Meet Anthony Flores | CLT Paddle Battle Owner and Commissioner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Anthony Flores and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Anthony, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Being raised in a family where my dad owned his own business for 35+ years, I always wanted to follow somewhat in his footsteps and own my own business one day. After college, I worked for him for 9 years and saw what it takes to operate a business successfully.

In the back of my head for years, I was looking for an idea, product, etc, to make my own. Things finally all came together when I came up with the idea for CLT Paddle Battle Pickleball League.

I love stats/sports/contests, I saw a need and wanted to fulfill that, I wanted to connect others and help them make friends, and I wanted to have my own business.

1) Love for stats/sports/contests: I am a huge sports lover and follow all kinds of sports. I have a passion for basketball, soccer, and tennis. I grew to love pickleball after playing it for the 1st time with my friends. I also love the statistics of sports and have memorized countless sports statistics. Through all of that, wherever I go, I love to play games and create my own contests. For example, I created my own “BCS” of Ping Pong for my company to track who the best ping pong player in the office was. We would play several doubles ping pong matches at lunch each day, and we would track the scores on my spreadsheet. The spreadsheet helped aggregate all the score data as well as the strength of schedule and point differential statistics. I also got everyone to rank all the various teams to develop our own “Coaches Poll”. The master spreadsheet displayed the best player and best doubles team in the office. Ultimately, all of this was the start of CLT Paddle Battle.

2) Saw a need: When playing pickleball around Charlotte, more and more people were coming up to my group of friends to ask if they could join or how we found people to play with. This sparked the idea for the league as well. I knew I wanted to help connect people through pickleball, and I could do that by pairing people together to play as partners and by matching people with other people who wanted to play an official pickleball match.

3) Wanted my own business: As stated previously, I wanted to start my own business. With a business background and expertise with Excel, formulas, and some programming knowledge – I knew I could create a website and database to track pickleball scores and match others who wanted to play.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
CLT Paddle Battle Pickleball League is a flexible scheduling pickleball league. I created a software that allows teams/players to play anytime and anywhere. Teams or individuals will propose matches for any day, time, and location on the website, and other teams in the league will see that proposal and have the chance to accept the match. When a match has been accepted, the players involved show up to the court/location that was outlined in the proposal, play their match, and then report the scores back into the software. From there, the software automatically updates the standings so that everyone in the league can view where their team falls in the regular season standings.

I run 4, 9-week seasons each year. After each 9-week season, there is a playoff event. This is a knockout style playoff where up to 16 teams from the respective division compete to determine the champion for the season. The playoffs are held at a set location, and I personally organize and secure the courts for the championship rounds. The regular season match locations will vary based on who is proposing matches as some members belong to private clubs and some members utilize public courts but that is what makes the league so enjoyable as you get to try a lot of places to play during the season.

Each season, there are currently 9 divisions being run. Divisions are based on skill and gender, so there are divisions for men, women, and mixed. There are Doubles and Singles divisions, and there are divisions for beginner, intermediate, and advanced teams.

To take part in the league, each season players pay a small player fee.

On top of the regular flexible scheduling play, I hold social outings for the league at designated breweries around the area. I also have been partnering with local breweries to set up pickleball courts at their facility once a week for each week of the regular season. This brings CLT Paddle Battle members together to not only play pickleball at a cool atmosphere, but also to socialize and develop friendships.

Another unique aspect of the league is my partner pairing services. For those people who want to play Doubles and do not have a partner, I pair people together. Some of my pairing have even led to romantic relationships!

I am most proud of my software and customer service. Even though CLT Paddle is ultimately a software, I do like to get to know my members, so occasionally, I will accept pickleball matches from them and I also make it a point to be at the social events I organize and the end-of-season playoff event. When players meet me, they also rave about my customer service and how quick I am to respond to any questions they have. I also have gotten a lot of really positive feedback on my software, which is the Player Portal that players use to organize their matches, view the standing, and view rosters.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Their week would be all about fun and games!

1) First, I would take them to a Hornets game and Charlotte FC match. I have been a lifelong Hornets fan and enjoy every chance I get to go to a game. While Charlotte FC is a relatively new team to the area, nothing beats a good soccer game with good weather.

Other nights would consist of:
2) Visiting District 57 which is a unique entertainment complex where you can play games such as The Grid,
3) Playing mini golf at Puttery
4) Going to Pins Mechanical for some duck pin bowling and arcade games
5) And last but not least, my absolute favorite thing to do is to host board game nights. I have a huge collection of board games and everyone loves getting the invite to come over, play games, and enjoy some drinks/food.

During the day, I like to be active so we would be playing pickleball or tennis, would like to walk around different areas of Charlotte for exercise such as Southpark, Southend, Noda, or the Bowl at Ballantyne.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My dad – being an entrepreneur himself and owning his own business for 35+ years, I saw firsthand what it takes to run a successful company. He set a good example for me to follow. He taught me it is always important to act with integrity and treat others right. Do things the right way and you will be rewarded. I built CLT Paddle with that in mind. I provide exceptional customer service to my members, give back when needed (whether that is through refunds, charity events, court rentals, etc.). While making a profit is important, I know that it is best to value the customer, do the right thing, and ultimately you will get rewarded.

Wife – my wife really pushed me to go through my idea. She believed in me and knew I had what it takes to start something from the ground up. I almost did not want to take on the risks and time effort associated with building your own business, but her belief, support, and extra nudge was what I needed to dive fully in. To this day, she always support my pickleball efforts, helps give me marketing ideas, and even accompanies me to the league social events.

Website: https://www.cltpaddlebattle.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cltpaddlebattlepickleball/