Traditionally, a trip to the mall involves shopping, maybe a movie, a bite to eat or just browsing — soon, a visit to Manassas Mall, in Manassas, Virginia, can include indoor pickleball.
The pickleball courts are scheduled to open on June 8, according to Gage Tutko, who’ll be the director of pickleball at the Manassas location of Dill Dinkers, a fast-growing chain that’s meeting demand of the fast-growing sport.
“We’ll have six courts, and the first to have a new cushioned surface,” Tutko said. “It’s a little bit different than other outdoor and indoor surfaces that you play on — a little bit easier on the body,” although the ball’s bounce will be similar to outdoor surfaces.
You won’t have to be a member to play, although individual, couple and family memberships will be available.
“Anybody can walk in, we’re be using the Court Reserve system,” an online booking app, Tutko said.
Members at the Manassas facility will pay $7.50 an hour, while walk-in visitors will pay $15.
Why put indoor pickleball courts in a shopping mall?
“The first thing that jumps out at me is, obviously, the foot traffic,” Tutko said. “People go to the mall to spend the day, and figure out what to do once they get there — if you stumble across a pickleball place you’ve never heard of or seen, you figure ‘I’ll give it a shot.'”
Tutko said the mall location has other benefits.
“The way the world is, a lot less people are shopping in person in malls, so there’s a bunch of department stores in these malls across the nation that are vacant,” Tutko said. “They have high ceilings, plenty of space, there’s not a ton of construction you have do once you get into the building, than add the courts, fences, and things like that.”
With locations in Maryland, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Connecticut, this will be Dill Dinkers first Virginia facility, according to the company website.
“We’ll be offering a free week of open play for the first week, for anyone that wants to come in and try it out,” Tutko said.
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