Pickleball in the summer? Sounds like a hot sweaty experience, but thanks to a new SoFlo facility, you can whack balls all day in air-conditioned comfort.

Jean: “It’s if tennis and ping-pong had a baby.”

Alex Miranda: “Is it hype? Is the hype real?”

Jean: “The hype is real, Alex. Pickelball, A, is addicting, B, its fun, C, it’s social.”

And at the Diadem Pickleball Complex in Coconut Creek, it’s bigger…

Jean: “The acoustics and the ceiling height, there’s no place like this anywhere. Even these players traveling the world, they walk in here, they have the same reaction.”

…brighter…

Jean: “We have fantastic lighting because this was a college basketball gymnasium for college volleyball.”

…and cooler then ever.

Alex Miranda: “The main selling point?”

Jean: “Man. I’d say the ridiculous good-looking guy on the wall over there.”

Alex Miranda: “Well, aside from him.”

Beat the heat and hopefully that other team, loser.

On my team today, Christian Alshon, a top 10 player in the world.

Alex Miranda: “Number one bit of advice for people who are starting to play?”

Christian Alshon: “Try and find a good paddle and just get a groove that you like to play with.”

Jean and Hannah are going down.

With nine indoor courts…

Jean: “I’ve seen courts with Grandma, Grandpa and two grand-kids actually playing and competing well.”

There is no place like this in South Florida.

Jean: “You can pick it up in a matter of minutes. It helps bring people together, you can see they’re 14 feet apart, so they can have a conversation.”

And if this happens to look familiar, we’re inside the old Broward College Omni Amphitheater. But no more.

Jean: “We do monthly socials where we really deck out the bar. We have a ’70s theme night and social coming up.”

Play, laugh, lounge or crack open a cold one.

Jean: “We want people to not only compete and have fun out there, but sit here, have a drink, have a pizza and enjoy the lounge afterwards.”

Alex Miranda: “You can’t drink on the courts, right?”

Jean: “You can, you can.”

Courts start at $40 an hour for non-members and $30 for members. Split the cost with friends and learn how to play for 90 minutes at $30.

The ’70s disco dance party is set for Sept. 30 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

FOR MORE INFO:
Diadem Pickleball Complex
1000 Coconut Creek Blvd
Coconut Creek, FL 33066
diadempickleballcomplex

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