Three years, six months of searching, nine courts. The story behind Pickleball 1‑0‑1, step by step.
Three players, one bar napkin, one sketch.
We come back from a tournament in Toronto. Montréal's missing a dedicated club, not a shared multi-sport gym, a club. Pro courts, café, atmosphere. We sketch the floor plan on a napkin that night. We keep the napkin.
Six months of searching. Marché Central wins.
Seventeen spaces toured. Ceilings too low, columns in the wrong places, neighbourhoods too far out. Marché Central hits every mark, height, open floor plan, métro next door, restaurants around. We sign before Christmas.
Walls, climate control, LED. The shell takes shape.
General contractor selected, architect's plans approved. We lock in Sport Master Pro flooring early, seven shock-absorption layers, the best we found. Walls go up, air starts circulating.
Seven layers of shock absorption. Pro-grade lands in Montréal.
Sport Master Pro goes in on all nine courts. Six of them fit more than four players for group rotation. LED lighting, pro-grade nets, lines down to the millimetre. We play-test every court.
Gong Cha drinks and banh mi, self-serve by the door.
The grab-and-go right by the court. The name's a wink: in pickleball, the no-volley zone is called the kitchen. Banh mi from Cantine Tran, healthy meal prep from Comptoir Mael, Gong Cha bubble tea — self-serve by the exit. Grab, tap, get back on court. That's the whole idea.
Doors open. Play, connect, compete.
Three and a half years after the napkin, doors open at Marché Central. The first 100 members get three months free. Leagues, open play, clinics, tournaments. The club we wanted, we built.