DTL Sports Center Owners Bring Indoor Pickleball To Fairfax City

FAIRFAX CITY, VA — It was a love of pickleball and a timely business opportunity that led Jenni Bae and her husband Jin to open Down the Line Sports Center in Fairfax City on Thursday.

"I am an avid tennis player, who was introduced to pickleball during COVID," Jenni Bae told Patch. "One of the best aspects of it actually was that I was able to play with my dad, who is now turning 74 this year. He's a true athlete who loves competition. For the first time in decades, we're able to play something together."

Seeing how much her father enjoyed the sport, she began doing tournaments and tried to find other places to play.

Jenni Bae's family happened to own a large building in Annandale, where the couple had already announced that they were going to open a pickleball center with 18 courts, simulators and a sports bar.

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"We have big plans for that building," she said. "While I was working on that project, I was speaking to people in the City of Fairfax and we just found this opportunity. It's a great location, an empty space, a prime spot where we were able to fill a void and demand for an indoor dedicated facility for people to play pickleball."

The Baes also of the city's Façade and Interior Improvement program, which provided them with funding to complete the project.

"That made a huge part of our decision factor, to be able to get a grant like that to help us build this out," Jenni Bae said. "The city itself has just been so helpful and trying to help us along this process and be able to open here."

Located in the former home of a CVS drugstore at 10390 Willard Way in Fairfax, DTL Sports Center offers three full-size pickleball courts, one half-size court, a short court for practice, a players lounge and a min-pro shop. The facility also boasts a live scoreboard where players can keep score and replay videos that they can download to their phone.

DTL offers space for organized leagues and tournaments, which welcomes athletes of all ages and skill levels looking to play competitive matches. The facility gives players a chance for open play, in which a pickleball player can walk in and sign-in to compete against another player who is it the same skill level. Memberships are also available.