Des Brown (Provided)
Pickleball is for everyone, and everyone should play pickleball, according to Alex Holdgate, local pickleball teaching pro and director of the exclusive Seabrook Island Racquet Club. His enthusiasm for playing and coaching the sport is matched by the passion of Des Brown, who teaches and coaches pickleball for youth and adults—not only in Charleston, but more recently through his WePickle LLC program, which has expanded to Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina.
The two Charleston pickleball experts come from different backgrounds but started playing the game on the same court at the same time. Holdgate is from Nantucket, Massachusetts, while Brown is from Charleston. Brown’s parents are from Johns Island, and he has lived on James Island for the past 12 years. Both men saw that pickleball is the perfect sport to bring together people of all ages and backgrounds, offering competition, exercise, social connection and a chance to break down barriers.
“Pickleball offers the opportunities to play highly competitive games and easygoing, fun games,” Holdgate said. “The versatility, inclusiveness and accessibility are keys to the sport’s astounding popularity—you’ll find a pickleball court in every town in America these days.”
Both Holdgate and Brown entered the sport early in its growth and have been fortunate to make their passion into a profession.
Holdgate has lived in Charleston for 24 years. He worked as a contractor and realtor before diving fully into the pickleball world. An above-average athlete in several sports, he said nothing ever grabbed his interest like pickleball. “The athletic movements are a combination of so many sports—tennis, pingpong, racquetball, volleyball and golf,” he said. “That versatility allows a wide range of people to engage and find success in the sport.”
Brown, meanwhile, has long been known in Charleston. He was a star quarterback at St. Andrew’s Parish High School (now West Ashley High) and earned a full scholarship to Johnson C. Smith, an HBCU in Charlotte, North Carolina.
“My local name recognition helped me get started with WePickle LLC,” Brown said. “Locals already associated my name with sports.”
Alex Holdgate (Credit: Seabrook Island Racquet Club)
His first pickleball work came through the GLOW after-school enrichment program for home-schooled students. He then taught pickleball in schools as an after-school enrichment program for five years, reaching a total of 20 Charleston-area schools—public, private and charter. WePickle now offers summer camps, lessons and tournaments.
“When I first started getting around in pickleball circles, there was me and another Black guy, my friend Leonard Fox,” Brown said. “Now, in Atlanta, for example, there are hundreds of Black people playing as part of a community known as Black Pickleballers United. My goal was to introduce the game to minority communities to promote health and wellness.”
Pickleball was invented in 1965, according to USA Pickleball. After a round of golf one summer Saturday, U.S. Rep. Joel Pritchard of Washington and businessman Bill Bell returned to Pritchard’s home on Bainbridge Island near Seattle to find their families with nothing to do. They discovered an old badminton court on the property but no rackets, so they improvised with pingpong paddles and a perforated plastic ball. At first, they kept the net at badminton height, but later lowered it to 36 inches after finding the ball bounced well on asphalt. The following weekend, Barney McCallum joined in, and the three men soon created official rules, borrowing heavily from badminton. Their goal: a game the whole family could play together.
Until the pandemic, pickleball was often seen as a sport for older people. But during that period, the game exploded across all ages—and its growth has not slowed. Older players remain central to the sport’s success, with Brown developing specialized programming for seniors and Holdgate finding satisfaction in working with children, teens, seniors and players with special needs.
Holdgate began his professional career at Kiawah Island Resort and is now at the Seabrook Island Club. He described pickleball culture as open and supportive across age, background and skill level. “One of my greatest sources of pride is when I give a beginner lesson to someone who may be sedentary or a little lost or lonely,” he said. “The enjoyment shows in their eyes. But the real satisfaction comes when they return a year later in better shape, happier, and socially engaged with a diverse community of fellow pickleballers.”
Both Holdgate and Brown said pickleball players are usually eager to welcome newcomers. “If you see a crowd of people on a court, go check it out,” Holdgate said. “There’s a good chance someone will lend you a paddle, help you with the rules and play a game with you.”
Brown emphasized accessibility. “Pickleball courts are smaller than tennis courts, which helps players who may have physical limitations,” he said. “On one tennis court you can fit four pickleball courts. In one hour, tennis entertains two to four players. That same space with four pickleball courts can entertain 16 people with continuous play.”
With pickleball’s rapid growth, related amenities have followed. At Seabrook, members and guests can buy paddles and balls. For the general public, specialized complexes like Crush Yard in Mount Pleasant now offer indoor and outdoor courts with lights, along with restaurants, bars and live music.
Endless online scheduling options also make it easy to find courts, players and events through communities like Pickleheads.
Want to move with ease, improve your health and well-being, and make new friends? Try pickleball.