Largo, FL – With a background playing and coaching professional tennis and pickleball, Pinellas County native Brandon Anandan understands the ins and outs of the two popular racket sports.
So, a year and a half ago, when he noticed a glaring need for indoor pickleball facilities to help accommodate the popular sports’ continued growth here in the Sunshine State, Anandan decided to act.
“I saw people waiting in line to play on courts at parks, and getting rained out, or the courts not being in the best shape from the sun and the rain, and I said there’s got to be a better option,” Anandan said one day before the club’s Jan. 11 grand opening.
“So, I said I’m going to build an indoor pickleball club. And a month and a half later, Dink House was done.”
Unfortunately, it took longer to receive the necessary permits and be compliant with city codes than it did to convert the 10,500-square-foot warehouse at 8116 Ulmerton Road in Largo.
Dink House Pickleball Location
Now the pickleball paradise is complete with four professional grade courts, 24-hour access for members, a weight section, a sauna, a cold plunge tank and more amenities.
Prices range from $14.99 for a one-time, drop-in rate, to an annual membership of $149.99 monthly or $249.99 for a month-to-month membership.
“There’s three indoor facilities in the Tampa Bay area, and another large one on the way,” Anandan said of the sudden pivot to provide sheltered, indoor courts with amenities over traditional basic outdoor setups.
But he said unlike most of the mammoth, corporate-backed developments, Dink House is different.
“We’re not just offering more. We just have a different goal,” he said, adding he wanted his place to be “fun and social, but it’s also for people who like sports and health. There’s a need for all types of places. But we don’t always want it to be about beer and partying here.”
Ironically, one day later, Dink House did host a large grand opening party that saw a great turnout, with dozens of cars lining the long driveway leading up to the facility, which sits in the back of an industrial park.
“I love it,” Bharat Karunakaran, a pro pickleball player and coach from Orlando, said during the event, which featured a table full of pizza and chips and coolers full of beverages in the center space between the courts.
“Indoor facilities like this are few and far between, especially in this area,” he added. “So, this is the perfect facility for coaching and training or just coming out with a group of friends for some healthy competition, because it feels more like a club and not as commercial.”
Karunakaran, who also produces pickleball social media content and goes by the name BK, said as the sport, which started in Seattle in 1965, continues to skyrocket in popularity, it needs more people like Anandan running top facilities like Dink House.
“There’s so much going on in this sport, we need more people like him because it’s nice to have player-owned facilities,” he said. “He understands the sport and the players and what the place needs in order to be successful.”
The skyrocketing popularity of the sport shows no signs of slowing down, and Anandan noting there are currently 40 million active pickleball players in the United States.
“Youth pickleball is the future of the sport, and I think it’s inevitable it becomes a college sport,” he said.
Before it gets to that point, Anandan hopes to have several Dink House Pickleball Clubs up and running.
“I would’ve done it already if the permitting didn’t take so long!” he said with a laugh.
For information on Dink House Pickleball Club, including membership pricing, visit dinkhouse.com.
