Pickleball club set for September opening
Wayne site will be largest facility in North Jersey
By: Philip DeVenctis
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
WAYNE - The largest pickleball club in North Jersey, featuring 18 climate-controlled courts, will open on Willowbrook Boulevard in early September. [2025]
.....
The 50,000-square-foot facility will take up most of the top floor at Willowbrook Plaza, a shopping destination near the mall.
..... It is the second facility in the sate for Sportime Pickleball, a division of New York-based Sportime Clubs, which specializes in paddle games and racket sports. It opened its first, with 12 courts, less than six months ago on Route 4 east in Englewood.
..... The local pickleball courts will open with a two-day celebration on the weekend of September 6. [2025] The event will include pro shop discounts and raffle prizes.
..... The facility is designed for athletes who relish competition in league play, as well as private instruction. one of the pickleball courts is a stadium-style court. there are also multiple lounges and rooms for social gatherings. A dinking wall is installed for solo drill in between matches.
.... Members of the Wayne facility will have access to the Englewood facility, and vice versa.
..... Claude Okin, the chief executive officer and president of Sportime Clubs, said the company wants its facility to be a vital part of the community.
..... "As we continue to open new pickleball facilities across our markets - and in new ones - our goal is to create vibrant, welcoming clubs, where families can play together, where neighbors can connect, and where everyone one feels supported and inspired to fall in love with the game," Okin said in a statement.
..... A January [2025] report by Arizona-based U.S.A. Pickleball, the national governing body of the sport, indicates that its popularity continues to explode. There were 18,455 courts, built last year, [2024] it says, brining the total to 68,458.
..... The company plans to have 300 pickleball courts operating in the tri-state region by the end of the decade. Besides its new club in Bergen County, it has a dozen facilities throughout New York.