that are black that are there working because we're on a different, we're in different terms. So you get these things and at that time, you know, there's a lot of undertones, but you never really, you just, you're with your group, you know, you're kind of with your group, so you end up all of the black guys kind of hang out and you got your friends and you play with everyone else, but you still in the of the day, you go back and no problems. No one ever thought we knew what it was, but we never thought different. And then as we grew. But the catch to it was in a lot of the academies and a lot of where we trained, we would train with some of these guys that we would see at the tournaments all the time. So we had developed rapports and we had developed friendships. So by and large, a lot of the kids were fine. We never had a problem. It was more so the travel and the venues and then you would deal with parents sometimes, but kids, you know this, kids will figure it out. You know, we would play tag in the hotels with everyone. It didn't matter. Everyone was playing. Now, if certain things came on, you know, if it got a little bit hairy or when it was time to kind of side up, the sides were taken, you know, and that was what it was. But you rarely as children, you rarely have to do that. You know, you rarely do that unless someone like a lot of times we'd all play cards, you know, there is always some cards around or some, some sort of game. And you know, all these nationally ranked kids are all alpha men. You know, they're all like think they're the best at everything. So there's always, I bet you I could do this, I bet you I can do this, I bet. So you get into a lot of those circumstances and just it becomes a competitive environment where I think race is still an issue, but not that, not foremost, because we're still so young that we're still figuring it out. You know, when you deal and then as you start getting into, like I said, you go to the clubs and you go to the other places, then you feel it or, you know, you're treat how you're treated it. You walk into a club and you just know, you, you just know you're looked at differently and you know certain things and, and that's just part of it. You learn it and you know, you discuss it with your parents and then you take it for what it is and then you move on, you know, and it's fuel for learning how to get along later in life. You know, it's fuel because you're gonna, there's, because that's just where you're gonna end up. You know, in life, especially in a sport like tennis. It wasn't never ever gonna be majority black, you know, it wasn't ever gonna be that. So you learn and you learn how to navigate and you learn how to understand. Okay, I'm here to do this and these are my values. This is this and this is what we do and this is how we operate. And you go through it from there. And that's kind of what my, the negatives of it. By and large, the kids, you know, and as it got older, then, you know, as kids learned, some, some went the other way, some went, you know, stayed same. Cool. But then you find your pack, you find who you are. But then at that time also how good you are also plays into it, you know, how, how well you do. So there's all of these things that you're looking at and, but then at the same time, if you're good and you're good, then people are still, you're still going to get response. Maybe not the same way in your face. You'll get a certain one response. Maybe you'll get a different one behind. And maybe there's other, you know, other kind of sneaky things going on behind the scenes, but to your facial get in, you start understanding that, you know, and then, and then you're really, and then at that time, especially being an individual sport, you really, you kind of fall into that mode and you know, who's on your side, you know, who's not. And then everything else is competition, you know, kind of, it kind of, it kind of gets back to that because with an individual sport, you can kind of separate yourself and you can do your pre game routine, your pre match ritual that doesn't require you to be around and socialize and do all of these things. So you can kind of remove yourself and stay away from those things as they do occur. But it's one of those things that for me, I looked at it differently. I knew kids who had affected a lot more than me or who had talked about it a lot. Now, not that it didn't affect me, but my mom's kind of instilled in me. No one can stop you from doing what you want to do. So you set a goal and you go accomplish it. Yeah, you're going to get detractors, you're going to get people trying to, trying to derail you from your goals and all that. But if you stay focused, then you don't have a problem. And we're not scared of a little fight. To fight for what you want is nothing wrong with that. And that's just what it's going to be regardless. And then here's the thing. Here's the catch. To it oftentimes, as history shown, many times, it's your same group. That's the one that takes you down, you know, and that the one that causes the most problems, because they know more about you. They know what makes you tick and how to do it. So. So I kind of, and I appreciate my mom for giving me this and looking at it from that standpoint as to. Because if you see people get caught up in the. I can't do this. I can't do this because of this, or this is the way it's set. No, there's boundaries ready to be broken, and that's what. That's what this is all about. And so that's kind of back to. Not to detract from what we're talking about, but that's kind of what she instilled in me. There's nothing you can not do. What can you not do? If you believe you can do it, go get it. [00:32:19] Speaker A: I know you. That's you personified right there. So how did you get good? We know how you got into tennis, and we know some of your influences, but how did you actually seriously get good? [00:32:30] Speaker B: So, you know, it was. It's interesting. I. I was one of those kids that, that. So when I started playing tennis, and I was still just very beginner, I, ball boy, did every possible tournament that came through DC. So I ballboy the tournaments. I didn't mind talking to any of the players. I didn't mind. I didn't mind doing any of that. I didn't mind doing anything. I didn't mind being out there and asking the question that no one wanted to ask. So that attitude set me in, and I didn't mind. And I believed. I had this belief, which is from mom and doing other sports and doing all of this. I had this belief that you just go play, and then it'll. My dad used to always say this. He used to say, if you put in your work, you don't have to worry about the wins and the losses, because the game will star you. So that kind of what we operated on, you know, and there were times and. And my dad was really good about this. So when he would always tell me, and I'd come home and I'd. From practice and I'd hit the fence 50 times or had to go get the ball over, and he just like, keep hitting the ball, bud. You'll figure it out. Keep hitting the ball. Don't stop hitting the ball. You're gonna. You're learning this and you're learning this. So then it was one of those things. So then by the time all of this comes and all of this, you know, now you look up and you're 1213. You've been playing two or three years? Twelve. Two years. And. And now because you just went out and played so much and you went out and hung around. I have a sister who's 15 years older than me, so I was always hanging out with the older, older, the older bunch, like her boyfriends. I'm going to play basketball with them. I'm going to do these things, and I'm going to do. And then I had an older cousins who all were in sports. I'm going to go play with them. And it just was part of what we do. And then next thing you know, and I learned, being competitive, I just wanted to. I hate, I wanted to win so much. So whatever it needed to be, whether it was to go 110% to do this, do this, and I just did that every day. And, you know, not to say that I was a little kid, so you get into your tantrums and you get pissed off and you don't. Some days it's not 110% day. But over time, I continued to play. I just continued to play. And I would take loss after loss just learning. And one thing I remember, my mom, she would even say, she's like, you just don't stop. You just keep coming. And I would lose. I remember losing 1012 tournaments in a row. First round, first round. And each one, I'd probably come off crying, but I'd go back for the next match. Then what happened is, over that time, I started getting better and started getting better. So I was allowed to play with better kids. And then as I was allowed to do that one day, I went from hitting the ball and missing majority till that next day, somehow you figure it out. You know, you start, you start. The growth spurts have kind of leveled out a little bit. So you're not really growing so much. You're growing, but you're not in big spurts. So I'm starting to feel. Feel, oh, wow, this is where. How I should feel. And this is how. And then all of a sudden, I grabbed this one coach one day, and my coach was check and he started coaching. And. And it was interesting because there was such a culture difference in how we did it, but it worked. And I was that kid that I benefited from some of his strictness and he benefited from some of how I was as a child, so it worked out well. And then I think that particular year, it just took off, you know, we just took off. And he and I developed this kind of relationship that, that it was, it was so interesting. Like, he didn't get, like, he didn't get it. He, he didn't get like, drive through McDonald's and all of these things and, you know, and, and I didn't get how he came up. You know, he had been moved. He was part of the czech federation, so he lived away from home since he was twelve. I didn't understand that. And so we would go through these things and, and learn. And over the course of us learning each other, I think we learned, I learned tennis in a lot of, in a different way than I had been learning it before. And then all of a sudden, it just, it just clicked and it understood. And he understood the simplicity of me, but yet I needed that discipline that he instilled. So I think that really worked and it took off from there. [00:37:33] Speaker A: That's fascinating. And somehow you met in the middle. I guess the commonality is the, the tennis piece. You're more domestic, he's more international. Completely different personalities. I'm just trying to visualize it. And him going, what is this drive through McDonald's? I have no idea. Absolutely fascinating. [00:37:51] Speaker B: Oh, my God. It was insane. Some of the things. And for me, I mean, we met when I met him, I was 14, so I was still pretty young. And it's interesting to see the differences that we, and he and I would talk and he'd say, darryl, you know, I just don't understand what you guys, you know, I don't understand you american guys, you know, like, it's so different for us. And I, and I'd say the same thing. I'd be like, I don't understand, like, this is how you were living. He's like, yeah, this is what it was and this is how so that whole, I think that eye opening experience. And I will say at that time, I got to do some travel, and I did a lot of travel with him by myself. We got to go overseas, so we got to see some things. Like, I remember being in Philippines, poverty, poverty, poverty. But as a young kid, it affects you differently, you know, you think about it. I remember being in the Philippines, I remember being in Thailand, and I remember being those at 14, 1314 years old, and the profound effects those had and the appreciation you have for, wow, coming back to the states and everyone like, you think you're in poverty here, but you know nothing about what's happening in any other world because we are not given that information in a lot of respects. And so it kind of just that whole kind of growth and understanding of, and not being that, that entitled kid, does that make sense? Learning that there's so much more in this world and there's so many more people that. That there are real problems in this world. And a lot of the things that we equate as problems are not problems. And I learned that. And I remember being in the Philippines, and as a 14 year old kid, I remember taking a little bit of money and really and going and buying family's food for what in the US was nothing. And I remember thinking, and I'll never forget it, and I remember thinking, are you kidding me? Like, this is what they don't live in. There were places where no water, no light, no anything. So it just gives you a different perspective. And I think around that time, when I really started to understand and start playing really a lot better in tennis, because I think the game was there before I could hit the same shots. It was just getting an understanding and a perspective on what to do with yourself even, and where you fit in this whole thing, that's around that time when it really unfolded. [00:40:27] Speaker A: And it's interesting that you mentioned earlier about how you learn so much about life through sport, and the two go hand in hand. And what I'm hearing is, to become a better tennis player, you needed to know more about yourself. You needed to know more about others, your place in the world, other people's places in the world. I mean, we could unpack that for hours. In terms of how that helped your game develop. And as your game developed, it helped you learn more about yourself as well. [00:40:56] Speaker B: Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, and then it, for me, it goes to this pickleball journey now, because I was such a. I was tennis, staunch tennis until the point where, when I got the club, when I bought this club that I own now, I would sit up and look at pickleball. I'm like, no way. I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna budge. I'm not gonna budge. And people would come off. Members would come off and say, do you play pickleball? Nope, I play tennis. I'm a tennis coach. And. But it shows you, you know, these, what, these journeys, you know, you never know. As long as you're putting it out there, then you never know where. I would have never guessed pickleball and I'd be part of an NPL league playing 50, talking to you co owners, and we see each other and. And I would have never guessed this path for anything. But it's interesting. Like, like you say, like, just. It's an interesting ride. It's such a journey that you never know. [00:41:53] Speaker A: Absolutely. And remaining open minded enough to see what's in front of you and what those paths can be is, you know, obviously you're, you're that guy. I like to think I'm not dissimilar and that, that's why we're here, I believe. [00:42:07] Speaker B: No, I felt, you know, and talking and even getting. When I got to see you play in New York, when I got to see you play and, and I can see and I know, I know. Like, looking at. I understand and talking and learning about your resume as a, as a, as a squash player and, and how. How badass you were, excuse my language, and how. But some of those similarities that we, that we. That we've been through or experienced are. It's amazing. And I just talking. I can feel it when we talk. Like, I kind of get it. We kind of get it in some of those instances when we, when we talked, especially about pickleball or sport or whatever, and it's like, oh, yeah, she gets it. She understands. [00:42:50] Speaker A: Exactly. Exactly. Which is just such a treat. It is. So tell me, tell me, you went to college and were you recruited for college? Did you have your pick of. Pick of the land and did they all want you? I'm sure they did. [00:43:02] Speaker B: I did. I had a good, I had pretty good. I had a lot of options for college, so. But I originally, I wanted to do it early and I was, I went to one of those prep high schools where academics were really, really important. So I was actually, I had actually signed my letter of intent to go to the University of Virginia. So that's where I initially wanted to go. And it was close to DC, a few hours from DC, so it would have been perfect. I had a lot of friends going there and unfortunately, they had some NCAA things going on at that time, so I ended up at the University of North Carolina last minute. I ended up in New England, University of North Carolina, which ended up, you know, great. It was an unbelievable, unbelievable circumstance. Poor, bad circumstances, but it turned out really well. North Carolina. I walked into Virginia at that time with tennis. I was, I was still. I was in a weird phase with tennis between. I was a year younger in my grade for high school. You know, I was a little bit young for my academic year, so I was going to school a little bit, a year earlier than my other friends. And I just, at that point, I was really. I decided to take a summer and really not do too much tennis. I was at that point where I was like, okay, I'm in a school. UVa wasn't at that time. They were just starting to turn around with tennis and become a powerhouse. So I knew that, okay, I could take a little bit of time off, relax a little bit, and I was kind of on my way. I was kind of on the downtrend of tennis. It's interesting now when all of this happened with the university, then I go to University of North Carolina. There's a completely different feeling about this athletic department there. Winning is just one of the things that you do, you know, the basketball tradition and all this, and you feel that when you're there, so you feel that when you're there. And that read just kind of sparked so much. And I remember looking with North Carolina, we had a good team, and I remember I had played so little that summer that I said, okay, I better start playing if I'm going to Carolina, because I'm going to end up sitting the bench, getting no time. And that was just one of those things that I did not. That was just not going to happen. I did not want to happen. So then started playing again, and then that just reinvigorated a whole world of tennis and tennis with me. [00:45:48] Speaker A: What was it like having a team? [00:45:51] Speaker B: That's it. What it was. You had a bunch of guys that you would go and train till you're. Till you're puking together and vomiting from running, but then you're doing it with a bunch of guys and you're doing it with a bunch of guys that are trying to attain the same goal, you know? So it was something. It's that. It's great. And I don't mind doing this training on my own, but it was definitely a spur, a kick, and it was definitely like one of those, oh, this is neat. You got ten other guys that are out there struggling with you, and you guys are struggling together, and then, furthermore, the competitive side comes out that you don't want to lose still, you know? So whether it's a sprint or whether it is, so it gives you that extra little bit where you're pushing full throttle, but there's always a little bit beyond full throttle, and it's about how do you. How do you harness that and how do you get to that and how do you bring that out? That kind of. I appreciated that in tennis, which is one of the things I can appreciate in NPL right now. [00:46:53] Speaker A: Yep, agreed. Agreed. Yep. Very much so. And the team aspect is, I always think it's just a little bit more special. You're doing it for other people, not for yourself. [00:47:03] Speaker B: Right. [00:47:04] Speaker A: And to have other people supporting you behind you. And I think as we've been talking, even getting through this life and succeeding, no one can do it by themselves, you know? [00:47:15] Speaker B: Right. [00:47:15] Speaker A: Your mother was a big influence. Your coach from the Czech Republic was a big influence. None of us have got here by ourselves. So to have that team, I know, especially, I find that fascinating from an individual sport standpoint because it's not automatically built in. I mean, that's wonderful. It reinvigorated your competitive side and hopefully, well, I think your enjoyment and desire to play. And at that point. At that point, you made a pretty major decision. [00:47:45] Speaker B: Yeah, at that point. So then, you know, it's interesting. I went from really not playing a lot, and then I had a really good year. I had a really good year. And I was an all american. I was like one of, what, three, maybe four freshmen all american. So I was one of those guys and had a really good year. So then I got a few opportunities, a couple companies showed interest, and I got a few wildcards into events from the USTA. So then I begged my parents. I begged my mom. Being a teacher was not all for this, but I begged her. I told her, I said, if you let me go now, let me go now. I've got a great opportunity. I had a great year. Great. If I follow it up, I mean, I'm playing well and I can follow it up, but it's kind of a good time. What happens if injury comes or, you know, I have the ability now to try to do it, so let. Give me a shot. And so, so they finally said, okay, give me a shot on the condition that I go back and make sure that I finish my degree. And that was one of the. I promised that. So they let me go and I moved and started getting training and played for about three and a half years on the tour until I injured. I had a bike. A bicycle. Not even a motorbike, a bicycle accident. I went over the handlebars and tore the cartilage in my left, my playing wrist. So then that was. That was it. [00:49:17] Speaker A: That's, that. That's rough. That. That's, uh. But, uh. Well, the question then is, is how did you pick yourself up from there and where did you decide to go? Did you finish the degree number one? [00:49:27] Speaker B: So what I did was, so I took some time. I didn't. I just. I kind of escaped everything for a little while. And I was, still had my house in Florida, so I was living in Florida and I'm a beach guy, so I'll spend countless hours at the beach. So I spent time down there, figured out what to do. And then I've got a really good friend who I met, actually was my first match. I played on the ITF tour, italian guy, and we're friends to this day. We spoke today, actually, and I went and spent about three weeks in Italy at his house. And so I did that and tried to figure out what was going on. And we played some and he was still playing and practicing and so we played. And then finally it came to, I'm going to go back and give it a shot. And I went back and that's how I ended up out here in Kansas. And I really was just, I was really kind of, I was frustrated for several reasons. One, at that time, I lost the two most important things pretty much in my life at that time, so to speak. Everything that I knew kind of revolved with tennis at that. You know, I did other, I had other interests and I did other things. But, you know, with a sport, when you want to get to a certain level, you're kind of consumed with it, your identity. That's it. So I had that. And then at the same time, then mom passed. So it was one of those what do you do now kind of situations and what do you do? Do you just go off the deep end or do you maintain or how do you figure it out? So the next bit of time was spent doing that. What do you do? The two things that you've always done and done the most in your life, now you cannot do either. Like you go from all in to now nothing. So it became one of those things to figure it out and kind of re understand life in a sense, you know, because there's certain things that were your go tos. Like, okay, when, you know, I knew when I was on the tennis court, it was happy, you know, it's just, it was natural is, it was like instinct because he'd done it for so long, for so many hours, so much and put so much into it. Now that was gone. Then you got, you know, you got your family, you got your mom, and now that's who you talk to all the time and that's who you spend all this time. Now that's gone. Now what do you do? So I found myself in that position of figuring out, you go through the anger of being hurt and not being able to play. Then the distrust and the, this and the. This. And you go through all this gamut of emotions and. And, and you're all over the place, and. Or I was all over the place and trying to figure out. Trying to play, trying to figure out if I could still play, trying to figure out all of these things, and at the same time being triggered by the smallest of things, you know, you get triggered by the littlest of thing where you would never. Another time would have been nothing. You know, the things that don't bother you now you're getting bothered by little things. And so I went through that period and kind of didn't do anything with tennis, and it just escaped everything, kind of escaped life, kind of hung out, not life, but, you know, I went through the travel phase and. And just, okay, what am I going to do now? What am I going to do? And then that's where, like, we had spoken, that's where kind of that love for tennis kind of came back. And I realized, well, also, you got to survive. You got to eat at some point. So as you watch, you know, things go down and you're not doing anything, and then you're like, okay, well, I got to eat now, you know, and I met. I met my ex wife now, so, so we. And as the kid, we had a kid, and now you really have to eat. So. So then tennis was just something that I always loved and I always did it. And it was just one of those things that was just part of me. So it was natural to come back, and I had started feeling those tugs back bit by bit, but now it just made sense. So then I kind of got back in it and. And, but I got back in it on a different. In a different way. I wasn't necessarily concerned about the financial side of it. I wanted to. I started a non profit, and I would just teach kids for free. You know, I would teach kids for free. Whoever wanted to learn, just come on out. If I'm out here, come on out, jump on the court and I'll teach you. So I kind of started it like that and then. And did enough, just enough to make sure everything, you know, financially was straight. But my focus was really trying to build something from that, you know, and help these kids who couldn't do it. And, and, you know, after the Philippines experience and all of these other things. And. And so those things kind of. I had time to really kind of put those into place. And so that's kind of where I came to kind of the mission where I am now. And, you know, great. Yeah, you've got to eat, but there's something more to it. You know, in the end of the day, once you've done and you're eating, what if you're eating so well, there's something behind it. There's got to be something more that's meaningful. So that's kind of, that's kind of where it is. And it came back full circle with the tennis and everything, but I started to find that in pickleball even more. You know, I found that in something in a place that I never expected to find it, but I'm finding it in pickleball because it's something that, especially the minority communities never really been exposed to. I don't see even. I own a club here, and I don't. I see I can count on one hand the number of minorities that I see come through, the number of blacks in particular that I see come through the club. And now you're starting colleges, and now there's grassroots program. There's so many needs that kids have that they don't feel wanted, in a sense, you know, in those environments. So I feel. I've always felt that need, and now I'm finding that in pickleball, and there's something for them to look forward to. They can. There's college pickleball now that's just going to start exploding. And then there's. There's all these other things, and there's the business side of pickleball that is, is so new that, that you can learn the business side and, and kids. And there's so many avenues for kids to take in pickleball that. And it's exciting for me because it's something I don't know. You know, tennis, you know, certain things, and, you know, certain. Okay, certain things. But this is uncharted territory, so it's. It's so exciting. And. And I'm learning, as I'm learning how to play pickleball, I'm still learning how to play. So as I'm learning how to play, it's like, oh, okay. And then you learn another aspect of, of the sport or something like that. So it's. It's been, um, it's been such a refreshing change and, and such a life changer, because you think, where at 50, can you do what we're doing in a sport, really, you know, they're picking up a sport, and because of our, it's our skillset in a lot of respect with you. Squash, me, tennis. Where can we play? Where can is 50 years old? Can we go out and play a professional sport, be live streamed on television. You know, where can we get all of that and be competitive? And not having done this our entire lives, even at the PGA Tour, the golf they've been playing for their entire life, this is something that we can pick. So it's really, for me, it's become a new lease on life where it's something that you retain that excitement because it's something that you're really just learning. And there's so many intricacies where you come from, paddle regulations to this, to this. There's so many things that are being. That are just new and pickleball that it's really exciting, and it kind of. It's that second part of life, you know, that you're like, oh, wow, okay. You look forward to. [00:57:19] Speaker A: It's developing in front of our eyes. [00:57:21] Speaker B: Exactly. [00:57:23] Speaker A: With it. And the beautiful thing about pickleball right now is it started with typically older people playing, and that's the genesis of the growth. But what's amazing is now that kids are playing and 20 somethings, 30 somethings, we're all getting very seriously into it. But it did have the genesis with the older clientele, and I think both can coexist, and it's just a wonderful thing in that regard. So, having said all that, how are you fostering these things at the club with the pickleball side? Bringing community in, and to some degree, the tennis as well? Obviously, it's a tennis and pickleball club, but how are you working with the community there and opening the doors and breaking down some of those barriers? [00:58:09] Speaker B: Okay, so, great, great. So we have a facility here, and we're in one of the areas where it's just a great pickleball facility. We're pretty central, but we're in a very well to do area. We're in a very nice part. We're building a facility, which we're tackling and where we're building and should be ready by the time Picklecon comes up in August. We should be having our courts out and are almost nearing completion. We're moving into that side of town where there's no pickleball, really, where there's. Where there's a sore. There's a big need for programming for the youth, and there's a big need for just some sort of. Some sort of direction, you know, some sort of pathway. Not just you can come here and get babysitted or you can come here and just spend time. No, we want to give you a skill that you can use or give you somewhere something that you can use to further your life. You can learn. You can learn. Come learn pickleball. You can get good at pickleball. What does that offer you? There's colleges that you can go play pickleball at. You can go teach pickleball. You can give back. You can. There's so many. And if you're lucky and good enough, you can play in the 50 over league. NPL. There's so many avenues that, that we're doing, so we've put it in. So we're locating in that side of town where there is no pickleball. So now we're communicating. We're reaching out to the, to the community organizations, to the schools to try to get teams started for schools. We've got a nonprofit that we'll kind of start adding to and start, and start receiving donations so that we can have camps. We've got days. And, you know, one of those things that I. That I'm. That we've been talking about and doing is a part, aside from all of the programming that we're going to do just a class where we can bring some of the kids in where they can learn the business side of it, what it takes to operate a pickleball club or what it takes to run a tournament, what it takes to run a league. So we're throwing all of those aspects will be part of what we're doing, but we're going to start it with the programming so we can at least get them understanding. Okay, this is pickleball. This is how I play pickleball. I go play a tournament and let them have that accountability and start developing accountability for one's own actions, which a lot of times are lost amongst the kids because they get grouped in and, and you're part of this big group and it's hard to monitor a whole group. Well, sport, I found, is the one check and balance, that if you're doing your job, it's. You'll know if you're not. [01:00:47] Speaker A: The rules are clear. [01:00:48] Speaker B: So I'm trying. We're going to institute that. And we've been getting, already been reaching out to organizations, so we're getting good feedback. Even at the club that I have now, we've had a couple of events already to start introducing and start making it a little more mainstream or a little normal to go to the pickleball facility. Whereas some of these places, they're like, pickleball. What is pickleball? You know, so it's not normal. So we're just gradually bringing in having events. So as we do that, so then that by the time the facility opens, we'll be able to just throw that throw and have, everything will be kind of already running so that we can go and we can have our clubs. Like, we'll have our club events and we've got our junior events and we've got them separated, so can play team against team and we can make it interactive so that it's somewhere that they want to come, you know, it's something that they want to do as opposed to, oh, I've got to go here to do this or this. No, we make it interesting. So. And we've been having pretty good success with that. We get a lot of people that say, oh, I want to come back. I want to do this. We have an organization out that, that deals with maybe inner city youth or troubled youth or what have you, and they'll invariably, they've always reached back out and said, oh, we'd like to do that again. So we're starting to see that and break down those barriers that, that otherwise were there with tennis because tennis was always seen as that, as that sport that you can't break those barriers, especially when from, from the inner city, the inner city kind of corridor. But now we can break those barriers down and we can do a lot more. And really, it's a global sport, but really globalize it in terms of, in terms of people, you know, we can. [01:02:37] Speaker A: Accessibility of it. [01:02:39] Speaker B: Exactly. [01:02:39] Speaker A: Let's make it a sport for all. Not a sport for some. [01:02:42] Speaker B: Exactly. [01:02:43] Speaker A: And I'm going to boast about you a little bit here because I know you talking about kids coming out of inner city situations and, you know, making it you. I believe you've hit with Serena Williams. I want to hear about it. [01:02:56] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. So I was, so when I got, when I was playing, I lived in Florida and I got, when I got injured, they were young. They were still teenagers, just, just really breaking through. And, and a coach of mine was, who ended up being a coach of theirs after I got injured, he made that entered introduction. And so we would go up and hit with them at time. We would go up and hit with them and, and as I was come on the way back and, and, and it was really neat. We got a chance to meet them when they were really 14 ish young and, you know, meet Richard and watch them kind of, I was on the outside because I was a bit older and I would go in and hit, and that was pretty much where it kind of said, you know, you meet them and talk to them, but there was still that age gap where, you know, they were doing their own thing and, but, yeah, we got to go hit with them. She and Venus, we get to go hit and we go up a lot of times in the afternoons after morning practice, and they'd have their practice, and this time they were playing at Rick Macy's and they had, you know, or just, it was in that kind of transition period time, and so we got a good chance and a lot of time to go out and hit with them. So that it was really neat. It was really good. And it's interesting to see, you know, those girls, how tough those girls were at such a young age, you know, and it's no surprise why they, how they've done so well and how they've progressed, because you could see, you could see a toughness in them at such a young age that was just not prevalent, wasn't present in a lot of those other girls. [01:04:40] Speaker A: Maybe they can, as they're moving out of tennis a little bit, come, come join the pickleball crew with us and change some lives in this environment. Right. I think they need to come to your new club and. Yeah, and let's get things going. [01:04:53] Speaker B: Yeah, we're gonna have to start getting some now that we're getting, you know, we're getting a little more visibility, getting a little more traction now we can reach out and, and, and maybe get a contact with some of these people. And now that pickleball is such a craze, when you say pickleball, no one's gonna say, what do you, what is that? You know, now every, everyone knows what pickleball is and everyone, you know, it seems that everyone's got their eye on pickleball, so now we can do some, some great things and, and we can get our teams collaborating and get some good stuff going, too. [01:05:22] Speaker A: Yes. Yes. I would love that. I would love that. [01:05:25] Speaker B: I think there's a lot of things, and, and matter of fact, when you come out the pickle con, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, um. We've got some things that we're gonna do, and I'm gonna send over to you. So maybe we can, we can, uh, we can connect on some things because we're gonna do a lot of events coming out, being that this is a home match for us, pretty much. So, you know, we're definitely going to extend an invite and all the stuff that we do for you guys, 100%, we'll be there. [01:05:48] Speaker A: Whatever ignite can do for you, guys, we'll get up there early, we'll get on caught with kids, you name it. We'll be absolutely delighted. I can't wait to see it. I can't wait to where you are. Come see your new club. [01:06:00] Speaker B: Yes. [01:06:01] Speaker A: That is exciting. As we wrap this up, and this has been just such a pleasure, Daryl, I cannot even begin to say you've mentioned some of these things as we've talked, but to wrap up here, what are your hopes and dreams for the future? What are you hoping for? Your clubs, what are you hoping for? The community impact of others, and even to some degree, how can others get involved, which you've just mentioned? [01:06:26] Speaker B: You know, my whole goal with the pickleball, with pickleball and just in general with anything but in pickleball in particular right now is we've got. We're. We're part of a sport that anyone can literally play. You know, there's no. You don't have to be. Your fitness doesn't have to be at a certain level. You don't have to be certain strength. You don't have to have played tennis. You don't have to have played squash, racquetball. You don't have to have done that to play pickleball. So that being said, that will bridge so many gaps that people would be intimidated before to play a sport and join a sport. So my goal is, and my, with the new facility, is to expose as many people that traditionally would not be drawn to pickleball. To pickleball. I want to truly make it a big. The full community that it can be. You know, I want to make it that full and contribute in any way I can and bring all communities, all walks of life into it, because that way, one of the things about owning a club, and I will say, is it's refreshing to come in and see the people interact who are in pickleball, who are in pickleball groups. It's a different interaction coming from tenants. It's a much different interaction. It's a much more communal interaction, and it's a much more. Everyone's working together. You'll always see in tennis, generally, you'll see people drilling together to get better. But at the higher levels, I see this at every level in pickleball. I don't care if it's just the beginner who picked it up. They're in there trying to dink and drill and work together and get better. There's nothing like that feeling. So I want to further that. I want to be able to allow those who can't, who are looking for it. You don't have to rely on your traditional sports, your basketballs, your footballs, your baseballs. There's another avenue, there's another avenue in which you can make a great living, whether it's teaching, whether it's grassroots, whether it's anything, a great living in a place where people are actually really appreciative of being on the pickleball court. Now, you get differences, but by and large, that's the community that we've tried and done a pretty good job here at this club and that we will take to the next club. So everyone feels welcome, no matter what level you are. You can come play pickleball, you can come play on the court next to the best pickleball player in the world, but, and you still feel comfortable. You won't feel intimidated. You'll feel welcome, and everyone treats you the same. So that's, that's what the end goal is. Now, there's several ways to do it as we develop these youth, the youth, and, and they'll learn, and then we're instrumental in their lives because we teach them lessons through sports. Then the adults see it through another way and, you know, through, through adults, they just figure it out and they'll understand. And, you know, they're big kids, one big community. Whether we're playing here or in Japan or in China or, it doesn't matter, we can all pick up and go. And with social media the way it is now, there's no way that it can't be this interactive. So one of the things we'll do is from my club now to the next club, we'll, we'll will interact with that club socially, you know, and have streaming from club to club because that's all it wants. And, you know, those people are just looking to get better and have fun. And that's the kind of environment that we want to foster. [01:09:59] Speaker A: I love it. I love it. You couldn't have said it better, Daryl. I'm right with you. And let's, let's keep spreading the good word that, of this awesome sport we know, and we know it can make a difference. It already has. Thank you so, so much for being here today. This has been Shona Kerr talking with Daryl Wyatt, and we'll see you next time on infinite humour. [01:10:23] Speaker B: Thank you, Shana, so much. I had a ball. [01:10:27] Speaker A: This has been infinite human with me, Shona Kerr. Until next time, keep challenging yourself and make others better along the way.