A letter from Tim and Ashley Owens, Founders of CourtReserve.
This month, CourtReserve turns 10.
A company does not reach a milestone like this on its own. It happens because clubs take a chance, players keep coming back, team members believe in the work, and partners choose to build alongside us.
Because of all of you, more than 2,300 clubs now run on CourtReserve, over six million players have found their way onto a court, and together you have booked more than 105 million lessons, leagues, and Saturday-morning games.
Those numbers tell the story of thousands of people who trusted us, supported us, and helped bring CourtReserve to this moment.
So before we say anything else, here’s the part we mean most: thank you.
To the clubs who trust us
When we started, most racquet and paddle clubs were still keeping court time on a whiteboard behind the front desk. We arrived with an early version of CourtReserve and a conviction that clubs deserved better tools. What we didn’t have was a track record, and facilities signed on anyway.
That trust was not small. It meant handing a young company the schedule your whole business ran on, the members you knew by name, and the community you’d spent years building. Some of you have been with us since that first version, and you’re still here 10 years later.
Everything we understand about running a club, a club taught us. Every facility that pushed us to do something better helped shape CourtReserve into what it is today, and the clubs joining us now are already influencing where it goes next.
So thank you to every facility, operator, instructor, and staff member who saw the vision and trusted us to make it real, whether you have been with us since the beginning or joined us last month. Your trust gave us the opportunity, and your voices helped guide the way.
To the players who make us part of their routine
Six million of you have found your way onto a court through CourtReserve. Some were picking up a racquet for the first time. Others were returning to a game they had loved for years. All of you made room for play in the middle of busy lives.
You turned court time into something more: a standing tradition, a reason to get moving, a place to compete, laugh, learn, and belong. Clubs exist for exactly that, and those moments are why we do what we do.
Our job has always been to make those moments easier to reach by building with players in mind. Fewer calls to the front desk, fewer hoops between you and a court, an easier way to find a game and the people to play it with. That work is far from finished, and we are excited to help the next six million players find their way onto a court.
Thank you for showing up, coming back, and making CourtReserve part of how you connect.
To the team who never stops showing up
When the two of us started this, we could not have imagined the people it would bring into our lives. A company becomes a reflection of the people who choose to be part of it, and we got extraordinarily lucky in who chose this one.
Each of you plays a part in carrying the vision forward, serving the clubs and players who count on us, and making CourtReserve better. Your grit, heart, and belief in what we are building have taken this company further than we ever could have alone.
We could not have built this without you, and we would not have wanted to.
Thank you for the work, the care, and pouring so much of yourselves into this company.
To the industry that supports us
This industry did not have to make room for us, and it did anyway. Operators shared what actually worked in their clubs. Organizers gave us a seat at the table. Associations shaping racquet sports vouched for a young company still earning its place in the market. That generosity is a big part of how we got here.
Our partners and sponsors went even further. You trusted where we were headed, shared your expertise, and chose to build alongside us. Together, we have created a more connected racquet sports ecosystem and brought greater value to the clubs, players, and communities we all serve.
None of us grows this sport alone. Thank you for trusting us and helping move the entire racquet and paddle industry forward.
To Mainsail Partners, for fueling our next chapter
Mainsail Partners joined CourtReserve at a pivotal point in our journey. Their investment gave us the capacity to strengthen the company, move faster, and pursue opportunities that once felt out of reach.
Just as importantly, they have brought perspective, encouragement, and a steady push to keep raising the bar.
Thank you for coming alongside us to support, fuel, align, and stand alongside all of us as we continue our scale and growth journey.
A decade of building CourtReserve
A lot has changed in the platform over the last 10 years.
CourtReserve started with a problem. As tennis players, we could never tell when a local court was available to play on. We would call front desks or drive over to a facility to see what was free. We felt the friction and saw the opportunity.
For a while the idea of CourtReserve lived on post-it notes all over our living room, a vision we kept talking through at the kitchen table with our kids listening in. We got excited. We started dreaming the impossible. Then we decided to risk it all and build it.
The first version of the platform started as a dedicated court reservation tool. From there, the platform grew, evolving one real pain point at a time. We asked clubs what they needed out of the software, and then went out and built the answer. Events, point-of-sale, leagues, Public Booking, and so much more. Every piece was built because someone running a club needed it, and each release made the next one possible.
Piece by piece, CourtReserve grew from a simple idea into something we never could have fully pictured around that kitchen table: a system that more than 2,300 clubs depend on every day to run and grow their entire business.
Ten years later, we are still building the same way we did at the beginning. We listen. We learn. We take the next problem seriously. And we keep moving forward.
This milestone gives us a chance to appreciate how far we have come, and set our eyes on what’s next.
Looking to the next 10
Our vision for the future is rooted in connection: connecting more players with clubs, helping clubs build stronger communities, and removing the friction that stands between people and great experiences.
Building that future starts with understanding where clubs stand today. Our State of the Racquet & Paddle Sports Facility Industry Report will give operators a clearer picture of the industry around them, while the next generation of CourtReserve will help them better understand their own businesses, recognize opportunities sooner, and move forward with confidence.
Our team is energized, our vision is clear, and we are moving forward with more momentum than ever. What comes next will continue to be shaped by the voices of the people we serve.
To everyone who has supported us, challenged us, partnered with us, and believed in what CourtReserve could become: we hope you will be part of where it goes next.
The first 10 years were nothing short of amazing. In the next 10, we want to help shape the club of 2036, and create a legacy we can all be proud of.
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Tim & Ashley Owens
Founders, CourtReserve
