BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. — Palm Beach County’s first professional pickleball team is ready to take the court.
The Palm Beach Royals held media day on Tuesday, giving fans a chance to interact with the franchise and get their first look at the new team ahead of its first tournament Thursday in the Major League Pickleball League.
WATCH BELOW: Palm Beach Royals ready to take the court as pro pickleball heats up
Palm Beach Royals’ fans hang out with the team during media day
Co-owner Zach Hunter said the team has been building toward this moment.
“It’s exciting, we’ve been building for this moment all year, and now we’re going to get out and hopefully get some dubs,” Hunter said.
On the men’s side, the Royals are led by Tyson McGuffin, Dekel Bar, and Grayson Goldin. Goldin’s presence on the court carries extra meaning — he recently suffered two strokes that nearly ended his career.
“It’s a little bit surreal, especially now to see this in person; it’s really exciting. It’s vindicating, it’s cool,” Goldin said.
Media day gave the team a chance to spend time together, take pictures, and introduce themselves to Palm Beach County. Bar said the event was a strong start.
“We’ve got a lot of great people, it’s really nice to meet all the fans, and it’s a really great event,” Bar said.
The team also includes Sofia Sewing, a Boca Raton native who said playing for her hometown team fulfills a childhood dream.
“I just love to be able to represent where I’m from. So when I got this opportunity to be a part of the team, I was ecstatic and couldn’t wait to start,” Sewing said.
The team also unveiled its jerseys at media day. McGuffin had no complaints about the new look.
“I look dang good in these jerseys, baby, these jerseys look slick, I’ll tell you that. I love the colors, got the cream and forest green going on. But in the MLP, energy is everything, so we got to take it point by point, game by game, and match by match,” McGuffin said.
Director of Team Operations Chelsea Klein said the team knows exactly what it needs to do heading into the season.
“It’s just going to be fun and exciting. We know who we want to beat and we know what we’ve got to do,” Klein said.
Palm Beach County fans can tune in every week on WPTV and South Florida’s 9 to watch all the action.
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