Franchise owners of Bloomington-Normal’s planned indoor pickleball gym say the game is designed for players of all skill levels — and that’s who they hope to attract to their new facility.
Bloomington native Adam Bell is one of franchisees for The Picklr, a chain of indoor pickleball gyms that’s growing across the U.S.
Bell said pickleball is like tennis, but accessible for more people.
“It’s a great outlet for just getting out and hanging out with people and being active. I always thought of it as like a cross-pollination between tennis and ping-pong,” Bell said in an interview on WGLT’s Sound Ideas.
The 30,000-square-foot space will feature nine outdoor-style courts, a private event space and a pro shop.
Despite being one of the fastest growing sports in the country following a spike in popularity during the pandemic, there are only about 50 pickleball courts in Bloomington-Normal, according to Picklr’s other franchisee, Alex Burge.
He noted most of those are outdoors, which he said creates issues over noise and conflicts with other sports who share the courts.
“Most of them [pickleball courts] would be retrofitted tennis courts, basketball courts, things like that,” Burge said about the courts that do exist. “It’s very few from a pickleball specific standpoint.”
Pickleball was invented in 1965 and for much of its existence has been most popular among older generations. As the sport grows more popular the average age is coming down, according to Burge.
“You can play it with anybody,” he said. “Older folks play it, but the average age now is 35 years old, and last year there were almost 40 million people who played pickleball.”
Bell says pickleball is a game for everybody, and that’s why it’s become so popular.
“The great thing is it can also be as competitive as you want it to be,” he said, “I mean you can really play with all different types of skill level. There can be people that are incredibly athletic and play extremely hard and you know, turn it into a really competitive game, while there's others that could approach it more as a social aspect in a way to kind of bond with friends or make friends.”
Bell and Burge are avid pickleball players, having picked up the sport with their families as children. They say they want their facility to be a welcoming location for any pickleball player, from seasoned veterans to new beginners.
“Really as cheesy as it sounds. It's everybody because it is such a social game and you can approach it at all different levels. We want it to be an atmosphere where anybody can feel welcome to come and play," Bell said.
The Picklr will be located in the former Gold's Gym and current Proving Ground climbing gym in College Hills Plaza in Normal. Proving Ground is moving to a new location in Bloomington.
The Picklr facility is planning to be open by fall 2024.
This is the first location of a planned expansion of 150 locations across the country. The company plans to open locations in Illinois first in Normal, then Peoria, Champaign-Urbana, and the Quad Cities to go along with existing locations in Naperville and Mundelein.
