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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