Credit: Submitted Photo
Credit: Submitted Photo
What to expect
Long’s Sideout Sports & Spirits is located at 1395 U.S. 42 S. in the former home of Celebrity Athletics Cheer & Dance and Spring Valley Gardens.
In phase one of this project, the community can expect six pickleball courts, four sand volleyball courts, an outdoor seating area and an indoor lounge area with alcoholic beverages, smoothies and coffee.
The building is 7,500-square feet. In Phase 2, they plan to expand to the other side with indoor pickleball courts and potentially a cornhole room or ping pong area.
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
“We’re open to partnering with other groups too,” Long said. “What else could we offer?”
The final phase of the project will be adding an outdoor food court area to the five acres of land they now own and opening the building up for special events, live music and much more.
“We want this to be like a destination place,” Long said.
The growth of pickleball
The couple was originally planning to focus on volleyball, but with pickleball growing immensely, they decided to pivot.
“We’ve heard the challenges of trying to get on a court, getting a chance to play,” Long said. “We will have limited open play.”
Their goal is to make sure people get “quality playing time,” while have a safe and predictable place to go.
“We just want to create a safe space that’s closer for home for people,” Long said. “It’s just building the sports and creating more places for people to play.”
They are currently looking for some sort of “pro” to offer pickleball lessons at their facility.
Meet the owners
The Long family moved from Kettering to Jamestown in 2020.
“Our daughter was playing volleyball at Wilmington College and we’ve always kind of joked about wanting to open a volleyball bar,” Long said. “We were driving down the road and saw that this place was for sale.”
That was in August 2023, and nine months later, they purchased the property.
Long is a 1996 Fairmont High School graduate who was a probation officer for 19 years. She worked in opioid and suicide prevention in Montgomery County for about five years before becoming the criminal justice planning administrator for the state of Ohio.
Her husband is a 1990 West Carrollton High School graduate who followed his father’s footsteps as a bricklayer. Over the last 22 years, he has been in the paving business.
They’re expecting this project to be a $750,000 investment.
Connecting the community
“I think that we need somewhere to go where we can engage in something active,” Long said. I know we’re out of the COVID pandemic, but I feel like there’s still just a little bit of hesitancy for people.“
This facility will allow people to play inside and/or outside and foster community interaction.
“We need human connection and that’s really what heals and makes people feel purpose,” Long said.
Investing in their community is important to the couple. Long hopes to offer a space on Saturdays for nonprofits to do pickleball or sand volleyball fundraisers
“When I can stand back in a corner... and see dozens of people laughing, smiling and enjoying themselves, I’m going to know that we did what we were aiming to do,” Long said.
MORE DETAILS
Long’s Sideout Sports & Spirits is a family friendly facility. They are looking to partner with local food trucks and small businesses to offer food to their guests.
The facility is expected to be open 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday with daytime and evening leagues.
For more information and updates, visit Long’s Sideout Sports & Spirits on Facebook or Instagram (longssideoutsportsandspirits).
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