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).
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]
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 assistant coach of the Zionsville 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 Players 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]
Witsken is a two-time IHSAA State Singles Champion [12] and Indiana State Champion. [14] [6] [25] He received five 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]
Witsken lives with his wife and three children in Zionsville, Indiana. [4] [14] [28]