July 7, 2025 • 24 mins
Dylan Wiemers, Club Director at the QC Tennis Club, brings a unique perspective to the local sports scene. Growing up in Coal Valley and training at the very facility he now manages, his journey from competitive college player to club director reflects the deep community bonds formed through sports in the Quad Cities.
The 50-year legacy of the QC Tennis Club has entered an exciting new chapter with the rise of pickleball. When the club converted three tennis courts into nine indoor pickleball courts in 2021, they witnessed what Wiemers calls "a game changer for the community." This strategic pivot helped introduce a whole new demographic to racquet sports while maintaining their tennis traditions. The club continues evolving with recent additions including outdoor tennis courts and three new grass courts, positioning it as a premier regional facility.
Now the QC Tennis Club prepares to host the Professional Pickleball Association Challenger Series tournament August 15-17, 2023. This event uniquely combines professional competition with opportunities for local players across skill levels (from 3.0 beginners to 5.5+ pros) to participate, creating what Wiemers describes as a valuable development opportunity to "learn how to play against people that they don't play against on a daily basis." The tournament exemplifies how the Quad Cities leverages its sporting infrastructure to build community connections and attract visitors.
Beyond racquet sports, Wiemers highlights the region's comprehensive sports offerings, from exceptional golf courses to professional baseball and hockey teams. Combined with unique local dining experiences like Whitey's, Hungry Hobo, and Happy Joe's, these attractions make the Quad Cities a distinctive destination. As Wiemers aptly summarizes the destination as "QC, that's where community is built" – through these shared sporting experiences and local treasures.
Join us for the PPA Challenger Series this August and experience firsthand how the Quad Cities continues building community through sports. Register now at PPATourQC.com and book your accommodations early, as hotels fill quickly during this peak summer season!
Find more information about the QC Tennis Club at qctennisclub.com
QC, That's Where is a podcast powered by Visit Quad Cities. Through the people, partnerships, and personalities woven throughout the Quad Cities region, you'll meet real Quad Citizens and hear the untold stories of the region.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
We're really excited for players that play here all
the time get to play in theevent, even if they're not
looking to play on the ProSeries, and it really helps
develop them and learn how toplay against people that they
don't play against on a dailybasis.
They play against people thatare traveling from New York,
chicago, all over the place,just to play in this event.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Where do you find a family of communities connected
by the storied Mississippi River, where young explorers and
dreamers, investors andentrepreneurs thrive?
Where can you connect with realpeople living and creating in a
place that's as genuine as itis quirky QC?
That's where.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Welcome to QC.
That's where I'm your host,katrina, and I'm so pumped today
to be talking to Dylan Wiemers,the club director at the QC
Tennis Club.
Dylan, what's going on?
How are you doing?
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Good, how are you?
Thank you for having me on.
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Yeah, oh, my gosh, absolutely.
I'm doing great and we've beenbuzzing a lot over here at Visit
Quad Cities about theProfessional Pickleball
Association Challenger Seriesthat's coming up in August with
you guys.
So Professional PickleballAssociation Challenger Series
that's coming up in August withyou guys.
So right now it's early July of2025.
So if you're listening in thefuture, hello.
But I wanted to sit down withDylan today and just kind of
chat about you know, dylan,everything that kind of makes
(01:21):
you you as like a tennis guy,but also you know a quad citizen
, and we need to dig into allthe exciting things happening at
the tennis club too.
So I want to start with just alittle bit about you and your
role.
If you could just kind of giveus the backdrop of what is your
day-to-day with the QC TennisClub.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Yeah, so to start kind of you know a little bit
about myself is I grew up inthis area, grew up in Coal
Valley and played tennis mywhole life.
You know started playing when Iwas in middle school and you
know I fell in love with eversince.
I actually came here as a kidto train and develop as a player
and once I, you know, got to acertain level I started to reach
out to some colleges and endedup at Luther College in Decorah,
(01:58):
iowa, where I played four yearsof tennis out there.
So you know that was a greatfundamental part of my life of
learning how to play tennis butalso, you know, being around
this area and learning howspecial tennis is to this
community.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
What was that?
Like playing competitively, butalso like preparing yourself
for a career in this industry.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Yeah, I mean competitive tennis has a lot of
fundamental aspects that canhelp you as a not only a tennis
player, but also as just a humanbeing.
Um, learning, to, you know,develop lifelong skills,
lifelong friendships that, youknow, last your whole life.
And um, I'm really, you know,happy that I was able to play
college tennis, because ittaught me a lot more than you
(02:38):
know what it wouldn't havetaught me.
Um, you know, I learned how tobe resilient, I learned how to
be motivated and really timemanagement skills is, you know,
a huge thing in, obviously, thework industry.
So, you know, it was a reallygood feeling to be able to shift
from being a, you know, acollege athlete to, you know,
still being in the tennisindustry, but learning how to
run a tennis club rather thanjust playing tennis.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
So, when did you start at the tennis club?
Speaker 1 (03:06):
So I started here right after COVID in 2021.
I've been here for four, fiveyears now.
First four years I was moredoing some on court stuff with
you know, helping out someclasses and doing some park
board programs and stuff likethat.
And that's when I kind of fellin love with you know being in
teaching tennis, just learninghow to develop kids and making
(03:27):
them better tennis players.
But also I fell in love withthe management side of it of
learning how to control whathappens on the court, learning
what programs to run, whattournaments to run and all that
you know fun stuff that goesalong with my job.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
What have been like the biggest lessons along the
way as far as what works, whatdoesn't.
What do people gravitate to?
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Yeah, I think the biggest lesson that I've learned
so far is, you know, being ableto listen to the community and
listen to the members and whatthey want, because at the end of
the day, it's not me that'sgoing out there to play, it's
the members in the community.
So just, you know, getting thefeedback from them and really
listening to them is a huge partof my job, and building
connections with tennis andpickleball members to see what I
(04:08):
can do to better enhance theclub experience, and that's a
big part of what I do.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
So let's talk in the pickleball realm for a little
bit.
So I think I personally becameaware that pickleball was even a
thing, maybe in like 2014,.
Maybe I personally became awarethat pickleball was even a
thing, maybe in like 2014, maybeand so when did you start
seeing it really come on thescene?
Speaker 1 (04:32):
yeah, so I was around the same time.
2014-2015 is when I saw peoplestart playing it with the setup
nets that you kind of set up.
I didn't really start to seedesignated pickleball courts
until, you know, five, five orsix years later.
But that's really when afterCOVID is really when that big
push of pickleball reallystarted to, you know, come out
(04:52):
and that's when I started toplay as well, especially, you
know, playing tennis all thetime.
It translates very well to thepickleball sport.
You know, it's the same motionsand stuff like that.
So I really fell in love withthe sport right after college.
It was, you know, it's the samemotions and stuff like that.
So I really fell in love withthe sport right after college.
It was, you know, it was easyfor me to translate and you know
, compete with players.
I've been playing for five toten years so I mean, you know
(05:14):
that really helped me out andplaying in some fundraiser
tournaments, crimestoppers andsome stuff like that.
It really helps out with, youknow, building the community and
trying to do what you can to.
You know, get to know everyonethat plays pickleball in the
Quad Cities.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Okay, so to kind of help develop the pickleball need
the itch that everybody's kindof got to at least try it or
form a league or you know, justget out there and play with
buddies or whatever Like whathave you guys had to do to the
QC Tennis Club to startaccommodating?
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Yeah, that's a great question.
So about five years ago fouryears ago, 2021, we noticed the
urge of people to start playinga lot of pickleball and when
that happened, we knew it was agreat idea to turn in three of
our tennis courts to nine indoorpickleball courts.
Once we did that, it was a gamechanger for the community, for
us and you know everyone thatwasn't part of it.
(06:13):
You, you know we get so manypeople that come in here for
pickleball on a daily basis andyou know they really have a good
time, and the one aspect ofpickleball that we try to, you
know, make people feel is justto have fun with it.
You know that's how you getpeople to come back.
Is they bring their friends.
They bring, you know, peoplethat they know really well and
they just have fun out there.
It really doesn't matter whowins and loses when you just
(06:34):
start picking up a paddle forthe first time, but are you able
to have fun and, you know, havea social aspect as well, as you
know being competitive as well.
So there's, the best thingabout the sport is there's
different ways to play.
It's kind of like golf, whereyou can play just for fun, but
you can also play it veryseriously and competitively, as
we've seen.
You know, the PPA Tour hasreally taken over the past three
(06:57):
years.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Yeah, yeah, so okay.
So the Professional PickleballAssociation Challenger Series.
You guys are our host venue.
It's something that Visit QuadCities recruited and pursued and
went after, and we got it, andhere it's coming.
Got it and here it's coming.
And so what?
(07:17):
What is it going to mean forthe tennis club to be the host
venue, and you know the, theplace where all of these pros
and novices are meeting for thisevent?
Tell me just what does thismean for you guys and what's it
going to look like.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Well, one it's.
It's really cool just to seesome of the top players play in
front of your eyes.
You know, when you go to a proevent you're kind of starstruck
by how good the level iscompared to what you're usually
seeing on a daily basis.
So that's the number one thingis just being able to see some
of those top guys competeagainst each other is something
that you know it is reallyexciting to look forward to.
(07:51):
You know, the summertime in theQuad Cities is a great time for
, you know, the John DeereClassic is happening right now
and that gets a lot of touristattraction in the Quad Cities.
But you know, I'm reallyexcited to bring another event
in August that can do the samething as well as the John Deere
Classic, of providing, you know,a watch party and people that
(08:11):
haven't played pickleball beforeor that are avid pickleball
players in the quad cities tojust come out and see what the
pro circuit is like for adifferent sport that they
haven't seen in this area before.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
So so kind of school me on how a tournament like this
works, because it's it's notjust professionals but like
people locally can come and playtoo yep, yep, that's, uh,
exactly right.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
So there's two different events.
There's a, you know, opendivision and then there's a pro
division.
The open division ranges fromall skill levels, uh, three oh
to five oh, and then the prodivision is five, five and above
, um, and you know, we're reallyexcited for players that play
here all the time get to play inthe event even if they're not
looking to play on the proseries, and it really helps
(08:54):
develop them and learn how toplay against people that they
don't play against on a dailybasis.
They play against people thatare traveling from New York,
chicago, all over the place,just to play in this event.
So it really helps out andwe've never hosted a tournament
with this many players that areexpected to come.
So, you know, as far as thetournament desk side and the
management side of thetournament, we're really, you
(09:16):
know, it's very new for us andwe're really excited to see, you
know how they run a tournamentwith, you know, 400 players in
it.
It's going to be really cool tosee how they do it and we'll
learn a lot of things from itand we're really excited for it.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
On, like the registration side, you know, how
does someone who's kind of youknow maybe they're, maybe
they're newer, maybe they'rejust trying to like get their
skill up?
Like, how do they know whetheror not this would be right for
them to register for?
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Yeah, so mainly everyone that plays pickleball
goes through this app calledduper.
Um.
It's basically how you rateyourself, um, and you.
You're rated from a one oh toyou know, a 7-0.
And once you play in atournament or two, you get your
own rating.
And once you get your ownrating, you know what level
you're at and you know whatdivision to sign up for.
And you know the PPA has a lotof resources out there that help
(10:07):
you figure out what divisionwill be best for you at the end
of the day.
So you know the PPA does a lotfor it.
And also, just you know,looking online, seeing what
skills you have, it will helpyou out a lot and determine what
division you should play in.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
I feel like pickleball right now is I mean,
maybe this isn't the right term,but it's almost like a sleeping
giant, like it's been creepingup on us for the last decade.
I still have yet to play it,but I think I have a
conversation about pickleball,like at least twice a week right
now, and it's not just becauseof the Challenger Series, but
like, like people in the office,they play and everybody knows
(10:41):
someone who plays and like allof our in the Quad Cities, all
of our parks and rec departmentsare expanding their tennis
courts to accommodate pickleball.
Like, if you pick up adestination guide or if you look
at, like you know, visit QuadCities pickleball information
online, like you see, you knowthe what used to be a
traditional tennis court is nowalso a pickleball court, you
(11:04):
know, nine times out of 10.
So they're, they're just,they're everywhere and it's
super fun.
It's super fun that it's one ofthose things, like you said
earlier, you have fun with it,kind of anybody can play and
it's just, it's something thateveryone can pick up and give a
give a shot to.
So, um, we're excited to see it.
The, the PPA challenger seriesis coming to you guys um August
(11:25):
15th through 17th.
So again, if you're, if you'relistening, and that date has not
yet come upon us, pleaseregister.
We've got ppatourqccom set upso that you can learn a little
bit more about how to register,what this is going to look like.
There's also volunteers needed,so I also want to give a little
(11:45):
congratulations to you guys atthe QC Tennis Club, because
you've made a huge investment innew courts, and so can you walk
through.
You know, maybe, if someonehasn't been to your facility in
a year or more, what's differentnow if they come today or in a
month.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Yeah, well, to start, you know probably 20 to 30
percent of people that come downhere for the first time they
don't even know that it existed.
You know it's kind of hiddenbehind south park mall.
So you know a lot of people arelike, oh, I've never seen this
facility, you know, because it'snot right off the main street.
But no, we've made a lot ofimprovements within the Quad C
Tennis Club within the past fiveyears.
You know a bunch of renovationsinside, along with two outdoor
(12:25):
courts, two outdoor hard tenniscourts outside, and then we're
our newest project is buildingthree grass courts to the left
of our building.
That we're really excited forand that will be a great time.
We're just, you know, taking itstep by step and just learning
as we go.
So you know a lot ofrenovations and you know it
(12:47):
couldn't be happier with whatwe've done here and I know the
community is really happy aboutyou know, some of the things
that we have done.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
And we're really excited to bring some you know,
more events like this to thisarea, just because of the
facility that we have.
Yeah, just being able to housemore opportunities and kind of
fit in those different niches.
You know age groups, what haveyou?
And you know you said you guysdo like lessons, you work with
youth, so you've got the wholegamut of of age, skill level,
the whole thing.
I'm super excited for you guys.
So how long has the tennis?
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Yeah, so the tennis club has been around for 50
years and was built in 1974,1975.
And it's really taken over, youknow, with just starting with
tennis and now it's tennis andpickleball.
So we've seen a lot of growthin both aspects, not just the
pickleball side.
We've also seen a growth in thetennis ability of playing.
And you know we see, just likeyou said, you know, age range
(13:42):
from you know five years old toyou know 80 years old.
So you know we see all rangesof play and it couldn't make us
happier of, you know, gettingeveryone involved and at the end
of the day it's just playingand you know, taking a healthy
step in the right direction.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
So 50 years is nothing to shake a finger at.
That is so exciting, that'ssuch a big milestone.
So congratulations again to allof you on, you know, sticking
around and being such a staplefor that long to this community.
The Quad Cities is such aboomerang place, like.
A lot of times we see peopleyou know leave after high school
(14:18):
or, you know, shortly aftercollege and go do something
somewhere else.
But then a lot of times we seepeople come back and you know,
I'd imagine with you know, sucha legacy place and something
that everybody has some kind ofingrained, you know, ingrainment
into, whether you were a kidtaking lessons or you went to a
tournament at one point orsomething I imagine people
probably come back from havingbeen a kid at the QC Tennis Club
(14:42):
and then they come back todayand go oh my gosh, wow, this
place has really, you know,really changed, really grown.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
Yeah, even seeing pictures of when I first started
coming, you know, probably 15years ago to now, it's a night
and day difference.
But just between you know theoutside part of it and also the
inside.
It's crazy to see and you knowI'm really thankful to be a part
of the whole process.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
So so you've been with them four or five years now
.
So you know kind of, in thattime do you have a highlight
moment or something that sticksout to you, just in those four
or five years?
Speaker 1 (15:20):
You know, I think my highlight moment is just the
people that I've met throughoutthe journey of being here.
You know the community is greatand being able to be a part of
it and you know, just learningand building connections that I
never thought I would build isjust something that I'm so
thankful for.
Just because you know, the morepeople you know and the more
people that you are connected toyou know, the better it will
make you as a person, and youknow, the more you will know,
(15:43):
you know, the better it willmake you as a person, and you
know the more you will know.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
So I'm really excited about you know who I, who I
still have to meet, and I'mreally excited for the process
of you know this wholetournament as well, so let's
back it up college years before,all the way back to when you
started as a kid, from from allof your years playing tennis and
studying it and learning it andjust immersing.
Do you have a highlight momentthrough all those years?
Speaker 1 (16:11):
I think my one highlight moment throughout my
tennis career would be incollege.
It was my sophomore year and itwas.
We were playing in a meet andit was 4-4.
I was a deciding match and Iended up, you know, pulling
through for the team and it wasjust a great experience for me,
but also just learning how to,you know, be on a high for so
(16:33):
long and my teammates wereawesome and it was just a great
moment in time and I'll rememberit forever.
So I think that was my onemoment.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Oh my God, it's always.
It's always those ones whereit's like it's up to you, Dylan.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
It's a lot of pressure.
I'll tell you that.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Did you get nervous or were you just amped on like
adrenaline?
Speaker 1 (16:53):
I was.
It was adrenaline, but I wasshaking and it was just
something that you know, you,you don't get in that position
many times.
So when you do, you can'tprepare yourself for it, just
because it's just in the moment.
But you know, you just gottaget those nerves away and just
play.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
So and those are the things that stick out.
You know, the things that, like, do drum up the most like
pressure and anxiety at themoment.
That's what you're going toremember later.
You know, and kind of like youwere saying, the connectivity
that you have made just peoplethat you've met through the
sport and through what you'redoing in your career, I mean
(17:31):
that means everything and somany people can relate, even if
the people you encounter, likedidn't compete in college, you
know.
But they have some kind of youknow they have some kind of
connection to a sport or theyhave some, you know, some kind
of history with, whether theywere, you know, track and field
or baseball or what have you.
(17:52):
You know those.
That athlete kind of connectionis.
So it's so special and it's solike widespread.
You can kind of relateregardless of which aspect
you've been into.
So it is really cool to thinkback and just look at how much
people, how much people like youknow, spend time and energy and
(18:15):
cheer each other on, and soit's cool to see it all kind of
happen here.
The Quad Cities tennis obviously, pickleball obviously are huge,
but you know we've got so many,so many like tentacles out in
the sports world.
So, like our sports commission,sports Q Bank Sports Complex
(18:44):
have offered even more placesfor people to compete and youth
to come and families to getintroduced to the Quad Cities.
It's a great segue for peopleto just kind of learn about.
You know the people in thecommunity or what the community
has to offer in the sports world, but also like outside the
sports world.
So you know when you bringpeople into the QC, whether it's
(19:05):
friends or family or whatever,if you're talking to someone
from out of town, do you haveany like highlight things that
you recommend they do whilethey're in town, or do you have
a favorite like Quad City thingthat you like to spend time
doing?
Speaker 1 (19:19):
Yeah, so you know I come from a sports family and
you know everything that I domost of the time is related to
something that has to do withthe sport either watching or
playing a sport.
Actually, this weekend mycousins are coming in town for
the Classic.
There's so many nice golfcourses around here.
That's really what I like to dois go golf.
That's one of the highlights ofthe Quad Cities is the golf
(19:51):
courses are very pristine, ingreat shape, and there's so many
of them that you can choosefrom along with, you know, the
casinos in town and some otherstuff.
That really the food.
There's so much that I can sayabout the Quad Cities and I'm
really glad that, as a sportsfanatic, it's really growing as
a sports community as well.
So that's one thing that Ireally like to bring here and
show them one.
You know this facility.
You know going to a riverbanners game, going to a storm
game, you know it's justsomething that you can't really
(20:13):
take for granted, because youknow when you go to a town that
like Decorah who doesn't have asports team, you know you come
back here and you're like, allright, you know I'm really happy
here and I'm really happy thatwe have the sports community
that we have.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
That was a really good list.
Like that was a packed weekendof activity.
That was a great list.
I think it's so easy when youlive here for five or more years
, honestly, like it's easy totake for granted all of all the
sports teams, the opportunities,the you know, even the natural
assets we have.
Mississippi River we drive byit every single day.
(20:47):
I mean, it's one of the largestrivers in the world and and
it's so vast and it does so muchand it's just, oh hey,
mississippi River.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
We take it for granted, for sure, yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:57):
My thing when I have like family or friends or
whatever come into town, Ialways tout the oh, you can like
get between Iowa and Illinoisin, you know, 10 minutes or less
, like literally anywhere in theQuad Cities is under a 20
minute drive, and the fact thatwe don't have to deal with
traffic and commute times iseverything to me and I love that
so much.
(21:17):
And that, oh, here I'm going to.
If you're listening to theaudio version, I'm going to
explain to you my shirt that I'mwearing.
It's one of our newer pieces ofmerch.
It's Quad Cities CreativeCapital of the Midwest, and so
that's another huge asset thatwe can argue very strongly.
With the Figge's new lightingstructure, evanescent Field, the
(21:38):
QC Art Trail, we have over 100public art sculptures and murals
and entities that people canconsume and look at and enjoy
while they're here.
So we just have so much andthanks for that amazing list to
just cherry on top everythingthe Quad Cities has to offer.
Round it back to PPA tourcoming here.
(21:59):
So one or two things that wewant to get people to be
thinking about as Augustapproaches.
You know, if you want to talk,maybe registration or just
watching, what couple thingswould you like to let people
know about it?
Speaker 1 (22:17):
Yeah, well, one, I know in August, early August,
mid-august, hotels fill up veryquickly in this area.
So you know, if you are lookingto come down for the PPA
challenger, book your hotel assoon as possible, just because
you know the rooms do book veryeasily.
So that's my one piece ofadvice.
And and two is just explore thethings that the Quad Cities has
(22:38):
that no one else has has.
You know, like Whitey's, hunger, hobo, happy Joe's you know
that's just three of you knowthings that I like but that are
just in this area that you don'tget to experience, you know,
when you go to Chicago or DesMoines or anything like that.
So just experience what theQuad Cities is like while you're
here.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
And if you do go to Hungry Hobo, you've got to get
the 11.
Personal opinion With thecheddar fry.
With the cheddar fry,absolutely fry, absolutely okay.
I'm glad we're in agreementhere, okay, so, per tradition,
at the end, of this podcast, Ialways have the guests fill in
(23:17):
qc.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
That's where.
So, dylan, what is your qc?
That's where.
Qc that's where community isbuilt.
I love it.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
I stand behind it.
I think that's perfect.
Um, okay, so PPATourQCcom, getsome information about this
awesome challenger series comingup.
Check out the QC Tennis Club.
There's just there's so muchhappening here.
You guys have social media thatI can throw on our Facebook
page Yep Quatsitennisclubcom.
Amazing.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
Same for Facebook and all that so easy to find.
Yep Very easy to find.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
All right, thanks, dylan.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Thanks for listening to QC.
That's when a podcast poweredby Visit Quad Cities Text
VISITQC to 38314 for insiderevents, activities and updates
sent straight to your phone.
That's V-I-S-I-T-Q-C, one wordto 38314.
(24:06):
Message and data rates mayapply.
We're really excited for players that play here all
the time get to play in theevent, even if they're not
looking to play on the ProSeries, and it really helps
develop them and learn how toplay against people that they
don't play against on a dailybasis.
They play against people thatare traveling from New York,
chicago, all over the place,just to play in this event.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Where do you find a family of communities connected
by the storied Mississippi River, where young explorers and
dreamers, investors andentrepreneurs thrive?
Where can you connect with realpeople living and creating in a
place that's as genuine as itis quirky QC?
That's where.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Welcome to QC.
That's where I'm your host,katrina, and I'm so pumped today
to be talking to Dylan Wiemers,the club director at the QC
Tennis Club.
Dylan, what's going on?
How are you doing?
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Good, how are you?
Thank you for having me on.
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Yeah, oh, my gosh, absolutely.
I'm doing great and we've beenbuzzing a lot over here at Visit
Quad Cities about theProfessional Pickleball
Association Challenger Seriesthat's coming up in August with
you guys.
So Professional PickleballAssociation Challenger Series
that's coming up in August withyou guys.
So right now it's early July of2025.
So if you're listening in thefuture, hello.
But I wanted to sit down withDylan today and just kind of
chat about you know, dylan,everything that kind of makes
(01:21):
you you as like a tennis guy,but also you know a quad citizen
, and we need to dig into allthe exciting things happening at
the tennis club too.
So I want to start with just alittle bit about you and your
role.
If you could just kind of giveus the backdrop of what is your
day-to-day with the QC TennisClub.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Yeah, so to start kind of you know a little bit
about myself is I grew up inthis area, grew up in Coal
Valley and played tennis mywhole life.
You know started playing when Iwas in middle school and you
know I fell in love with eversince.
I actually came here as a kidto train and develop as a player
and once I, you know, got to acertain level I started to reach
out to some colleges and endedup at Luther College in Decorah,
(01:58):
iowa, where I played four yearsof tennis out there.
So you know that was a greatfundamental part of my life of
learning how to play tennis butalso, you know, being around
this area and learning howspecial tennis is to this
community.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
What was that?
Like playing competitively, butalso like preparing yourself
for a career in this industry.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Yeah, I mean competitive tennis has a lot of
fundamental aspects that canhelp you as a not only a tennis
player, but also as just a humanbeing.
Um, learning, to, you know,develop lifelong skills,
lifelong friendships that, youknow, last your whole life.
And um, I'm really, you know,happy that I was able to play
college tennis, because ittaught me a lot more than you
(02:38):
know what it wouldn't havetaught me.
Um, you know, I learned how tobe resilient, I learned how to
be motivated and really timemanagement skills is, you know,
a huge thing in, obviously, thework industry.
So, you know, it was a reallygood feeling to be able to shift
from being a, you know, acollege athlete to, you know,
still being in the tennisindustry, but learning how to
run a tennis club rather thanjust playing tennis.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
So, when did you start at the tennis club?
Speaker 1 (03:06):
So I started here right after COVID in 2021.
I've been here for four, fiveyears now.
First four years I was moredoing some on court stuff with
you know, helping out someclasses and doing some park
board programs and stuff likethat.
And that's when I kind of fellin love with you know being in
teaching tennis, just learninghow to develop kids and making
(03:27):
them better tennis players.
But also I fell in love withthe management side of it of
learning how to control whathappens on the court, learning
what programs to run, whattournaments to run and all that
you know fun stuff that goesalong with my job.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
What have been like the biggest lessons along the
way as far as what works, whatdoesn't.
What do people gravitate to?
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Yeah, I think the biggest lesson that I've learned
so far is, you know, being ableto listen to the community and
listen to the members and whatthey want, because at the end of
the day, it's not me that'sgoing out there to play, it's
the members in the community.
So just, you know, getting thefeedback from them and really
listening to them is a huge partof my job, and building
connections with tennis andpickleball members to see what I
(04:08):
can do to better enhance theclub experience, and that's a
big part of what I do.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
So let's talk in the pickleball realm for a little
bit.
So I think I personally becameaware that pickleball was even a
thing, maybe in like 2014,.
Maybe I personally became awarethat pickleball was even a
thing, maybe in like 2014, maybeand so when did you start
seeing it really come on thescene?
Speaker 1 (04:32):
yeah, so I was around the same time.
2014-2015 is when I saw peoplestart playing it with the setup
nets that you kind of set up.
I didn't really start to seedesignated pickleball courts
until, you know, five, five orsix years later.
But that's really when afterCOVID is really when that big
push of pickleball reallystarted to, you know, come out
(04:52):
and that's when I started toplay as well, especially, you
know, playing tennis all thetime.
It translates very well to thepickleball sport.
You know, it's the same motionsand stuff like that.
So I really fell in love withthe sport right after college.
It was, you know, it's the samemotions and stuff like that.
So I really fell in love withthe sport right after college.
It was, you know, it was easyfor me to translate and you know
, compete with players.
I've been playing for five toten years so I mean, you know
(05:14):
that really helped me out andplaying in some fundraiser
tournaments, crimestoppers andsome stuff like that.
It really helps out with, youknow, building the community and
trying to do what you can to.
You know, get to know everyonethat plays pickleball in the
Quad Cities.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Okay, so to kind of help develop the pickleball need
the itch that everybody's kindof got to at least try it or
form a league or you know, justget out there and play with
buddies or whatever Like whathave you guys had to do to the
QC Tennis Club to startaccommodating?
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Yeah, that's a great question.
So about five years ago fouryears ago, 2021, we noticed the
urge of people to start playinga lot of pickleball and when
that happened, we knew it was agreat idea to turn in three of
our tennis courts to nine indoorpickleball courts.
Once we did that, it was a gamechanger for the community, for
us and you know everyone thatwasn't part of it.
(06:13):
You, you know we get so manypeople that come in here for
pickleball on a daily basis andyou know they really have a good
time, and the one aspect ofpickleball that we try to, you
know, make people feel is justto have fun with it.
You know that's how you getpeople to come back.
Is they bring their friends.
They bring, you know, peoplethat they know really well and
they just have fun out there.
It really doesn't matter whowins and loses when you just
(06:34):
start picking up a paddle forthe first time, but are you able
to have fun and, you know, havea social aspect as well, as you
know being competitive as well.
So there's, the best thingabout the sport is there's
different ways to play.
It's kind of like golf, whereyou can play just for fun, but
you can also play it veryseriously and competitively, as
we've seen.
You know, the PPA Tour hasreally taken over the past three
(06:57):
years.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Yeah, yeah, so okay.
So the Professional PickleballAssociation Challenger Series.
You guys are our host venue.
It's something that Visit QuadCities recruited and pursued and
went after, and we got it, andhere it's coming.
Got it and here it's coming.
And so what?
(07:17):
What is it going to mean forthe tennis club to be the host
venue, and you know the, theplace where all of these pros
and novices are meeting for thisevent?
Tell me just what does thismean for you guys and what's it
going to look like.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Well, one it's.
It's really cool just to seesome of the top players play in
front of your eyes.
You know, when you go to a proevent you're kind of starstruck
by how good the level iscompared to what you're usually
seeing on a daily basis.
So that's the number one thingis just being able to see some
of those top guys competeagainst each other is something
that you know it is reallyexciting to look forward to.
(07:51):
You know, the summertime in theQuad Cities is a great time for
, you know, the John DeereClassic is happening right now
and that gets a lot of touristattraction in the Quad Cities.
But you know, I'm reallyexcited to bring another event
in August that can do the samething as well as the John Deere
Classic, of providing, you know,a watch party and people that
(08:11):
haven't played pickleball beforeor that are avid pickleball
players in the quad cities tojust come out and see what the
pro circuit is like for adifferent sport that they
haven't seen in this area before.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
So so kind of school me on how a tournament like this
works, because it's it's notjust professionals but like
people locally can come and playtoo yep, yep, that's, uh,
exactly right.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
So there's two different events.
There's a, you know, opendivision and then there's a pro
division.
The open division ranges fromall skill levels, uh, three oh
to five oh, and then the prodivision is five, five and above
, um, and you know, we're reallyexcited for players that play
here all the time get to play inthe event even if they're not
looking to play on the proseries, and it really helps
(08:54):
develop them and learn how toplay against people that they
don't play against on a dailybasis.
They play against people thatare traveling from New York,
chicago, all over the place,just to play in this event.
So it really helps out andwe've never hosted a tournament
with this many players that areexpected to come.
So, you know, as far as thetournament desk side and the
management side of thetournament, we're really, you
(09:16):
know, it's very new for us andwe're really excited to see, you
know how they run a tournamentwith, you know, 400 players in
it.
It's going to be really cool tosee how they do it and we'll
learn a lot of things from itand we're really excited for it.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
On, like the registration side, you know, how
does someone who's kind of youknow maybe they're, maybe
they're newer, maybe they'rejust trying to like get their
skill up?
Like, how do they know whetheror not this would be right for
them to register for?
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Yeah, so mainly everyone that plays pickleball
goes through this app calledduper.
Um.
It's basically how you rateyourself, um, and you.
You're rated from a one oh toyou know, a 7-0.
And once you play in atournament or two, you get your
own rating.
And once you get your ownrating, you know what level
you're at and you know whatdivision to sign up for.
And you know the PPA has a lotof resources out there that help
(10:07):
you figure out what divisionwill be best for you at the end
of the day.
So you know the PPA does a lotfor it.
And also, just you know,looking online, seeing what
skills you have, it will helpyou out a lot and determine what
division you should play in.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
I feel like pickleball right now is I mean,
maybe this isn't the right term,but it's almost like a sleeping
giant, like it's been creepingup on us for the last decade.
I still have yet to play it,but I think I have a
conversation about pickleball,like at least twice a week right
now, and it's not just becauseof the Challenger Series, but
like, like people in the office,they play and everybody knows
(10:41):
someone who plays and like allof our in the Quad Cities, all
of our parks and rec departmentsare expanding their tennis
courts to accommodate pickleball.
Like, if you pick up adestination guide or if you look
at, like you know, visit QuadCities pickleball information
online, like you see, you knowthe what used to be a
traditional tennis court is nowalso a pickleball court, you
(11:04):
know, nine times out of 10.
So they're, they're just,they're everywhere and it's
super fun.
It's super fun that it's one ofthose things, like you said
earlier, you have fun with it,kind of anybody can play and
it's just, it's something thateveryone can pick up and give a
give a shot to.
So, um, we're excited to see it.
The, the PPA challenger seriesis coming to you guys um August
(11:25):
15th through 17th.
So again, if you're, if you'relistening, and that date has not
yet come upon us, pleaseregister.
We've got ppatourqccom set upso that you can learn a little
bit more about how to register,what this is going to look like.
There's also volunteers needed,so I also want to give a little
(11:45):
congratulations to you guys atthe QC Tennis Club, because
you've made a huge investment innew courts, and so can you walk
through.
You know, maybe, if someonehasn't been to your facility in
a year or more, what's differentnow if they come today or in a
month.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Yeah, well, to start, you know probably 20 to 30
percent of people that come downhere for the first time they
don't even know that it existed.
You know it's kind of hiddenbehind south park mall.
So you know a lot of people arelike, oh, I've never seen this
facility, you know, because it'snot right off the main street.
But no, we've made a lot ofimprovements within the Quad C
Tennis Club within the past fiveyears.
You know a bunch of renovationsinside, along with two outdoor
(12:25):
courts, two outdoor hard tenniscourts outside, and then we're
our newest project is buildingthree grass courts to the left
of our building.
That we're really excited forand that will be a great time.
We're just, you know, taking itstep by step and just learning
as we go.
So you know a lot ofrenovations and you know it
(12:47):
couldn't be happier with whatwe've done here and I know the
community is really happy aboutyou know, some of the things
that we have done.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
And we're really excited to bring some you know,
more events like this to thisarea, just because of the
facility that we have.
Yeah, just being able to housemore opportunities and kind of
fit in those different niches.
You know age groups, what haveyou?
And you know you said you guysdo like lessons, you work with
youth, so you've got the wholegamut of of age, skill level,
the whole thing.
I'm super excited for you guys.
So how long has the tennis?
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Yeah, so the tennis club has been around for 50
years and was built in 1974,1975.
And it's really taken over, youknow, with just starting with
tennis and now it's tennis andpickleball.
So we've seen a lot of growthin both aspects, not just the
pickleball side.
We've also seen a growth in thetennis ability of playing.
And you know we see, just likeyou said, you know, age range
(13:42):
from you know five years old toyou know 80 years old.
So you know we see all rangesof play and it couldn't make us
happier of, you know, gettingeveryone involved and at the end
of the day it's just playingand you know, taking a healthy
step in the right direction.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
So 50 years is nothing to shake a finger at.
That is so exciting, that'ssuch a big milestone.
So congratulations again to allof you on, you know, sticking
around and being such a staplefor that long to this community.
The Quad Cities is such aboomerang place, like.
A lot of times we see peopleyou know leave after high school
(14:18):
or, you know, shortly aftercollege and go do something
somewhere else.
But then a lot of times we seepeople come back and you know,
I'd imagine with you know, sucha legacy place and something
that everybody has some kind ofingrained, you know, ingrainment
into, whether you were a kidtaking lessons or you went to a
tournament at one point orsomething I imagine people
probably come back from havingbeen a kid at the QC Tennis Club
(14:42):
and then they come back todayand go oh my gosh, wow, this
place has really, you know,really changed, really grown.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
Yeah, even seeing pictures of when I first started
coming, you know, probably 15years ago to now, it's a night
and day difference.
But just between you know theoutside part of it and also the
inside.
It's crazy to see and you knowI'm really thankful to be a part
of the whole process.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
So so you've been with them four or five years now
.
So you know kind of, in thattime do you have a highlight
moment or something that sticksout to you, just in those four
or five years?
Speaker 1 (15:20):
You know, I think my highlight moment is just the
people that I've met throughoutthe journey of being here.
You know the community is greatand being able to be a part of
it and you know, just learningand building connections that I
never thought I would build isjust something that I'm so
thankful for.
Just because you know, the morepeople you know and the more
people that you are connected toyou know, the better it will
make you as a person, and youknow, the more you will know,
(15:43):
you know, the better it willmake you as a person, and you
know the more you will know.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
So I'm really excited about you know who I, who I
still have to meet, and I'mreally excited for the process
of you know this wholetournament as well, so let's
back it up college years before,all the way back to when you
started as a kid, from from allof your years playing tennis and
studying it and learning it andjust immersing.
Do you have a highlight momentthrough all those years?
Speaker 1 (16:11):
I think my one highlight moment throughout my
tennis career would be incollege.
It was my sophomore year and itwas.
We were playing in a meet andit was 4-4.
I was a deciding match and Iended up, you know, pulling
through for the team and it wasjust a great experience for me,
but also just learning how to,you know, be on a high for so
(16:33):
long and my teammates wereawesome and it was just a great
moment in time and I'll rememberit forever.
So I think that was my onemoment.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Oh my God, it's always.
It's always those ones whereit's like it's up to you, Dylan.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
It's a lot of pressure.
I'll tell you that.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Did you get nervous or were you just amped on like
adrenaline?
Speaker 1 (16:53):
I was.
It was adrenaline, but I wasshaking and it was just
something that you know, you,you don't get in that position
many times.
So when you do, you can'tprepare yourself for it, just
because it's just in the moment.
But you know, you just gottaget those nerves away and just
play.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
So and those are the things that stick out.
You know, the things that, like, do drum up the most like
pressure and anxiety at themoment.
That's what you're going toremember later.
You know, and kind of like youwere saying, the connectivity
that you have made just peoplethat you've met through the
sport and through what you'redoing in your career, I mean
(17:31):
that means everything and somany people can relate, even if
the people you encounter, likedidn't compete in college, you
know.
But they have some kind of youknow they have some kind of
connection to a sport or theyhave some, you know, some kind
of history with, whether theywere, you know, track and field
or baseball or what have you.
(17:52):
You know those.
That athlete kind of connectionis.
So it's so special and it's solike widespread.
You can kind of relateregardless of which aspect
you've been into.
So it is really cool to thinkback and just look at how much
people, how much people like youknow, spend time and energy and
(18:15):
cheer each other on, and soit's cool to see it all kind of
happen here.
The Quad Cities tennis obviously, pickleball obviously are huge,
but you know we've got so many,so many like tentacles out in
the sports world.
So, like our sports commission,sports Q Bank Sports Complex
(18:44):
have offered even more placesfor people to compete and youth
to come and families to getintroduced to the Quad Cities.
It's a great segue for peopleto just kind of learn about.
You know the people in thecommunity or what the community
has to offer in the sports world, but also like outside the
sports world.
So you know when you bringpeople into the QC, whether it's
(19:05):
friends or family or whatever,if you're talking to someone
from out of town, do you haveany like highlight things that
you recommend they do whilethey're in town, or do you have
a favorite like Quad City thingthat you like to spend time
doing?
Speaker 1 (19:19):
Yeah, so you know I come from a sports family and
you know everything that I domost of the time is related to
something that has to do withthe sport either watching or
playing a sport.
Actually, this weekend mycousins are coming in town for
the Classic.
There's so many nice golfcourses around here.
That's really what I like to dois go golf.
That's one of the highlights ofthe Quad Cities is the golf
(19:51):
courses are very pristine, ingreat shape, and there's so many
of them that you can choosefrom along with, you know, the
casinos in town and some otherstuff.
That really the food.
There's so much that I can sayabout the Quad Cities and I'm
really glad that, as a sportsfanatic, it's really growing as
a sports community as well.
So that's one thing that Ireally like to bring here and
show them one.
You know this facility.
You know going to a riverbanners game, going to a storm
game, you know it's justsomething that you can't really
(20:13):
take for granted, because youknow when you go to a town that
like Decorah who doesn't have asports team, you know you come
back here and you're like, allright, you know I'm really happy
here and I'm really happy thatwe have the sports community
that we have.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
That was a really good list.
Like that was a packed weekendof activity.
That was a great list.
I think it's so easy when youlive here for five or more years
, honestly, like it's easy totake for granted all of all the
sports teams, the opportunities,the you know, even the natural
assets we have.
Mississippi River we drive byit every single day.
(20:47):
I mean, it's one of the largestrivers in the world and and
it's so vast and it does so muchand it's just, oh hey,
mississippi River.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
We take it for granted, for sure, yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:57):
My thing when I have like family or friends or
whatever come into town, Ialways tout the oh, you can like
get between Iowa and Illinoisin, you know, 10 minutes or less
, like literally anywhere in theQuad Cities is under a 20
minute drive, and the fact thatwe don't have to deal with
traffic and commute times iseverything to me and I love that
so much.
(21:17):
And that, oh, here I'm going to.
If you're listening to theaudio version, I'm going to
explain to you my shirt that I'mwearing.
It's one of our newer pieces ofmerch.
It's Quad Cities CreativeCapital of the Midwest, and so
that's another huge asset thatwe can argue very strongly.
With the Figge's new lightingstructure, evanescent Field, the
(21:38):
QC Art Trail, we have over 100public art sculptures and murals
and entities that people canconsume and look at and enjoy
while they're here.
So we just have so much andthanks for that amazing list to
just cherry on top everythingthe Quad Cities has to offer.
Round it back to PPA tourcoming here.
(21:59):
So one or two things that wewant to get people to be
thinking about as Augustapproaches.
You know, if you want to talk,maybe registration or just
watching, what couple thingswould you like to let people
know about it?
Speaker 1 (22:17):
Yeah, well, one, I know in August, early August,
mid-august, hotels fill up veryquickly in this area.
So you know, if you are lookingto come down for the PPA
challenger, book your hotel assoon as possible, just because
you know the rooms do book veryeasily.
So that's my one piece ofadvice.
And and two is just explore thethings that the Quad Cities has
(22:38):
that no one else has has.
You know, like Whitey's, hunger, hobo, happy Joe's you know
that's just three of you knowthings that I like but that are
just in this area that you don'tget to experience, you know,
when you go to Chicago or DesMoines or anything like that.
So just experience what theQuad Cities is like while you're
here.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
And if you do go to Hungry Hobo, you've got to get
the 11.
Personal opinion With thecheddar fry.
With the cheddar fry,absolutely fry, absolutely okay.
I'm glad we're in agreementhere, okay, so, per tradition,
at the end, of this podcast, Ialways have the guests fill in
(23:17):
qc.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
That's where.
So, dylan, what is your qc?
That's where.
Qc that's where community isbuilt.
I love it.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
I stand behind it.
I think that's perfect.
Um, okay, so PPATourQCcom, getsome information about this
awesome challenger series comingup.
Check out the QC Tennis Club.
There's just there's so muchhappening here.
You guys have social media thatI can throw on our Facebook
page Yep Quatsitennisclubcom.
Amazing.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
Same for Facebook and all that so easy to find.
Yep Very easy to find.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
All right, thanks, dylan.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Thanks for listening to QC.
That's when a podcast poweredby Visit Quad Cities Text
VISITQC to 38314 for insiderevents, activities and updates
sent straight to your phone.
That's V-I-S-I-T-Q-C, one wordto 38314.
(24:06):
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Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.