Photo: Neighbors of the Wasatch Back // Sarah Severson.

If “dink,” “side out,” and “third shot drop” are part of your everyday vocabulary, chances are you’ve already been swept up in the addictive rhythm of one of America’s fastest-growing sports: pickleball. And here in the Wasatch Back, that passion has found a home. Tucked inside the mountain views of Wasatch County is a one-of-a-kind indoor facility—built exclusively for pickleball—where the pop of paddles, friendly competition, and a tight-knit community come together year-round.

For Jina and Matt Allen, founders of the Kellsey Pickleball Club, their road to Heber Valley and to building and operating the only indoor pickleball facility in the Wasatch Back was a journey that was both unplanned and spontaneous, yet filled with adventure, travels, and a commitment to their family during a time that no parent wants to experience. And yet they embraced it with love, dignity, and a quiet resolve to cherish every moment with a daughter who was to be taken too soon.

The couple met on the East Coast in the early 2000s while in college. Jina, originally from Bogotá, Colombia, had been living in the Boston area since she was 14 and was studying graphic design, while Matt was working as a car salesman, then later in construction. “We had some friends who were missionaries that knew us both, and Matt was like, ‘Do you know any girls?’ And they said, ‘Yeah, we know a girl,’” she laughs.

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A first-date dinner led to the couple getting married in 2007, and their four kids followed soon after. And like many things in their lives, naming their kids was also draped in special meaning. Each of their names begin with “K”: Their oldest, now 17, is Kaihe, followed by daughter Kellsey (forever 10), then another two boys, Kaleo (11) and Kaleb (9). According to Jina, Kaihe and Kaleo have Hawaiian names, meaning “warrior” and “harmony,” respectively, while Kellsey’s name fittingly translates to “brave.” “By the time our 9-year-old Kaleb came along, we just loved the Bible reference and learned it means ‘of God,’ so that just fit,” she adds.

A Family’s Journey

The young family stayed in the Boston area throughout the early 2000s, living in different towns and spending five years in Winthrop, Massachusetts, which Jina loved, recalling it fondly as “a rural, nice little town by the ocean.” At the time, Matt was working full-time in construction, and Jina was raising her active brood. Then, in 2019, Jina and Matt received devastating news. Nine-year-old Kellsey was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer, and their world was shattered. The family, faced with impossible odds, decided to take to the road. “We knew that if her outcome wasn’t favorable, we wanted to make the most of her time here,” says Jina. Kellsey was a huge fan of “RV-ing,” and for the next year, the family poured their love into their daughter, into creating unforgettable adventures, traveling to other countries—including Europe, Colombia, and Mexico—and purchasing a 40-foot fifth wheel to road-trip to more than 40 states, racking up miles and plenty of memories.

Jina recalls her favorite memories as “being together with no real schedule.” “We stopped at places we normally wouldn’t have, watched sunsets, and just enjoyed the time as a family. Kellsey especially loved those quiet moments, where we were all together, laughing and talking—just a collection of small meaningful experiences that meant the most to her, and all of us.”

Following Kellsey’s passing in 2021, the family faced an uncertain future, but one thing was clear. They wanted to move away from Boston, where, Jina says, the memories were painful. “At the time of her passing, we kind of knew we were ready for a new beginning, and we didn’t know where that was going to be, but we knew we could heal better somewhere else,” she remembers. Matt concurs, recalling, “I told the boys, ‘I don’t want to be in Massachusetts anymore—where do you want to go?’ And they said, ‘Let’s go to Utah.’” Matt is a Utah native whose parents and two sisters still live in the Salt Lake Valley, so the transition back to Utah was an easy one. After staying at an RV park in Heber, the family decided to make the move permanent, trading in their RV for a home in Heber Valley. According to Matt, there was no doubt about their decision. “I’ve been to 37 states, and Utah is the best one. It’s a sweet little gem. And after spending time in Heber in our RV, I knew that this valley is really great. We just didn’t ever want to leave.”

Building a Future

2021’s restrictions due to the pandemic encouraged the Allens to stay active, so they dove into a pastime they had been introduced to during their travels with Kellsey: pickleball. And more than just providing a respite from boredom in an era that excluded large social gatherings, the sport also proved to be a vehicle for the family’s collective healing. “During the time that we were traveling, we learned pickleball, and we were really into it,” Jina says. “It brought us a lot of joy when we were on the court. We were able to forget some of the things we were going through.” And so, when they arrived in Heber, they sought facilities where they could play during the winter months, requiring them to drive a considerable distance a couple of times a week to indoor courts scattered throughout Salt Lake Valley, from Ogden to Orem.

“We were having to drive an hour, an hour-and-a-half to some of these places to play, and so it was natural for us to start thinking, ‘What if we were able to provide this in Heber?’” Jina explains. “For us, it was never part of our plan, or a business model or making money. We just wanted to bring that opportunity for players to have a place indoors in the winter; we were seeing an opportunity to solve a problem.” Working with a realtor but finding a lack of existing buildings with the right footprint for accommodating indoor courts, they received a call one day. “Our realtor said, ‘Hey there’s this building, and I think it might be perfect,’” says Jina. “A pickleball court’s size is 30-feet-by-60-feet, and this building had six different bays of exactly the right size. How crazy is that?” she laughs. “I guess it was meant to be.”

So, with the perfect building in their crosshairs, they signed a lease, and Matt, with an extensive background as a general contractor, got to work. Within nine months, he and his crew had transformed the building shell, located at 551 Powerline Road at the south end of Heber, into a state-of-the-art facility featuring five indoor hard courts, a lobby, restrooms, merchandise, and plenty of smiles. When it came time to choose a name, Jina understandably got sentimental. “Most facilities and clubs name their business after pickleball terms, like The Kitchen Dinks and Dilldinkers, with a twist in using the idea of pickle,” she explains. “For us, it was about Kellsey. Traveling with Kellsey brought pickleball to us, and we wanted to share her story and what she meant to us. We wanted to honor her.” And so, in October 2022, with the parking lot poured and the courts and interiors finished, the Kellsey Pickleball Club opened its door to the public.

The club is a membership-based facility offering coaching, leagues, tournaments, and clinics, catering to players of all ages and skill levels. It’s open seven days a week, and its popularity has exploded. Jina has to wear many hats, including running the business, coaching, and training and managing staff while still focused on raising her boys and finding time to “play for fun.” The membership helps them generate the needed revenue to cover slower summer months, and she is quick to point out that membership is not required if someone wants to play as a guest.

“Our members are diverse; they come from a lot of different ages and skill levels, and we see that in the different people coming through,” shares Jina. “Some of our players are die-hard fans, playing 3–4 times a week, and live locally, and some come once or twice a week or month. Some have a home court somewhere else but live in Heber part-time, and we’ll see them for a whole season.” She adds that one of the great things about pickleball is that it has been shown to appeal to players of every age group. “We’re seeing a lot more players in their twenties and thirties than before, and I’m in my forties, [so] I’m no longer one of the youngest people on the court,” she says. “And we love to introduce new people to the sport.”

A Family Affair

For the Allens, their business has grown into a family affair. While youngest son Kaleb does not currently play, Jina says her oldest son is training to go pro, and her Kaleo, at 11, is also an amazing player. And beyond delivering a celebrated new facility for the hundreds of Wasatch and Summit County residents eager to play their beloved sport year-round, the journey also launched Matt into a new adventure: building a company dedicated to constructing pickleball courts across the country.

“When we first moved back to Utah, I knew I didn’t want to build or renovate homes anymore, and I said, ‘Let’s find something I really like to do,” he recalls. The Kellsey Pickleball Club was his first experience in learning the process. “I’ll make a business out of this,” he told himself, launching his first company. A year later, he partnered with a friend to merge their two specialties. “We were really good at surfacing the courts, and they were good at building them, and they weren’t good at surfacing, and we weren’t good at building, so I was l like, ‘Hey, you know, we should probably just partner up.’”

That merger launched their company, Pickleball Court Experts, which quickly became one of the largest pickleball court building and surfacing companies in the Mountain West. This eventually led to another partnership with a company responsible for transforming tennis courts into pickleball courts for tournaments, then transitioning them back. “They were having a really hard time running it and came to us because of our connections with the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) and said, ‘You know we’re not able to do this; we’re doing it very poorly,’ and so we ended up merging,” says Matt.

The final collaboration resulted in Just Courts, a company Matt runs with his business partner Andy and has grown to become the largest pickleball-surfacing company in the country. “On average, we build about 100 courts a month, all across the country. Since 2021, we’ve come a long, long way, which has all been thanks to pickleball,” he laughs.

Like Jina, Matt appreciates what pickleball has done to spur participation from people of all ages. “It used to be just an older person’s activity, but it’s grown into a sport that anyone of any age or skill level can play. It’s professionals, and it’s people in their backyards with their families, so it’s a very accessible sport in that way,” he explains.

With about 550 members, the club employs a dedicated team of five coaches (including Jina), and, unlike many other pickleball resources that simply provide courts for play, they are focused on the teaching and coaching aspect. “We are committed to helping players achieve their next level,” says Jina. Coach Simone Brown attests to the sense of community she sees at the club. “It’s one of those rare sports where beginners and experienced players can share the court, laugh, compete, and connect all at once, and Jina helps create that kind of environment.”

With Kellsey Pickleball in its fourth year, Jina says growth is always on the horizon. “I compare it to a baby,” she laughs. “At first, it was a newborn that needed a lot of attention, a lot of care, and right now, it’s like a toddler. Like it’s okay on its own sometimes, but you still can’t leave it alone. I think that’s where we’re at, but we still have room for growth. We’d like to see more beginner players and fill in more slots outside of prime time.” Jina adds that once they feel a push from the public for more courts, they will look to expand. “We want to be able to serve all of Heber’s pickleball needs.”

Through it all, Jina and Matt have never lost focus on the person who made all of this possible: their daughter Kellsey. Matt remembers, “She was funny, and she was more into people than anything; she just saw people. The last thing she said to me was, ‘Dad, you are wonderful.’ I think if she were here today, she’d say the same thing. She was just very special.”