When everyone else was converting grocery stores and warehouses into pickleball facilities, Kelly Bodner went a different direction. She built Indiana’s first ground-up pickleball club from dirt — and modeled it after a country club.
The result? Pickle on Penn in Carmel, Indiana: eight cushioned courts, locker rooms stocked with the essentials, a boutique pro shop, and a restaurant and bar overlooking the courts. Members pay an initiation fee and monthly dues in exchange for free court time and high-end amenities.
In this episode, Kelly shares:
- Why she chose a membership model over pay-to-play
- What the country club approach gets right about retention and community
- How she broke up cliques and built real friendships among members
- The truth about adding a restaurant to your pickleball club
- What she’d do differently — and why she’d do it all again
Whether you’re an operator, investor or pickleball entrepreneur, this episode is packed with honest, hard-won insight from someone who built something genuinely different in their marketplace.
P.S. Pickle on Penn is part of a club-versus-club pickleball league in Indianapolis. To learn more about that project, click here.
Prefer to listen? The full interview can be found on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
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With over a decade spent covering the business side of sports and fitness, Rachel Chonko brings a wealth of experience and a true passion for active communities to Peake Media. As Editor-in-Chief, she’s focused on helping pickleball clubs and fitness facilities thrive, from guiding growth strategies to showcasing the latest industry trends. Rachel also hosts the Club Solutions Magazine Podcast, where she interviews leaders in fitness and pickleball to share insights and success stories with the wider community to give her listeners a competitive edge.
After taking up pickleball herself, Rachel has come to appreciate the sport’s unique blend of social connection and active living — a mix that’s perfectly in line with her editorial philosophy. Connect with her on LinkedIn, or check out her articles below for a deep dive into the energy and culture driving pickleball’s rapid rise.
