Hialeah indoor pickleball facility gives players that ‘backyard party’ feel

It’s pickleball’s version of “Field of Dreams”.

Melvin Guerrero recently returned from a trip to his native Dominican Republic. While there, he visited a friend who put up a pickleball court in the middle of the countryside, with sugar-cane fields all around.

“The neighborhood kids who can’t even afford a pair of shoes go out there to play, and you can see the joy in their eyes,” Guerrero said.

“Pickleball is unlike any other sport in that you often see grandparents playing. You see parents playing with their kids. You see husbands and wives.

“When I was in the Dominican, I played with a 70-year-old lady with two knee replacements, and we went undefeated. She hugged me so many times. She said pickleball has changed her life.”

Guerrero, 38, is one of the co-owners of The Yards at Amelia, an indoor pickleball facility located at 7551 West 4^th Avenue in Hialeah.

As in the Field of Dreams movie, build it … and they will come.

In December of 2023, Guerrero and co-owners Dennis Rodriguez, 43, and Jencarlos Canela, 35, converted what had been a department store (Valsan) into a 30,000-foot pickleball space.

At first, they opened just one court. But when that proved wildly popular, they added two more. Five more courts are set to open by mid-April.

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“We’ve seen the demand,” said Guerrero, a former tennis pro at Shula’s in Miami Lakes. “People are booking like crazy even though we haven’t done any advertisement.”

The Yards is especially in demand when it’s raining. Besides that, there’s a cool vibe with couches inside and several food trucks just outside.

It costs $40 per hour to rent a court at The Yards, which comes out to $10 per person.

Guerrero, who also offers lessons, said he and his partners initially talked about higher prices but the decision was made to keep the courts highly accessible.

“I love to see people having fun at our club,” Guerrero said. “Pickleball brings people together.

“Last year, we started a pickleball chat with four people. Now we have more than 300 people, and everyone calls each other. This sport builds a great sense of community.”

Rodriguez and Alex Ruiz, 39, -- both real-estate owners of Prestige Builders – partnered with Canela to create Black Box Entertainment, which includes The Yards. Guerrero is a co-owner/operator on the pickleball side of things.

Speaking of pickleball, Rodriguez said that plans are in place to have replay and scoreboard systems on each court.

“Each court will have a camera,” Rodriguez said. “Let’s say you hit a great shot. You can run to the red button at each court, and a replay of the last 30 or 40 seconds will be sent to your phone, and you can post that on your social media if you want.”

The scoreboard function is still being worked out, but Rodriguez and Canela made it clear how important the Hialeah community is to them.

“There’s a reason why it’s called ‘The Yards’,” said Canela, who was born and raised in Hialeah. “I grew up seven minutes from where this pickleball space now stands.

“When I was coming up, our backyard parties were epic. We wanted to create sports and entertainment with that backyard culture.

“This space is for everyone. But, first and foremost, it was created with a lot of heart -- by locals and for locals.”

PICKLE POINTS

▪ Inti Pallares, a 52-year-old father of six and the grandfather of six-month-old Jax, has been playing pickleball for two years. Prior to that, Pallares played racquetball for two decades. A real-estate attorney, Pallares plays at Salvation Army, Miller Park and Coral Pines, and his trademark sayings are “no mercy!” when his team is closing in on a win; and the Spanish word animo, which he uses to pep up his teammate.

▪ Cesar Simon, 24, and Hailly Rubio, 21, who have been dating for four years, play pickleball almost every day, mostly at Goodlet Park in Hialeah. They have been playing for 18 months, and Simon, a nurse, said the sport has actually helped his relationship with Rubio, who will graduate from nursing school next month.

“I’d say pickleball is the strangest form of couples therapy,” Simon said with a laugh. “You have to learn to work together and not get angry. Because of pickleball, we now have a lot more patience with each other.”