The Pickleball Club is celebrating the recent grand opening of its first club. In Sarasota near Lakewood Ranch, FL, the recent ribbon cutting marks the opening of the first dedicated indoor pickleball facility in the state, and the company has six more underway, with a goal of opening at least 15 over the next five years.

The 33,393-square-foot club officially opened its doors to the public on May 2 following a ribbon-cutting event. It features championship-grade courts with permanent nets, an outdoor players’ courtyard, Pickles Café, Dink’s Pro Shop, an indoor players’ lounge observation deck, luxurious locker rooms, and a HEPA-filtered air-conditioned environment.

“Our mantra is to provide an outstanding member experience,” said Brian McCarthy, founder and CEO of The Pickleball Club. “We engaged in extensive market research to understand what people wanted. Foremost was the opportunity to socialize and to belong to a micro-community centered on pickleball. Equally important to the experience was the ability to eliminate the effects of weather, where a third to half the time, heat, humidity, rain or bugs, spoils the pickleball experience. The answer was a high-end, indoor amenity-filled social club focusing on pickleball as the primary activity.”

Last month, the club announced the purchase of two additional properties in Venice and Pinellas Park, bringing its total of secured locations to seven. Four other clubs are under development in Port St. Lucie, The Villages, Fort Myers and Bonita Springs.

“We have created the premier pickleball facility and enterprise-class organization in the industry,” said Matt Gordon, co-founder of The Pickleball Club. “We intend to maintain and grow our leadership position. Our club at Lakewood Ranch is the case study. It is now the premier community in which to play pickleball and socialize for all generations. For the many hundreds of people who have already joined, this is exactly what they wanted.”

Each of the company’s clubs ranges between 34,000 to 50,000 square feet with 12 to 16 indoor pickleball courts.