In this inaugural episode of "The Joy of Pickleball," host Ryan Weinbach (Speaker B) takes viewers on an on‑camera tour of SPF, a premium indoor pickleball facility in Chicago. The episode showcases the venue’s striking aesthetic—live palm trees, sun‑lit courts, a photo booth, a sauna, and a swim‑up pool bar—while highlighting its partnership with local food and beverage brands such as Pickleto cold brew, local pastry makers, and a restaurant serving high‑quality chicken tenders and sourdough. Throughout the visit, Ryan and guests (including player Mikey Gendell, owners Rich and Rick, and community members) demonstrate the facility’s technology, notably a court‑level video replay system that records points to phones for social sharing and coaching. The group plays several games, runs a target‑shooting competition, and discusses how SPF serves a broad community—from families with infants to senior pros—by offering events, corporate bookings, and outreach activations. The episode ends with Ryan reflecting on the vibrant community, the quality of food and amenities, and his gratitude for the experience, positioning SPF as a model for elevating pickleball culture in Chicago.
Chapters
Woo!
Let's go! Okay, so we're going to be going to a place called SPF. I've been to a ton of pickleball places in the country and throughout the world. This place looks like one of the most aesthetically pleasing places I've ever seen, so I can't wait to get there. We're going to meet the owners, we're going to talk to some customers, we're going to play some pickleball, we're going to have some competition— my favorite part— show some Chicago people what pickleball what pickleball is really about, and most importantly, have some fun. So usually pickleball facilities are in like old strip malls or abandoned warehouses, and it's just like not the vibe. SPF is completely different. Look at this place. We are finally here. Oh my God, this place is insane. I think I'm on vacation. There's like these Beautiful palm tree. Guys, guys, there's like sunroofs.
What?
I just actually need a picture of this myself. I mean, you come in here and it like makes you happy with the colors, the atmosphere. It seems very open. I've never seen sunlights in a pickleball facility. You got everything. We even got a little photo booth.
Yeah.
What goes down in the photo booth?
We have a huge sauna. So after you play, walk in.
Oh my God.
Oh my God, that's crazy.
Yeah.
And so I think I need to move here. Is there like an extra room? There's a lot of space.
All the palm trees are, are, uh, live, so we brought them from Florida where I'm originally from, and, uh, we use pod play to give our members access to the locker room. We use it, you push the button, turns green.
Come on, I'm obsessed. So one of the things that SPF has done amazing is they've paired with small businesses to feature them. One of them is Pickleto, which is a cold brew and coffee company here, not too far from the facility, which I absolutely love. They also have pastries that are from a local facility. Ice cream. I did not see that they had ice cream until now.
Amazing.
We have SPS version of a swim-up pool bar, AKA a pickleball bar, which is so sick. Alan's over there and made me a mocktail earlier. We got my bestie Mikey Gendall. Mikey, did you win or lose? Probably lost. They have a full bar and restaurant back here. A lot of their members come here just to hang out. They have a ton of corporate events. One of the members was telling me she's having a birthday party. Another member said they were having a rehearsal dinner for a wedding. You can watch big screen, you can hang out with your family. We have my friends Nicole over here with her little boy Walker, just a 10-month-old, playing on the turf, which is so cute. Nicole's gonna bang one in right now.
Let's see. Yes!
I believed in her. Every single court has the video replay technology. So many people are using it to see their points after, after they play, but also to like troll their friends in their DMs afterwards, which is lit. I personally like love to have an event up here. You can rent out this top area. You can watch your friends get body bagged from here and then watch it again on the replay system right there. All right, so I'm about to step on the court for the first time and whip Mikey Gendell's But all you do after you have a sick point, you touch this button and it'll go straight to your phone.
And also, I don't really have a good point here.
Go up there. So once I body bag Mikey, I will show it up there. Actually, Rick is a bigger target.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
I hope you come at this target.
Oh my God, that's going to be— That was sick.
Do you like it so far, the replay system?
I mean, even if you want to challenge your friend on an outcall, you want to save it to post later, it's just a great feature.
You ain't got long time. All right, I got my boy Mikey here.
You gotta be on the left, cut.
I have to be on the left? You actually—
I don't care.
So Mikey and I just got done playing 3 games. We got our last W. What was it like playing here at SBF?
You know, it's, uh, it's great having indoor courts in the city. We didn't have it for a long time, and thanks to Rich and the team for building such a sick facility. Replay system's amazing. Like, obviously Kaitlyn and I have unbelievable points It's like regularly. So to be able to capture that and put it on social media for the fans to see is great.
Rick was one of the first people I ever did an Instagram Live with back in 2022.
I remember.
That is a great thing that I never thought about, using that as a teaching tool.
The replay system, so many times your students hear what you're saying, but they can't really visually connect that thought with what they're doing. So there's only one thing better than you on the spot telling them what they're doing wrong. It's telling them and showing them. So this is my first experience with that.
I'm like, Wow, I like that it has you beating me on match point.
You can forever have that in your phone, pull it up whenever you need to. Mikey, you already made that up. Two-handed backhand!
All right, we're about to do a target competition. The person that hits the cornhole thing the most in 30 seconds is going to win a prize at the end.
Go! 3 or 4? 4. We're going 4. What? Just so you know, he finds you when he sounds like Bigelow. Nice.
I got to win this. I'm going to try to make 9.
What's this? Did I cut you? Oh my God. We got the same score.
I think that we do. Is this really at a pickleball facility? I mean, seriously, it's like amazing local meats. We have fresh sourdough from a local place. Like, I would literally come here just to hang, like, every day. I mean, you have amazing food, you meet so many amazing people. The community here has been fantastic. You know, I feel like I'm at home.
It was important for us, even with temporary kind of cafe area to make sure people knew we stand for quality. We were featuring local businesses like Tempesta. Those peppers are awesome. They're from Pickled Prince. And so we wanted to make sure with the restaurant coming that people knew, like, we're not just like a pickleball place serving you bad chicken tenders and hamburgers. We do serve, but we— chicken tenders are— our chicken tenders are pretty high quality, you know, using honey butter fried chicken. Yeah, it's great.
We got chickens out here in Chicago, a little chicken coop. Aww, they're cute. It's like the way to get healthy eggs around here, you know.
Yeah, I think we just try to find opportunities to showcase who we are as a facility and also help grow the game, introduce people to pickleball. Usually, you know, we'll have a little dink net set up today where people can hit and take it, you know, for a lot of times it's their first time putting a paddle in their hands and Yeah, so we've done activations at apartment buildings down the street, here a few times where we've just set up lines and bring out a net and just have some fun and introduce who we are to people.
SPS is super fun and I like that they have a lot of snacks and other things to do.
We're YouTube stars now, Simon!
This is my boy Hudson. What is your favorite pickleball memory?
Look at that, look at that, look at that! What? He got it! It's Ryan Weinbach! Wait a second, can I just do something? Come on, man!
My favorite pickleball memory. All right, great job, Jose! We're here at Trev's Park. We just spent the entire day at SPF. It was so amazing. SPF is doing so much for the community, um, from little kids all the way up to senior pros, from people that have never played to experienced players. They're really doing it all. So they're just really trying to spread the joy of pickleball, and I'm just so grateful to see it. We just got back from the park. We're heading back to the hotel for the night. An amazing day. Thank you so much to Pod Play. It's been a blast to see Chicago and SPF and meet so many people in the local community.
