The Pickleball Club in Sarasota opens with indoors courts, cafe and pro shop
SARASOTA — In the two weeks The Pickleball Club has been open to the public, CEO Brian McCarthy has come to know the lengths people will travel to satisfy their pickleball passion.
Miles, too.
One member makes the drive from Tampa to play the country’s fastest growing sport in Florida’s only indoor pickleball facility. “That’s way out on the fringe,” McCarthy said. Two others play each other twice a day, every day.
“I would say that was on the fringe, too,” he said.
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But with a sport growing as fast as pickleball, the fringe doesn’t stay the fringe for long. According to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, the number of people playing pickleball grew by 159% over three years, to 8.9 million in 2022. It’s been the country’s fastest growing sport for three consecutive years.
The 77-year-old McCarthy, a former commercial real estate developer, anticipated the sport’s growth and became the central figure behind the plan to have 15 such clubs built around the state. He currently has seven under development.
The one in east Sarasota is McCarthy’s first, the 33,393-square-foot, $10-million facility, with 12 indoor courts, two covered courts, a pro shop, cafe, and video technology for live streaming and recording, is more than simply a place to play the sport.
The club also has a partnership with Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating, the most accurate global rating system trusted by the world’s premier pickleball clubs, tours and professionals.
DUPR is a way for players to get an accurate rating of their play, similar to a golf handicap. With The Pickleball Club being deemed an official DUPR facility, the data collected from players will allow the club to better organize skill levels in open play, allowing for the most competitive matches. The more DUPR-sanctioned events players attend, the more accurate the rating.
'The most unique club in the United States today'
“We’re a private club,” he said. “And it’s also having that club experience. Not just a recreation experience. Most people were surprised at the quality of this club. And I do believe it’s the highest quality and the most unique club in the United States today. Clearly, we’re the first one in Florida indoors.”
But it didn’t happen without McCarthy first jumping through the usual licensing hoops - he said he needed 20 - and overcoming obstacles not even he could have anticipated.
COVID-19 created supply issues so dire around the country that McCarthy was forced to get his steel from Spain. A 2,000-amp electrical panel took 11 months to arrive. McCarthy didn’t have nearly the same trouble securing the seven 3,000-pound HVAC units which keep the club a constant 71-72 degrees.
And it’ll have little trouble remaining at that temperature. That’s because Pickles Cafe doesn’t have a grill or deep fat fryer. Don’t play a few games expecting to end your workout with a plate of fries, or even deep fried pickles.
A posh club experience at The Pickleball Club
Instead, McCarthy recommends one of the hand-crafted sandwiches, or an espresso from a machine costing $25,000, or bagels made fresh daily. The oven in Pickles Cafe has five layers, each capable of cooking a food item at a different temperature.
He’s done everything possible to provide members that posh club experience. Each one gets an account and has anything purchased charged to it. “You don’t need a credit card here,” McCarthy said. “That’s a club.”
In two weeks, The Pickleball Club has secured around 450 members. The early ones paid a one-time fee of $1,000, in addition to their $125 monthly charge. That fee has since risen to $1,500, with $2,000 not far off.
“Revenue,” said McCarthy when asked about the hike. “We’re kind of a bargain. Go to the show and buy popcorn and a drink. One time, for two hours.”
“(Growth) is going to be more of a build. My best estimate is that by December, we’ll be full and have to cap the number, and then we’ll have wait lists, just like every other club in town. They all have wait lists. To pay $50,000. Or $100,000.”
On this particular day, 86-degree early afternoon heat sees few people using the 12-indoor courts. “This is kind of the lull,” McCarthy said. “I think generally they’ve been trained this way because they play outside. If you play outside, do you play now?
“You play in the mornings and in the evenings. (After dinner) these courts will be full. We’re kind of going into the doldrums in Sarasota. We think that about 200 of our 450 members are in town right now.”
Loving the indoor pickleball courts
Bob and Denise Bond were two. The 69- and 62-year-old couple, originally from Madison, Wis., were alone on a far court, working on drills. Bob Bond, a former Badger State indoor National Senior Games badminton champion, hates the heat.
“We usually play at 7 a.m.,” he said. Said Denise, “I like playing in the heat. He doesn’t.”
The club’s opening meant the two wouldn’t have to get to an outdoor court about the same time the sun made its first appearance. “We loved the idea because I don’t like super heat, or super cold,” Bob Bond said. “Then the rain hits, and I’m not going to play like this (86 degrees) in the afternoon.”
Pickleball’s growth compelled scores of newbies to get out on the court, sometimes with disastrous consequences. Bob Bond said a 69-year-old friend who stays in shape lifting weights began playing for the first team, stretched for a shot, and snapped his Achilles tendon.
“So where lifting weights is hard,” Denise Bond said, “and not that much fun, this is the kind of exercise that is fun and you meet people. There is no downside to this.”
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: First private pickleball club opens its doors in east Sarasota
