PB5star began with a simple realization: although pickleball was becoming increasingly popular, the footwear available to players had not fully caught up with the rapid growth of the sport.

PB5star founder Chris Gallagher had spent more than 30 years working in the footwear industry. He was also playing a lot of pickleball himself in Florida. The more he played, the more he struggled to find a court shoe comfortable enough for the amount of time he wanted to spend on the court.

With his footwear experience, Chris began looking more closely at how players move on a pickleball court and saw an opportunity to create footwear specifically for the sport, with comfort and stability at the center of the design.

That idea ultimately became PB5star.

But the story of PB5star is also a reminder of why so many people find pickleball in the first place: connection.

Chris found pickleball while living in Florida. Marisa started playing on makeshift courts in her California neighborhood. Alex discovered the sport after moving to South Florida and looking for a way to meet people.

Although they found the game in different places, the social side of pickleball became a common thread.

Finding a Sense of Community Through Pickleball

For Marisa, pickleball came into her life at a time when she especially needed community.

She had been dealing with severe chronic eczema for several years, which often affected her face. During the worst periods, she became very good at avoiding social gatherings and interactions.

Pickleball gave her a way to participate socially and physically that felt manageable.

She could wear a hat and sunglasses, pick up a paddle, and simply play.

Marisa started learning the game with a group of women near her home. At first, they were all figuring out the basics of pickleball together. Over time, that group became an important circle of female friends in her life.

“It was like all of a sudden,” she said, “I had something regularly scheduled on my calendar that included exercise, competition, laughter, and people I enjoyed spending time with.”

Pickleball gave her a regular reason to leave the house, be active, connect with others, and spend time with people she genuinely enjoyed.

“Pickleball pulled me back out into the world.”

Alex’s introduction to pickleball was completely different.

Her first experience with the sport came on a first date.

“The date did not work out,” she said, “but the pickleball did.”

When Alex moved to South Florida about three and a half years ago, she knew virtually no one. There were neighborhood courts nearby, so she began showing up and playing.

That immediately gave her a way into the local community.

Alex had also played sports in college. As she continued to improve at pickleball, her competitive side returned.

What initially started as a way to meet new people quickly became a sport she wanted to get genuinely good at and take to the next level.

Different Stories, the Same Reason

Marisa and Alex came to pickleball at different stages of their lives, but for essentially the same reason: connection.

Then the sport gave each of them something different.

For Alex, pickleball brought back the competitive athlete.

For Marisa, it created friendships that positively affected her daily life and expanded her social circle.

Eventually, pickleball also connected the two of them through a PB5star Sprinter van trip across the country.

Along the way, they met players who had their own versions of the same story.

Women Who Helped Shape PB5star

PB5star’s core team consists of fewer than 10 people.

Angela Caltagirone and Marisa Farnsworth were two of the five founding team members. As PB5star grew and wanted to establish more of an in-person presence at tournaments and pickleball events, Alex joined the team to help represent the brand within the community.

Because the team is small, roles are not always strictly defined.

Everyone brings different strengths, helps wherever needed, and has an opportunity to influence what the company is building.

Women have helped shape PB5star from the beginning, not only through marketing but also through product development, customer experience, and the way the brand connects with the broader pickleball community.

The road trip became one of the best examples of how Marisa and Alex’s differences strengthened their partnership.

They come from different generations and have very different personalities.

Marisa was usually the one willing to walk up to almost anyone and start a conversation. Alex, on the other hand, had a strong ability to navigate unexpected situations.

During the road trip, she managed parking-ticket situations, found ways around long waits, and helped them work through all kinds of logistical challenges while maintaining a positive attitude.

Each noticed things the other might have missed.

Throughout the trip, they became better at recognizing when to step forward and when to let the other person take the lead.

They left Florida as coworkers and arrived in California as genuine friends.

For Marisa, that became one of the most meaningful examples of women supporting women.

It does not always have to involve formal mentorship or depend on who has more experience. Sometimes it means recognizing what another woman brings to the table, making space for those strengths, and realizing that you are better together because of them.

From a Sprinter Van to a Cross-Country Pickleball Road Trip

The cross-country road trip actually began as a logistics problem.

PB5star had a branded Sprinter van sitting in hot, off-season storage in Florida, and the company needed to relocate it.

The original plan was simply to ship the van somewhere else.

Marisa suggested an alternative.

If they had to move it anyway, why not drive it back to California and turn the trip itself into an opportunity?

If they were already going to cross the country, they could visit retail partners, meet customers, play pickleball with strangers, measure players’ feet, and learn as much as possible along the way.

That ultimately became the plan.

Marisa flew to Florida, Alex picked her up in the large PB5star-wrapped Sprinter, and they started heading west.

They mapped out a basic route and a few important stops but intentionally left enough flexibility to accept invitations when people suggested interesting places to visit.

That flexibility ended up becoming one of the best parts of the trip.

One introduction often led to another.

Before long, they were playing pickleball in places and meeting people they never could have planned to encounter from behind a desk.

Measuring players’ feet also turned the trip into a valuable learning opportunity for the company.

Rather than only talking to customers, the team had the chance to watch players participate in the sport, observe how they moved on the court, and listen to what mattered most to them.

That gave PB5star additional information that could help inform future product development.

By the end of the cross-country trip, the Sprinter van had become much more than a way to get from Florida to California.

It had become an icebreaker.

People noticed it everywhere they went, asked what they were doing, and started conversations that might never have happened otherwise.

For a road trip centered around meeting players and gaining direct insight into the pickleball community, the van turned out to be the perfect vehicle.

What Makes the Pickleball Community Unique

For the PB5star team, one of the most special things about pickleball is its openness.

The sport seems to give people permission to talk to strangers.

Marisa and Alex saw this repeatedly during their road trip.

They could arrive in a city knowing almost no one, show up for open play, and before long people would be inviting them into games, recommending other courts, suggesting places to eat, telling them what they could not leave town without seeing, and introducing them to people they should meet.

One connection almost always led to another.

Pickleball also seems to find people when they are looking for community.

During the road trip, Marisa and Alex met players of completely different ages, backgrounds, and levels of play who had found some version of friendship or belonging through the sport.

Both women understood that experience personally.

“There’s something pretty special about a game where you can show up alone with a paddle almost anywhere in the country and have a reasonable expectation that someone will invite you in.”

Why a Universal Pickleball Rating System Matters

That openness is also one reason having a universal pickleball rating system can be so useful.

Pickleball is unusually social and portable. You can walk onto a court in another city, join open play, enter a tournament, or meet a completely new group of players.

Having a shared language for skill level makes those experiences easier.

For Alex, who plays more competitively, a rating gives her a way to measure progress and find the right level of competition wherever she goes.

For Marisa, who does not compete or have an official rating, the value still became clear during the road trip.

They were constantly arriving at unfamiliar courts and trying to figure out where they fit.

A universal system such as DUPR helps remove some of that guesswork by giving players a shared way to understand skill level.

Whether you are signing up for a tournament, joining open play, or traveling and looking for a game, a DUPR Rating can make it easier to find players who can provide a fun and competitive matchup.

And in a sport that brings together players across different ages, backgrounds, and locations, having one shared measure can make it easier to step onto an unfamiliar court.

You may know very little about the person standing across from you, but at least you can have a better idea of what kind of game you are about to play.

More Than Pickleball Shoes

PB5star began because Chris Gallagher saw an opportunity to create court shoes designed specifically around the movements and demands of pickleball.

But the company’s story has grown into something larger.

It has become closely connected to the same thing that drew Chris, Marisa, Alex, and so many other people to the sport in the first place: community.

From makeshift neighborhood courts in California to open play in Florida and a PB5star Sprinter crossing the country, pickleball created friendships, competition, and opportunities for people to connect.

That may be one of the most unique things about the sport.

You can show up somewhere new with a paddle, find people around your level, and leave knowing people you did not know when you arrived.

Follow PB5star on Instagram at @pb5star.official or visit PB5STAR to learn more about the brand.

To better understand your own level and track your progress, learn more about DUPR Ratings or visit DUPR.

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