Pickleball finds home at giant space in Geelong

March 21, 2025 BY Brian Allen

KMD Brands has appointed Ashley Reade (right) as chief executive of Rip Curl. Pictured with group chief executive Brent Scrimshaw. Photo: SUPPLIED

AN INDOOR pickleball facility has replaced the Hoop City basketball hub in Grovedale.

The Dinx Pickleball Club held their grand opening on the weekend with hundreds trying the fast-growing sport for the first time.

Loosely described as being played with a slightly larger table tennis paddle over a tennis-sized net on a badminton-sized court with a hollow polymer ball, pickleball has its own set of rules distinct from those three sports.

Co-owners Brooke Chiller and Daryl Wyatt, who have a tennis background, had been looking for a venue for about a year.

The 1,512sqm facility at 190 Torquay Road became available in October with Hoop City’s operators citing the rising cost of operating there as the reason for its departure.

Mr Wyatt said there were already about 1,000 people playing pickleball in the Geelong and Surf Coast region and he felt there was a need for a purpose-built home.

“They play on a lot of wood basketball courts but there are not many tournaments played in those facilities.”

He said the new venue ticked the boxes in terms of having locker rooms, showers, a high roof and plenty of court space.

Ms Chiller said the lack of proper facilities had been an obstacle for the sport’s expansion.

“The thing that has probably stunted the growth a little bit is court availability time.

“At a lot of these basketball places, you’re fighting between basketball, netball, soccer… we saw the need that people want to play every day, it’s so addictive; so we’re going to be open 7 days a week.”

Chiller, who has been playing for about a year and started at Torquay, said pickleball was easy to pick up and had great scope for more advanced players.

“It’s very achievable at that entry level, you could have played no sport ever in your entire life and you could pick up a paddle and play a game right away.”

Mr Wyatt, who is also part-owner of a professional pickleball team in the United States, said Dinx would offer leagues, lessons, court hire and tournament training camps.