Pickleball Growth Lead

Bratislava

About the role

Help us build and grow the pickleball category at athme in Bratislava. Pickleball is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world, and we want athme to be the easiest way to find a game and the people to play with.

You will work directly with pickleball clubs, organizers, communities, universities, companies, and venues looking to add pickleball to bring more games onto the platform and turn pickleball into one of athme’s strongest categories.

This is a hands-on role for someone who wants real startup experience and responsibility. You will work closely with the founding team and receive a clear playbook, support, outreach materials, and weekly priorities.

You are not expected to build everything from scratch. Your job is to execute, learn quickly, build relationships, and help us understand what makes pickleball grow.

What you will do

• Find and connect with pickleball clubs, organizers, communities, universities, companies, and venues looking to add pickleball

• Help bring new pickleball events and recurring games onto athme

• Build relationships with hosts, coaches, and community leaders

• Help existing organizers fill their courts and grow participation in their events

• Identify new formats, partnerships, venues, and opportunities for pickleball, such as beginner sessions, social open play, ladders, and tournaments

• Support and occasionally attend pickleball events in Bratislava

• Work closely with the athme team on growth, outreach, pricing, and event strategy

• Collect feedback from players and organizers to improve the pickleball experience

• Take ownership of growing pickleball participation and revenue over time

What success looks like

The goal is simple: make pickleball on athme bigger every month.

Over time, this means:

• More pickleball events happening regularly

• New players trying pickleball for the first time and coming back

• More active organizers and hosts

• More players joining and returning

• Strong partnerships with pickleball clubs and communities

• Increasing revenue generated by the pickleball category

• Building a category that becomes increasingly self-sustaining as it grows

Who we are looking for

You do not need previous startup or business development experience.

You could be a strong fit if:

• You love pickleball (or racket sports in general) and want to grow the community around it

• You enjoy meeting people and building relationships

• You are comfortable reaching out to organizers and starting conversations

• You are proactive, reliable, and willing to learn by doing

• You like taking ownership and seeing measurable results from your work

• You are interested in startups, marketplaces, community building, or entrepreneurship

• You are based in Bratislava and can meet organizers and attend events in person

• You are currently a student and looking for meaningful hands-on experience

• You speak fluent English, our working language

Compensation and growth

We want this role to work for ambitious people who want to grow with athme.

This role starts as an unpaid student internship. The focus is on gaining hands-on experience, building the category, and proving what works. For the right fit and results, we will create a financial setup around the role.

This can include revenue share based on the revenue generated by pickleball events, other performance-based compensation, and the possibility of developing the position into a paid, full-time role.

There is no fixed one-month structure. The setup can evolve depending on your availability, contribution, and the results you create.

What we offer

• Play for free at athme events across pickleball, football, padel, volleyball, badminton, and other sports

• Access to dedicated team sports sessions and activities

• Be part of a young team that actually spends time together outside work

• Dedicated team events, sports days, team buildings, and community activities

• Hands-on experience with business development, marketplaces, events, growth, and community building

• Real responsibility for growing one of athme’s core sports categories

• Direct collaboration with the founding team

• A clear playbook, regular support, and practical guidance

• Flexibility alongside your studies or other commitments

• The opportunity to benefit financially from the category you help grow

• A clear path toward a paid, full-time position for strong performers

• As athme expands, opportunities to travel, join activities in new cities, and take on larger responsibilities across markets

• Long-term opportunities to grow into bigger roles within athme