SARASOTA, Fla. — The Pickleball Club (TPC), a premier, world-class, indoor pickleball facility and private membership club opening in Sarasota County this winter, welcomes nine new executive team members as it gears up for opening in December 2022.
New team members include Dominic Catalano, general manager; Brian Gradow, controller; Lance Martin, director of operations; Erica Love, director of pickleball; Nova Grande, director of marketing and merchandising; Victoria Rodriguez, club controller; Caitlyn Ralston, event coordinator; Ryan Praefke, director of retail; and Anne Thomas, senior concierge.
Catalano has been involved in the pickleball industry for more than 10 years. He is a tournament level player, certified pickleball teaching professional and a national pickleball authority, appearing as a professional commentator on ESPN, CBS Sports and the Tennis Channel. He is a seven-time US Open Pickleball Championship medalist, and a nationally recognized amateur and professional coach. His students have earned numerous national titles, and he has been running tournaments since 2014, totaling over 30 tournaments in five different states for over 10,000 players.
Martin is a USPPR coach and an avid pickleball player. He previously worked as an elementary school teacher in Manatee County until 2009 before becoming the events and programming coordinator for Lakewood Ranch Tennis Center until 2014. He then worked for five years with the USTA League program as a league coordinator before moving to Northern Virginia to work as the director of pickleball at Pickleballerz in Chantilly, Virginia.
Six weeks into first playing pickleball in 2017, Love signed up for her first tournament where she received gold in singles 3.0/3.5 and bronze in women’s doubles 3.5. Since then, she has become a 5.0 player, US Open Medalist and has already secured her 2022 National Championship Golden Ticket for 5.0 MXD. In 2019, she began coaching again and has found tremendous joy in working with her students.
The nine new team members join the already established senior leadership team of Brian McCarthy, founder and chief executive officer; Valerie McCarthy, president and chief operating officer; and Matt Gordon, chief financial officer and co-founder. The $12 million, 33,000-square-foot facility sits on 2.4 acres and will include 12 indoor pickleball courts, two outdoor courts, a retail shop and café, and will be the first of its kind nationwide.
The entrepreneurs have purchased land for additional locations in three other Florida locations and are in negotiations for four more, with a goal of opening 15 clubs over the next five years and up to 25 clubs over the next eight years.
“Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the country right now and we are way ahead for this type of business venture,” said Brian McCarthy, founder and chief executive officer of The Pickleball Club. “There is a huge demand for indoor courts with a country club type membership experience for pickleball, and we have hired some of the best and brightest in the business to launch our first club.”
The Pickleball Club provides a private experience for members with outstanding amenities and opportunities for social and recreational enjoyment in an air-conditioned state-of-the-art sports facility. Each club will include more than $1 million in technology, from a sophisticated camera system by PlaySight for training and real time video instruction, to the smart phone software application for members that will create reservations and match players based on rankings.
Last month, Southern Cross, general contractor for the club’s construction, completed installation of the structural steel and roof for the facility, and will airlift by helicopter seven 3,000 pound HVAC units to the rear of the building on Wednesday August 31st. The exterior structure is now complete and interior work is beginning now.
About The Pickleball Club
Located at 1300 Sarasota Center Blvd., The Pickleball Club will be a brand-new, healthy living, private pickleball complex featuring 12 indoor pickleball courts with a tournament-level outdoor surface, an outdoor activity center, constantly rotating “Food Truck Alley”, Pickles Café, Dink’s Pro Shop, permanent nets, and HEPA filtered air-conditioned environment – perfect for avoiding those harmful UV rays and inclement weather conditions. The Club will feature PlaySight video technology for live streaming and recording capabilities for training purposes, tournament grade pickleball courts and luxurious locker rooms. The first club in Lakewood Ranch is currently under construction, three more are in development in Port Saint Lucie, Fort Myers, and Bonita Springs, with 15 clubs planned across the state of Florida in the next five years. For more information, go to ThePickleballClub.us.
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For more information, please contact:
Candice Brown-McElyea
Candice@oneeightohpr.com
941-232-9046