058: The Pickleball Hall of Fame with Seymour "Rif" Rifkind

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Seymour “Rif” Rifkind is well known in the Pickleball world for doing so much to help the game grow the right way. He started the IPTPA to develop standards for teaching in Pickleball and spear headed the effort to create the World Pickleball Federation to promote the sport across the globe. In this interview we also talk about Rif’s ride across the country to raise funds for the Pickleball Hall of Fame.

Show Notes

In this episode we discuss:

Why being a Chicago Bears fan got Rif started in the game of Pickleball
Why it was so difficult to get Pickleball into tennis clubs five years ago and why it makes so much business sense to add the game to a club’s offerings
How Rif started the Pickleball Hall of Fame (PHOF) and who helped him along the way
The PHOF’s first physical location and where it is heading in the future
Where and when the first PHOF championship tournament will be
Why Rif decided to ride across the country on his bicycle to raise funds to design and furnish the PHOF
The biggest challenges Rif had in preparing for his cross country journey
Why he wasn’t able to train in San Diego just before leaving on his bicycle trek
How much Rif has raised so far and how you can donate to the non-profit PHOF