Pasco Collard, the CEO and president of the company who formerly oversaw the tennis program at Saddlebrook and tennis director Rene Moller have established tennis programs, clinics and league. They also organized pickleball and padel tournaments.

“It’s obviously nice to have,” Moller said of the recent increase in activity for a center that opened in October. “The more people we can get through the doors to see this place the better.”

Hundreds of competitors participated in the recent tourneys, notably 350 for pickleball and 120 for padel. Both sports are for all ages and skill levels. Games, which combine elements of tennis, badminton, table tennis and racquetball, are played with two to four players.

“Absolutely wonderful,” is how Collard described the recent surge in activity. “The pickleball was part of the senior tour and everybody said it was one of the best padel event they went to in the U.S. That’s huge.”