Long before pickleball clubs began popping up seemingly everywhere, a Carlsbad entrepreneur saw where the sport was headed and transformed part of a former Sears property into a six-court indoor facility. Five years later, that local experiment has grown into Pickleball Republic, a considerably larger operation now expanding across Carlsbad.
Pickleball Republic - Carlsbad South is now open at 2045 Corte Del Nogal, with the company preparing to formally celebrate the facility with a grand opening on Saturday, August 22.
The story stretches back to 2020, when Carlsbad resident Shawn Walker founded The Pickleball Club of Carlsbad at The Shoppes at Carlsbad. Walker was hardly new to recreational businesses: he had spent years operating paintball facilities and events, including the Camp Pendleton Paintball Park. Contemporary coverage said Walker discovered pickleball through his father and quickly recognized both its accessibility and an increasingly obvious shortage of places to play.
The resulting club offered six indoor courts in a repurposed portion of the former Sears property at 2561 El Camino Real. Rather than building exclusively around experienced players, Walker emphasized instruction and accessibility, eventually developing an unusually programming-heavy model with clinics, lessons and classes intended to move beginners into the sport. A 2025 profile reported that the club was offering as many as 20 different classes per day.
According to Pickleball Republic, the original club ultimately introduced more than 20,000 people to pickleball. Among those who walked through its doors were Carlsbad residents Andy and Tiffany Slipka.
The couple initially arrived simply looking for somewhere to play after discovering pickleball while on vacation. They became regulars, developed a relationship with Shawn and Rufina Walker and eventually began discussing how the original club's model could grow. Andy has previously described taking a class at the Carlsbad club, falling in love not only with the sport but with the community surrounding it, and ultimately becoming Walker's business partner.
By 2025, that partnership had evolved into a new brand: Pickleball Republic. The original facility became Pickleball Republic North Mall, while plans moved forward for a significantly larger second location in South Carlsbad.
The company's goal is to create a place where someone who has never held a paddle can learn alongside a facility capable of accommodating experienced and competitive players — an approach summarized by its trademarked slogan, “Where Every Player Has a Place.”
The expansion comes as pickleball has transformed from a relatively niche recreational activity into one of the most conspicuous sports trends in the country. In Carlsbad, however, Pickleball Republic's roots predate much of the current rush to capitalize on the sport.
The original North Mall location remains in operation at The Shoppes at Carlsbad and continues serving as a six-court indoor training center. Pickleball Republic describes it as the continuation of the original club's community-focused model, with beginner instruction, skills clinics, open play, ladder play and private lessons.
The South Carlsbad project has also been years in the making. A December 2025 interview with Walker and Slipka detailed plans for the new indoor-outdoor complex after permitting was completed and construction had begun. City-related project documents subsequently identified the site at 2045 Corte Del Nogal and described plans for regulation-sized courts and structured programming.
Pickleball Republic has already begun using the new facility for community events. In May, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Carlsbad held its annual Dink & Drink fundraiser there, raising more than $17,000 for youth programs.
Now the company is preparing for its biggest public introduction yet. The official grand opening will take place Saturday, August 22, from noon to 4pm and is expected to include facility tours, food and beverages, local vendors and community organizations, product demonstrations, giveaways and information about lessons, leagues and youth programming.
The centerpiece will be an exhibition involving members of the USA National Pickleball Team, which Pickleball Republic says it is sponsoring for the 2026 Pickleball World Cup in Vietnam.
That international connection represents a fitting milestone for a business that started with six courts inside a North County shopping mall.
What began as a local place to teach Carlsbad residents a rapidly emerging sport has evolved into a two-location operation attempting to preserve the community atmosphere of the original club while building something considerably bigger around it.
Pickleball Republic Carlsbad South is located at 2045 Corte Del Nogal in Carlsbad. The grand opening takes place Saturday, August 22, from noon to 4pm. For more information, visit pickleballrepublic.com.
Originally published August 15, 2026.
