Plastic rackets, a plastic ball, a short net, and a kitchen. Pickleball is taking the world by storm. And the newest attraction is within a mile of the school.
The Crush Yard, located on the corner of Highway 17 and National Drive, has become a local phenomenon. Attracting customers with its state of the art pickleball courts, extensive cuisine, and sports lounge, The Crush Yard opened at the end of the third quarter of 2023. VP of Operations, Mat Norman, alongside founder and chief executive officer, David Hack, saw room for their business.
“We knew Charleston’s a growing market,” Norman said. “There was [no] ‘eatentertainment’ here other than Top Golf here within the past year so it just made sense to start it here… Especially here in Mount Pleasant… a lot of people are moving to this area. It creates an atmosphere where people can kind of jump into a sport. People like competitiveness [so] they’re able to build friendships through this.”
Pickleball originated in 1965 when residents on Bainbridge Island, Wash., created the new game as a cure for boredom. It began on a badminton court using Ping-Pong paddles. By 1990, pickleball was officially being played in all 50 states. Throughout this century, pickleball has become a trend. Norman noticed this growth and took action.
“There’s now over 50 million players playing right now. [It’s] the fastest growing sport in America,” Norman said. “I think a lot of people find joy in playing pickleball. It’s a sport so they can have some exercise, they can find that community with friends, and you don’t have to be an avid pickleball player. You can be first time playing, second time playing, it’s a pretty easy sport to pick up.”
As an entrepreneur, Hack modeled his business off of other successful eat-and sport style companies.
“This whole entertainment thing is growing,” Hack said. “It’s just a massively growing sector [and] a pretty exciting spot and now we’re able to bring that to Mount Pleasant.” With over 30 locations expected to open in the future, The Crush Yard aims to expand not only throughout the country, but even in their current location.
“What I think we’ll be doing is having a formal bar in the back… when you build companies you think about new space, you kind of see how people interact with the space, and then you make adjustments accordingly. So that’s something exciting we’ll be having live here in another six weeks or so. That’ll be a 36-seat bar… along with TVs in the back where you can catch a game so it’s going to be a pretty exciting feature added on to what we already have,” Hack said.
Aside from pickleball, The Crush Yard offers many other activities such as shuffleboard, cornhole, ping pong, and board games in a goal to build more of a community within Mount Pleasant.
“It’s ideal for people who want to come learn pickleball, especially if we’re offering some junior classes which is great for people from high school to get off and play…it’s a cool place to just come hang out and do homework here in the afternoon,” Hack said.
In addition to physical activities, The Crush Yard also functions as a full service food court featuring local food from our area.
“We see that generation X and Y are heading in a direction where they like some type of activity where they can also eat and drink at the same place,” Norman said.
Wando senior Lexie Allen has found joy playing on the court.
“I love pickleball because of the community it provides. I play weekly with my friends [and] it gives me the opportunity to grow closer to them,” Allen said. “The Crush Yard
brings everyone in the whole community together to do something fun and active…[playing] indoors means you can play any time of the year. If you’re playing outdoors and it’s too cold then you can’t play or if it’s raining or if it’s too hot.”
Not only has pickleball functioned as a sport for Allen, it has also become an outlet from her day-to-day life.
“Pickleball has been an awesome opportunity for me to just get out of the house, relieve some stress, and have some fun with friends. I always forget about what I have to do or all my upcoming school assignments when I play and I just have fun for a couple of hours. It’s been a goal of mine to spend more time doing the things I love with the people I love, so pickleball has been a good outlet for me,” Allen said.