The Game Plan Call
Free strategy session for racquet sports pros.
CourtSide.
Long-form conversations with the owners, directors, and head pros shaping racquet sports. Hosted by Evan Dechtman.
On the court.
Start Here, Episode 0
Introducing CourtSide
Why we are building this show, and who it is for.
Jarrett Chirico, North Hills Club / Founder, Directors Club of America
Director of Racquets
Jarrett Chirico grew up with a racquet in his hand. By eleven he was at the Bollettieri Academy on a full scholarship. By sixteen he was the top-ranked junior in America, playing all four junior Grand Slams. Today he builds racquets programs at private clubs and turns them into the highest-revenue departments in the building. He took Baltimore Country Club from $7,000 a month to nearly $100,000, grew Royal Oaks Country Club from $1 million to over $2.5 million a year in racquets revenue, and founded the Directors Club of America, a network of over 1,300 leaders across 400+ clubs. In January 2026, Jarrett moved to North Hills Club in Raleigh to take on his next challenge: 22 tennis courts, 6 pickleball courts, and 3 padel courts.
Sam Hitman, Gates Tennis Center
General Manager
Sam Hitman has been managing Gates Tennis Center since 1993. In 30+ years he's turned a public facility into the host of the country's largest sanctioned tennis tournament, launched two more facilities across Colorado, and built a scholarship program for kids who can't afford lessons. We get into the public-private partnership with The Park People, running three facilities at once, the real economics of public tennis, how he added quiet pickleball courts, and why he started teaching other people how to run facilities.
Julius Gavin, Tennis University
Independent Tennis Coach, Founder
Julius Gavin, known online as tennis.god, has nearly 90,000 Instagram followers, charges $1,000 for six hours of coaching, and claims he can build a complete tennis game in 40 hours. We get into the math behind the program, the fraud accusations, the real economics of driving thousands of miles with a trunk full of balls, and how short-form content converts a viewer into a paid client.
Andy Zodin, Columbine Country Club
Director of Racquet Sports
Andy Zodin on 15 years running racquet sports at Columbine Country Club, what a director actually does day-to-day, the ownership conversations that never go away, staffing teaching pros in 2026, and how private clubs are handling pickleball.
Evan Dechtman, TopSpin Digital
Founder
A short introduction to CourtSide: why we are building a long-form interview series for the people running racquet sports, what each episode looks like, and how to be considered as a guest.
About CourtSide.
CourtSide is produced by TopSpin Digital, the marketing agency built for racquet sports. Each episode features a 20-minute conversation with someone shaping the business of tennis, pickleball, padel, and squash. No scripts, just the people doing the work, talking about what they've learned.
The Interview Series
CourtSide.