Paddles Up: A Pickleball Social That Brought Colorado and France Together

There is something about the sound of a pickleball court at full tilt. The pop of the paddle, the laughter when a shot goes sideways, the little cheer when a first timer finally lands the serve they have been chasing all evening. On May 27, that sound filled Relish Food Hall in Louisville, and honestly, it was the perfect soundtrack for the kind of night we love to put together.

We gathered for our Pickleball Social with Babolat and Danone North America, two companies with deep French roots and a growing home here in Colorado. The idea was simple. Bring people together, hand them a paddle, and let the connections happen naturally. What we got was even better than we hoped.

A welcome before the first serve

The evening opened the way good evenings should, slowly and with no pressure. People wandered in, grabbed something to eat and drink, and started talking. Some already knew each other. Plenty did not. By the time we moved into welcome remarks and company introductions, the room had that easy hum you only get when strangers have started becoming acquaintances.

It meant a lot to shine a light on Babolat and Danone North America in that moment. Two globally known French brands, both building something real in our corner of the country, both willing to show up and play. That is what our chamber is all about. Real businesses, real people, real ties between France and the Rocky Mountains.

Then we actually played

Here is where it got fun. Babolat coaches led a warm up and an optional instruction session, which turned out to be a brilliant equalizer. The CEO and the complete beginner were suddenly working on the same dink shot, and nobody could tell who was who.

We had three courts going. One was set aside for beginners, where the Babolat coaches were patient, encouraging, and genuinely good at making people feel capable. The other two were open and competitive, and the energy over there did not let up all night. Giveaways kept appearing throughout the evening, which never hurts the mood, and the friendly rivalries that formed across the courts were a joy to watch.

People who walked in nervous about picking up a paddle for the first time left talking about when the next one is.

That is the whole point.

The part that lasts

Pickleball was the hook. Connection was the prize. Between rallies and rest breaks, deals were not signed and contracts were not drawn up, but something more durable happened. People remembered each other.

They traded stories, swapped cards, and found the kind of common ground that only shows up when you are laughing at a missed shot together.

That is the quiet magic of mixing sport with networking. Nobody has to perform.

You are too busy enjoying yourself to be strategic, and that is exactly when the best professional relationships begin.

Thank you, truly

A night like this does not happen by accident, and it certainly does not happen alone.

Thank you to Babolat USA, our Corporate Member, for the coaching, the paddles, and the spirit you brought to every court. Thank you to Danone North America, our Ambassador Member, for showing up with such energy and heart. And thank you to Relish Food Hall and Pickleball for being the kind of venue that makes an evening feel effortless.

A special thank you to Léonore Safareh Freidin, who captured the whole evening in photographs so beautiful they make the rest of us look far more athletic than we are. Those images will let us relive the night for a long time.

Most of all, thank you to everyone who came out. You played, you connected, you cheered for people you had only just met, and you made the evening exactly what we hoped it would be.

This is what the Rocky Mountain French American Chamber of Commerce does best. We find the moments where business and community overlap, and we build something warm in that space. The courts have been cleared and the paddles put away, but the connections from that night are still very much in play.

We will see you at the next one. Bring your A game, or do not. We will teach you either way.