Partnership Including Around The Post Pickleball Will Run New Indoor Facility, Peconic Pickleball, in Riverhead

Nearly a decade ago, Scott Green envisioned starting an indoor pickleball facility somewhere on the South Fork based solely on the fact that he knew the sport was growing exponentially, not only internationally and nationally, but right in his backyard.

The Hampton Bays native was unable to find a commercial property that was affordable. He has since started his own company, Around The Post Pickleball, which helps grow the game by hosting leagues and tournaments and teaches the game through certified trainers, which has become wildly successful.

About a year ago, Green, 68, received a phone call from Peter Bachmore who was interested in helping to make a longtime dream a reality. The pair have partnered to create Peconic Pickleball, which will take up about 30,000 square feet of the former Kmart in the East End Commons at Old Country Road and Northville Turnpike in Riverhead. It will be the first-ever privately owned dedicated indoor pickleball facility on the East End.

Green’s Around The Post Pickleball will be tasked with running the sport at the new facility with what it does best, which is teach the game and run leagues, clinics and tournaments.

“I was approached based off of my knowledge of the game, and my group and I are thrilled we’re going to be involved,” he said. “It gives us a legitimate platform to expand the game here on the East End.

“Peter and I, we’re on the same page in the sense that we’re both passionate about what we’re going to be doing for the community, and that’s why this is going to be one of the biggest things for the East End and why it’s a great marriage for both of us,” Green added. “Peter found someone who is passionate about the sport of pickleball, someone who predicted over six years ago that a facility like this was going to be needed. And I can say confidently that the community is going to be thrilled with what we put together here.”

Bachmore, 51, a Bayport resident, has worked as an attorney for an investment bank on Wall Street for over 20 years, but he’d been looking to open and own his own business for a while now. Admittedly, pickleball wasn’t his first idea, rather it was some type of indoor lacrosse facility. But when his brother-in-law, a tennis pro in Maryland, called to tell him about the “pickleball phenomenon,” he started to research the sport and even play it himself.

With his parents in Center Moriches, and family spread out over both forks, Bachmore is heavily invested in his new venture and very much so wants to see it succeed. And he’s confident it will.

“When I started talking to Scott Green about it, and in various conversations with leaders in Riverhead, I quickly knew this was going to be a great addition to the East End — not just Riverhead, but the North and South Forks,” he said. “We are going to reach out to the local school districts and communities and really do a wonderful thing for everybody there, near and dear. There are a lot of eggs in the basket here, and we really want to make this work. So far, the process has been great.”

To that end, neither Bachmore or Green want to rush things. Bachmore said Labor Day is still in play in terms of opening the facility, but that if they need to push it back a month or two, they will, to make sure everything is in place. Both mentioned having a soft opening, as well, at some point, when they will invite friends and family and local pickleballers to try out the courts and receive feedback on everything.

The plan is to build nine indoor courts with a fully-stocked pro shop along with a bar and restaurant inside that will feature some local amenities, such as product from the many various local breweries that now call Riverhead home. Justin Tempelman, owner of JT's Cafe in Blue Point, will be a key member of the team leading the concession efforts.

Bachmore is also very interested in hosting cornhole leagues and tournaments at the new facility. Pickleball will very much be at the center of it all, though. Of the nine courts the group plans to have, there will be one “featured court” that will host championship matches and will have spectator seating.

Memberships will certainly be available as well as open court sessions, clinics, lessons, leagues and tournaments.

As reported by the Riverhead News Review, a portion of the more than 108,000-square-foot building is already being renovated to house offices for the Suffolk County Department of Social Services. In December 2021, the Suffolk County Legislature approved a 20-year agreement to lease 38,555 square feet of the building to relocate its DSS offices from East Main Street. The building has been vacant since Kmart shuttered it in November 2018.

“We got lucky with the right spot at the right time in Riverhead,” Bachmore said. “The last several years, I’ve met some very wonderful new friends and everybody brings a neat perspective and I am 100 percent thankful for all of their feedback. I am a new business owner, so I learn something brand new every day. But this vision of mine to own something is almost like a dream come true.”

Pickleball has grown so much, Green said, that he’s had to scale back his time with one of his original business ventures Play At The Plate, which brings baseball games and tournaments to professional and highly regarded baseball fields and stadiums. He only sees pickleball growing even more, which is why he sees Peconic Pickleball as a gem on the East End, not only from a need standpoint but being the first of its kind.

“The thing about the game now, is that it’s exploding so much and so many people want to play pickleball, that there just aren’t enough courts,” he said. “One of the goals for me is to make ATP and Peconic Pickleball a recognizable entity in teaching the game the correct way and running a good tournament, and we’re going to continue with that. And I’m never going to sign an exclusivity contract, because I want to be able to teach everywhere. We’re hitting the precipice of this sport at the right time, and it’s the right place at the right time.”