Courtesy FryeGuys Pickleball Club
By Susan Elise Campbell
Pickleball has become so popular that Steve Frye, owner of the new, indoors, FryeGuys Pickleball Club in Clifton Park suggests it will become an Olympic sport.
“Pickleball is popular because it’s fun and very social,” said Frye. “People at the club are down-to-earth and are not necessarily playing to win, but to meet people and have a good time.”
The game is comparable to table tennis, badminton, or any racquet sport, said Frye. But unlike tennis, the game goes fast and competitors can play a quick challenge or an all-day tournament.
Participants need not be athletes like Frye to enjoy the sport, he said. He was a math teacher and a coach for 30 years and the athletic director for the Candor, NY school system the last seven years of his career.
After he and his wife Ann retired, she as a STEM teacher in the Newark Valley schools, they relocated to Corinth. This was in the early days of the Covid 19 pandemic and as Frye was “getting bored in the house, thoight pickleball could be a good business,” he said.
There are many outdoor courts around Saratoga, but FryeGuys fills an underserved market. Now enthusiasts can play inside in the comfort of a former warehouse at 1319 Route 146.
The location was not Frye’s first choice or his first obstacle.
“I was one step away from buying a residentially and commercially zoned property I could develop in Ballston Spa, but I needed 12 more feet on one side to have the required one full acre,” he said.
So Frye started shopping for lease space. Ryan Taylor of Continuum Commercial Realty showed him a few vacant warehouses with a landlord in Clifton Park.
“The newest of these spaces looked best to me. Then three days before I was to sign, I learned we would could not get financial assistance through an IDA program,” he said. “We were unable to prove consumers would visit from a wider area to support the local economy.”
The next warehouse space proved “just the right fit,” he said. “And it was a little lower rental because it’s an older building.”
The high ceilings in the warehouse were one of the first requirements to host pickleball. Second, the courts needed to be configured in a wide enough area so that players don’t run into support columns or other fixed obstacles.
“Our builder was MR2 Construction Services out of Malta,” said Frye. “They covered up all the walls, built an office, a kitchenette, and two bathrooms and changing rooms.
Final step was to install security cameras and a new HVAC system.
“Air conditioning over the summer is a huge thing for pickleballers, instead of roasting in 95 degree temperatures,” he said.
Frye is offering two monthly memberships. The Blue Membership is $40 per month, which allows booking court time several months out. The Green Membership is $20 per month and these members can book up to three weeks out, but in the long run will pay a little more for court time than Blue members.
Visitors pay no up front fees but must book reservations three to five days out, not earlier. Members get priority when reserving court time and classes, he said, but anyone can come in for open play.
“Blue members will play most often, usually five or six times a week for two hours a day,” he said. “Green members may play once or twice a week and usually one weekend day.”
Pickleball is popular among young and old, with leagues and tournaments on the rise everywhere. Frye said he has seen 80-year-olds on the court and has signed up new members in their 70s.
“There is so much momentum that there is serious talk of adding pickleball as an official Olympic sport,” said Frye. “More than 100 countries have pickleball clubs, so there is a lot of support and interest.”
Pickleball is in schools and Frye plans to have programs for “Juniors” and clinics to help young ones progress in their skills, he said.
“Phys Ed starts them and we would like to improve them because we think pickleball will be a high school sport soon,” he said. “Clubs are forming already for kids to learn and do well.”
FryeGuys has three coaches contracting to give classes for beginners, advanced beginners, intermediate, and higher level club members.
The Fryes have family that transplanted to Saratoga and wanted to be closer to them in their retirement years. Through the pickleball business, the couple hopes to give back to the community by sponsoring food drives, clothing drives, and the like.
Fighting food insecurity, alzheimer’s research, and cancer research are at the top of the Fryes’ charitable causes. Ann volunteers at the children’s museum in Saratoga.
Frye has developed an app to reserve court time and sign up for classes. Learn more about membership at fryeguyspb.com.