Indoor pickleball opens at Renegade gym in Waterford

Waterford ― Renegade Fitness broke in its three brand-new, air-conditioned pickleball courts last weekend with a tournament featuring 36 entries.

The fitness facility at 6 Fargo Road has created an area near its gym where regulation-size courts and nets are laid out over an area that years ago was used as tennis courts in a facility previously known as Work Out World and, before then, Waterford Racquet Club.

The area now occupied by pickleball most recently had been used for indoor soccer leagues.

The pickleball section of the gym includes a small lounge area with tables where members and guests can view matches. The ceiling is high, since it originally was built for tennis, and LED lighting above provides state-of-the-art illumination.

“These are the best indoor pickleball courts in the area,” said Dave Oko, Renegade’s pickleball director, who ran last weekend’s tournament. “The open house was a big success.”

Oko said he expects eventually to be running regular leagues and tournaments on the pickleball courts, which are laid out side by side.

“I’d really like to get regionals here,” he added, referring to tournaments that draw from a wider geographic area.

Oko said pickleball courts over the past few years have been jury-rigged within indoor tennis facilities, but there are few places around set aside specifically for the sport. The Mystic YMCA recently built several new outdoor pickleball-only courts, but many areas set aside for the sport at places like Mitchell College and Toby May recreation facility in New London are shared with tennis players.

Sue Kane, who owns the Renegade facility in Waterford as well as four other gyms in Connecticut and Rhode Island, said pickleball-only memberships are being offered at $54 a month, which includes seven hours of court time every week. Current members can add pickleball to their membership for $44 a month, which also includes seven hours of court time.

Members can use the courts up to two hours a day, and Kane estimated they are already about 70% occupied throughout the day. Oko said he expects numbers to swell in the winter when players are forced inside by colder weather.

Kane, who lives in East Lyme, said the pickleball courts were the dream of her and husband Bill Kane, who died after a brief illness in November. The Kanes were active racquetball players for many years in New England, though Sue Kane is yet to take up pickleball, which has been hailed as the fastest-growing sport in America.

The club was known as Work Out World until about 10 years ago, when it rebranded as Renegade Fitness. Over the years, Kane has made substantive changes to the club, including an addition to the children’s birthday party area in the back, which now includes a variety of inflatable slides and bouncing areas along with a snack bar and room to have three events going on at any one time.

The club also now includes a functional training area with monkey bars, weights, a punching bag, medicine balls and sand bags, along with a short track to work on bursts of speed. It’s favored by serious athletes, but also by those who want to work on specific body areas, Kane said.

“The functional training area really brought us to another level,” Kane said.

The gym, with about 30 employees and 2,800 members, also includes racquetball courts and an exercise area where fitness workouts and yoga classes are held, along with Nautilus machines and a cardio workout area.

Kane said the 48,000-square-foot Waterford club was the first she and her late husband opened, and with 18 acres surrounding the facility it’s the one with the most possibilities.

“We’re excited for the growth of this location,” Kane said. “This is one we have a lot of fun with. This is the mother club.”

l.howard@theday.com