A big dill in Montco: Pickleball courts coming to Lansdale and Hatboro this summer

Pickleball courts are coming to Montgomery County.

Dill Dinkers Pickleball, a company with pickleball courts in Maryland, expects to open two new indoor locations in Lansdale and Hatboro late this summer.

“Especially in the areas that we’ve targeted initially, there just was not a lot of indoor pickleball offering,” said Andrew Wakefield, regional developer for the company in Chester and Montgomery Counties. ”From our perspective, it just made sense. There was a big need in the market.”

At about 47,000-square-feet, the Hatboro site will be at 330 S. Warminster Rd. and have upward of 15 courts when construction is done. The Lansdale site, which is around 37,000 square feet, will have 11 courts at 1180 Church Rd.

Dill Dinkers Pickleball, which was founded in 2022 in Maryland and has several locations in that state, is expanding to other states this year, including South Carolina, Virginia, and Connecticut.

Wakefield, who grew up in the Center Valley area, is working with his father on scouting locations for pickleball in Pennsylvania.

In total, Wakefield expects to open 14 new Dill Dinkers Pickleball locations in the region in the next six years. He said he is exploring King of Prussia and Conshohocken for new sites. Wakefield is also looking for minority partners and others who might be interested in being a franchisee.

Pickleball, which grew in popularity during the pandemic, is the fastest growing sport in the country as of 2022, according to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association. Players in the Philadelphia region already have some places to play. Last year, temporary courts were installed at Dilworth Park; a $4 million facility in Malvern and another with eight courts in South Jersey opened.

“This sport is for everybody — whether you’re 18 and looking to make it a serious sport for yourself or whether you’re in your 40s, 50s, 60s and looking for a fun game to stay fit and active,” Wakefield said.

The sport has become divisive among some, with the thwacking sound of the ball against the racket enraging some neighbors.

Wakefield, though, is an avid player himself.

“It kind of just struck me as a fun activity. After playing it for a few months, though, I began to see more of the competitive side of it,” he said. “Now, I’ve become a disciple of the pickleball faith.”