Key Takeaways
- Brock Orlowski has joined Indiana manufacturer Off The Glass in a fractional advisory role to drive padel adoption across US private clubs.
- Although about 4,000 US private golf and country clubs serve over 2 million members, only around 1% currently feature padel courts.
- Orlowski affirmed that “it’s a question of when, not if, we see the country club sector build out padel for its members at scale.”
A familiar shift across American racquet sports
Country clubs across the United States are standing on the brink of another major recreational evolution. After watching tennis anchor private amenities for decades and pickleball rapidly transition from a passing novelty into an absolute expectation, industry insiders see padel as the next game destined for widespread adoption.
Brock Orlowski, the Director of Racquet Sports at Fort Wayne Country Club, has stepped into the conversation to accelerate that transition. A prominent figure across the Midwest who serves on the RSPA Midwest board, Orlowski earned recognition as a 2025 RSPA Top Education Earner and was twice selected as Indiana Professional of the Year in 2023 and 2026. While maintaining his full-time duties at Fort Wayne Country Club, he has taken on a fractional advisory role with Indiana-based padel court builder Off The Glass.
Tapping into a vast domestic club market
The scale of the opportunity in the private recreational space is massive, yet largely untapped. Approximately 4,000 private golf and country clubs operate across the United States, representing a combined community of more than 2 million members. Despite that massive footprint, only around 1% of these facilities currently offer padel courts.
Orlowski intends to guide club boards and directors through that gap before the curve steepens. “This is about growing the game, and highlighting the opportunity with padel that exists for America’s large country club sector,” said Orlowski. “I’ve watched first hand how tennis and then pickleball reshaped club life, and there’s no doubt to me that padel is the next phase.”
For Orlowski, the spread of the sport among private memberships is an inevitability rather than a speculative trend. “It’s a question of when, not if, we see the country club sector build out padel for its members at scale,” he explained. “For me to realize this ambition, working with an American manufacturer that builds everything here, isn’t exposed to tariffs, and has the intense knowledge of the US domestic landscape, was a no brainer. The long-term thinking that Brevin and his team have for the industry is what drew me to Off The Glass.”
Building for decades rather than seasons
Off The Glass co-founder Brevin Bennett emphasized that sustaining padel’s rapid momentum requires an educational foundation tailored specifically to the patience and long-term planning typical of private facilities.
“Padel’s growth in America depends on getting the foundations right, and country clubs will be central to that,” said Bennett. “Clubs think in decades, not seasons, and so do we. Brock is one of the most credible voices in racquet sports, and his commitment to education is exactly what the industry needs as padel takes its rightful place alongside tennis and pickleball.”
