About Pickleball Cayman

For 100 years, a stunning 17 acre piece of land known as Halfway Pond on what is now the busiest road junction in Cayman lay undeveloped. The land was originally acquired by Capt Osmond Thompson, a ship captain who brought in goods from Nicaragua and Honduras to the tiny island of Grand Cayman in the early part of the 20th century. Without a proper banking system, residents paid Capt Osmond with pieces of land! The land passed to his now 88 year old son, Mr Bob, with whom a deal was done last year. Mr Bob’s sports-mad sons and grandsons were determined to finally realise a dream of putting a sports facility onto this amazing location. Little did they think it would be Pickleball that would lead to a dream becoming reality.

Having learned to play Pickleball in Whistler, Canada during the Covid pandemic, Jerry Beck set out to build the sport in Cayman on his return to the island in January 2021. He installed two courts on his tennis court and, along with a local tennis coach, began teaching friends how to play. Friends invited more friends and before long, over 100 people were playing weekly at Jerry’s house. Meanwhile Pickleball was growing across the island with courts also being installed in Camana Bay and a couple of hotels.

Jerry and about 30 of his pickle-mad friends decided to get together and fund a company that would build a sports facility primarily dedicated to Pickleball. It would also have a health-focussed restaurant and a kids activity playground. The pro shop would be styled as a classic old Cayman style cottage in tribute to the history of the land on which the courts would be built. The idea appealed to Mr Thompson and a deal was struck leasing up to 5 acres of his land to Jerry so he could build his vision of a world class Pickleball Center.

In May 2022, Pickleball Cayman was granted planning permission for the project and in July 2023, the gates to the beautiful new courts were opened to the public for the first time. Mr Thompson’s grandson Steven is probably the most avid pickleballer on the island and is managing the center, making it a truly generational family business. Steven and Jerry look forward to welcoming visitors from around the world to this amazing new facility.