Meet Our VP of Player Experience Chris Banguis

Date

December 18, 2024

Author

Livvie Hurley

Like so many other bored Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic, Chris Banguis’s love of pickleball began by buying a beginner set online and setting up a court in the driveway. But for someone like Chris, that wasn’t nearly competitive enough. He turned to his local park to find people to play with.

He said, “So what happened was my partner Stacy and I felt like we were better athletes than the first two people we played. And, well, they killed us. It was Covid so we drove separately to the park. I drove straight to Dick’s Sporting Goods on the way home to upgrade my beginner paddle and when I got there Stacy was already in the pickleball section. She goes, ‘What are you doing here?’ and I said, ‘I’m not quitting this sport until we beat those two people. We’ll talk about it after we beat them.’ We basically spent the next month getting better at it and eventually got our rematch. The rest is history. I never quit playing.”

During the pandemic there were limited options to learn pickleball in person through activities like leagues and private lessons, so he mostly relied on his tennis background and YouTube to teach himself the basics. Now Chris is a PPR-certified coach who loves to teach others the game of pickleball. His favorite skill to teach is a solid foundation of stance, grip and footwork.

“The biggest thing in my book, no matter what level I’m teaching, is making sure everybody’s footwork and foundation are solid. You need that to realize your full playing potential,” he said.

Before joining 24/7 DINK, Chris worked in newspapers, the pharmaceutical industry and trucking. He started teaching by giving occasional private lessons to friends at a park. He moved on to teaching classes at Indianapolis Racquet Club and then set up the pickleball programs at Farmers Bank Fieldhouse in Lebanon, IN. 

Chris said he joined 24/7 DINK because his beliefs aligned with the company’s vision. His job here is to curate an experience that he hopes is welcoming and makes people excited to come back and play pickleball.

“Easily, it was John’s vision. I think he’s very focused on making sure that pickleball is accessible to everyone from beginners to advanced level players. More than anything, I knew that John could see that there’s a large pool of people who haven’t come into the sport yet.

“We’re going to welcome them from the beginning of their pickleball journey and have them stay with us at 24/7 DINK throughout their playing ‘career.’ The second that I sat down with John and Scott and they communicated that vision, it was a no-brainer for me. I knew I wanted to be involved in it,” he said.

Outside of pickleball, Chris enjoys hockey, skiing  and golf, although he admitted those sports have taken a back seat to pickleball. He also enjoys movies, reading and spending time with his wife Cat and son Jackson, who is a senior at Indiana University. Chris said that although his wife Cat does not play the sport herself, she is widely known as the “pickleball superfan” in their local pickleball community. Coming to every tournament with PB&J sandwiches in tow, she has taken on the role as unofficial “team mom” for Chris, teammates, and friends who are participating in the same tournament. .