All courts.
One house.

The Racket House started with a simple belief: racket sports should be accessible to everyone.

For co-founder Val Eren, that belief is personal.

Born in Riga, Latvia, Val immigrated to Canada when he was ten years old after leaving the former Soviet Union. Starting over in Toronto with a new language and no familiar faces, sport became his way into community. The court, rink and pool were where friendships were built, confidence grew, and life in a new country began to feel familiar.

Val discovered tennis later than most. He started playing at 30 after being introduced to the game by family members, including a top-ranked WTA professional. What began as curiosity quickly became obsession. Drawing on his athletic background and relentless work ethic, he progressed rapidly, eventually reaching a 5.0 OTA level within a few years.

Along the way, Val trained with some of the sport’s most respected coaches, including the late Nick Bollettieri at IMG Academy and Gregg Le Sueur at OTI in Tampa, Florida. Those experiences helped shape the coaching philosophy, technical expertise, and player-first approach that continue to influence how we support athletes today.

Back in Toronto, Val built a coaching practice working with players of all ages and skill levels. He earned his Coach 2 certification with Tennis Canada and is currently completing his Club Pro 3 certification. More importantly, he built a reputation for making people feel comfortable in the sport, whether they were stepping onto a court for the first time or competing at a high level.

A few years later, Val and his family relocated to the Okanagan in search of a more active, outdoor lifestyle. Through coaching, tournaments, junior development, and professional stringing, he became deeply connected to the local racket sports community.

What became clear very quickly was that the region’s players were underserved.

Beginners often didn’t know where to start. Competitive players struggled to access quality equipment, trusted advice, and reliable stringing without driving hours or ordering online blindly.

That experience became the foundation for The Racket House.

At The Racket House, we built the store we wished existed here — a place where players can test equipment, ask questions, get honest guidance, and feel confident they are choosing the right gear for their game.

Today, we are dedicated to everything court sports. We carry premium racket sport brands, offer professional stringing services, run demo events across the Okanagan, support local tournaments, and help connect players with the right coaches and programs.

Whether someone is picking up a racket for the first time or competing at a high level, our goal is the same: help more people enjoy the sports we love.

Because at its best, racket sports are about far more than competition. They build confidence, connection, and community.

Rachel co-founded The Racket House because racket sports needed a proper home in Kelowna. Somewhere people could get real advice, find the right racket, paddle, shoes, and gear — and trust what they were being told.

Rachel has been an athlete her whole life. She competed nationally in figure skating, trained with Olympic coaches, and when a knee injury ended that chapter, she laced up running shoes instead. She has spent 20 years coaching competitive skating, and that time taught her something she carries into everything: the right equipment changes how people play, how they feel, and how long they stay in the sport.

Sport has always been central to how she lives. She runs, plays tennis, and is fully hooked on pickleball — not just for the game, but for what happens around it. Racket sports connect people fast. You show up once and somehow you’re back three times a week with a group of people you didn’t know six months ago.

That’s what Rachel wants for everyone who walks through the door.