Combined pickleball club, bar and lounge space opens
Central Ohio pickleball enthusiasts can now revel in a more relaxed, community-focused space to enjoy the sport.
The 20,000-square-foot pickleball club, bar, and lounge The Pickle Social Club opened February 20 at 3622 Fishinger Blvd. in Hilliard. In addition to hosting 5 ½ cushioned pickleball courts, the space operates a full-service sports bar with craft cocktails and a lounge, as well as offers pizza, wings, and burgers courtesy of Grandad’s Pizza & Pub, said Rodger Kauffmann, executive director at The Pickle Social Club.
And the space is only growing this spring. Kauffmann said that live entertainment is lined up for later this season. Then, toward the end of April, the club will start hosting their first of many karaoke and trivia nights. And, as a unique feature of their courts, at the end of the month, The Pickle Social Club will install automatic scorekeeping software. TV screens above each court will not only keep track of scores for players, eliminating the traditional need for players to yell them out, but will also show instant replays, allowing players to see and analyze their matches, if they wish.
Kauffmann expressed how The Pickle Social Club avoids the intimidating feeling of larger pickleball facilities with dozens of courts and more competitive play.
“That’s an intimidating feeling for someone who’s just starting out playing pickleball, or for an older player that says, ‘Look, I just wanna enjoy the game, but I don’t want to go in and feel like I have to be so competitive.’ They come in here looking for less experienced play, less experienced players, and/or more experienced players that they can learn from. And we have a lot of that,” he shared.
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Kauffmann said the club is a great place to get introduced to pickleball, as they have instructors to teach the fundamentals of the sport, and new players can often find someone to play with that’s at a much closer skill level to them, as opposed to the pickleball spaces that are generally geared toward much higher-level players.
The Pickle Social club still offers competitive round robin tournaments, but on a much smaller scale. Kauffmann uniquely compared the club to a “boutique,” in comparison to larger facilities that more resemble the rushed, overwhelming atmosphere of “superstores.”
“People go to a boutique for a reason, and that is it’s less intimidating, you get a little bit more personal service, a little more hands-on assistance with your purchase and/or your needs,” he reflected. “So if you want a more personal experience, more of a community experience, you want the entertainment aspect, and you want to enjoy some pickleball or be part of a pickleball tournament or league or organized play…[The Pickle Social Club] is the place to go.”
Players can create a free membership account through their website. Hours are 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. daily.
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