By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
Get our mobile app
LOVES PARK — New ownership has taken over the Victory Sports Complex with plans to transform it into the region’s premier indoor pickleball destination.
Tim Ancona, who has coached Rockford Christian tennis for nine years and is the founder of the app development company Ticomix and IT services company Aptris, said he closed on the purchase of the property at Windsor and Alpine roads on Tuesday. He plans to move forward with renovations quickly in hope of opening the facility by fall.
“This is about creating something awesome for Rockford,” Ancona said. “We’re really trying to build a world-class facility.”
More sports: New indoor baseball and softball training center coming to Loves Park
Ancona plans to invest $3 million to renovate Victory Pickleball, 7003 N. Alpine Road. There will be 15 indoor, tournament-quality pickleball courts, as well as a restaurant and tap wall with multiple beers, an arcade and a separate video gaming room. He will also repair and reseal the parking lot and provide new landscaping and a new facade for the building.
“My goal is to make this the best facility you can imagine, (one) that people will love to come to, make new friends and stay healthy,” Ancona said.
Ancona is vice president of ServiceNow solutions for CDW, which is in the top 200 on the Fortune 500 list. He announced to his staff his plans to retire from that role as he pursue this venture.
Victory Pickleball would host regular tournaments and leagues, and it would have monthly memberships and drop-in court availability for non-members. There would also be a pro shop and equipment for players to rent.
Ancona discovered the sport after a shoulder issue prevented him from playing tennis, and he quickly fell in love with it.
“There’s no other sport — period — that you can play for the first time and in 30 minutes you’re having fun,” he said.
The tournaments would be local, regional and national. John Groh, the president and CEO of the Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the sport is dominating the conversation in the tourism industry because of the high demand for tournaments.
“It’s a fantastic development,” Groh said. “Our team at the visitors bureau is looking forward to seeing it come to fruition and working with Tim and his team to maximize visitor use to support the facility that residents will get to use every day of the week.”
More sports: Late Rockford Speedway owner Jody Deery’s final bequest creates 9th and 10th sibling
Groh said it was fantastic to see a local business owner reinvesting in the community.
“It’s popular with individuals across age demographics: young adult to senior citizens,” Groh said. “In the next several years there will be lots of organizations vying to develop tournaments and develop leagues. There will be lots of potential customers for us to talk to.”
Pickleball has been the fastest-growing sport in America for three years in a row, according to an annual study by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association. Pickleball participation grew by 86% in 2022 and has risen by nearly 159% over three years.
Ancona said the sport will only continue to grow once it gets integrated into high schools and colleges.
“What we’re seeing in pickleball is literally the tip of the iceberg,” he said. “As soon as it becomes a high school or college sport — and I think it will in the next 10 years — at that point we’re going to see another level of growth come out of it.”
More development: New $13.5M development to bring grocery store and mid-century lofts to downtown Rockford
The city of Loves Park is offering incentives to help Ancona pay for the redevelopment costs. The city will pay up to $315,000 from its Forest Hills Road tax-increment finance district fund. Such funds capture increases in property taxes that come when properties are improved and put them toward infrastructure and other redevelopment initiatives. The city would pay $200,000 within 30 days of the business opening and the remaining $115,000 13 months later.
“That building obviously needs a lot of remodeling and upkeep,” Mayor Greg Jury said of the shuttered 50,000-square-foot sports complex.
Ancona “has a great history of running businesses here in the city of Loves Park, and we’re excited to have him,” Jury said.
“The No. 1 thing, it’s going to be a great business bringing a lot of people to the community. It will be a great place and we’re excited to have it”
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas