In Her Words: Dorothy Foster, Serving Up Competition & Community
Former attorney, SAHM, and community leader and now "next gen" sports entrepreneur, starts indoor pickleball club in Chicago suburb
The idea to open Net Game, a private indoor pickleball club, came about during CoVid when friends introduced me to the sport of pickleball. Growing up as a tennis player, I picked up the new sport quickly and then it became addictive to play. I wanted to play all the time but so did everyone else. I would walk up to park district courts and I could not get on the courts to play. The park district courts are first come, first serve, and because pickle had become so popular there would always be groups waiting to play. It was frustrating. If I'm meeting my friends at 9:30 to play pickle, I want to play at 9:30. I don't want to sit there and wait another hour. Whoever you are — if you're a stay-at-home mom or if you're a working professional — we only have so much time. I was talking with my girlfriend, Jill, who was sharing the same frustration with me about not getting on the pickleball courts. I said, “Wouldn't it be awesome if we could just take over that old IGI building and put down pickle courts?” (IGI was a gymnastics school that closed during CoVid.) I didn’t think Jill was taking my idea that seriously until next thing you know, she was asking to meet for breakfast to talk over some ideas. She had a notebook filled with pages and pages of pickleball notes and so there started Net Game.
I was at a point in my life where I was ready for the next chapter. After I had worked as an attorney for many years, my family moved to California for my husband’s job and I stepped out of the workforce to focus on my kids. Once we moved back to Chicago and the kids were older and more self-sufficient, I realized it was time for my next move. I’m a do-er. I need to be doing stuff. I started interviewing with legal recruiters, yet always had my list of 1,000 business ideas in my phone. I just needed someone or something to nudge me.
Dink Shot - a soft shot that falls into your opponent’s “kitchen.”
My Aunt Marilyn, who is basically a professional entrepreneur, gave me the nudge. She caught wind of the idea for the pickleball club from my dad and texted me saying “I need to talk to you as soon as possible.” I called her and she said, “You have to do this pickleball thing.” So, I set up a call with Marilyn, Jill, and me, and Marilyn spent an hour telling us everything we had to start doing and thinking about for this new business. Sort of like a crash course on how to start a small business. Marilyn also put us in touch with a pickleball instructor from New York who was another former attorney. He was as nice as can be and shared with us some insightful information about the pickleball industry, indoor pickleball clubs in general, and some great pickleball contacts.
Smash - a shot that is hit above the hitter’s head a.k.a a cooler
way of saying an overhead shot.
Our next step in starting the business was figuring out the funding. Jill and I had already discussed what we were willing to invest into this new business. We worked on our pro forma financials and figured out what additional funding we needed. Marilyn shared with us different ideas for funding which included small business loans and friends and family loans. We bypassed the small business loans due to the variable and possible high interest rates, turning instead to some family members who were willing to give us loans with competitive interest rates. Again, family came through and they were excited to be part of our Net Game journey.
Finding the right space and getting the lease signed was not easy. We formed our LLC in March of 2023 and signed the lease that September. Although the original IGI building that inspired my idea initially didn’t appear to be working out for us, with our perseverance and our amazing broker (and good friend), we made it happen! It is a fantastic location as it’s right across from Ty Warner Park and next to the FMC Natatorium, a brand new, state-of-the-art indoor pool (both part of a large recreation complex run by the local park district). It has been wonderful working with the Village of Westmont through the entire process. We are so grateful we have landed at 145 Plaza Drive for all these reasons.
Once we signed the lease in September, the construction began, which was super exciting! The construction is still going on and a day does not go by without someone asking me, “When do you open?” We are working so hard to open the doors as soon as possible, but with construction there are inevitable delays. We keep persevering and encouraging everyone on our team to continue moving things along.
We have met so many amazing people already in this new business journey. We have surrounded ourselves with a professional team of experts that are keeping us on track. Our bookkeeper has been amazing at keeping all the finances straight. She recommended a book called Profit First and it has made me think differently about financials and how to run a business. For example, the book encourages small business owners to start taking some profit right from the beginning when business owners commonly would pay themselves last.
Pickledome - the court where the championship match in a pickleball tournament is played.
Taking this idea and turning it into reality has not been for the faint of heart. It's exhausting! Everyone in my family is living through it with me. It's almost like the schedule I kept when I was working at my big law firm. I’m working a ton of hours. The difference is that I'm doing this for myself and I'm doing it for something that I have such passion for. There are so many things in my life that I'm passionate about that I can bring into this business. For example, kids on the phones and on social media — it just drives me crazy. (See note in footer about my Real Social organization.) I want kids to do more physical things and be social with each other. I want kids to come to the club after school to play and I want to do Friday teen nights. I want kids to just be kids. I'm also very passionate about nutrition. I'm obsessed with making smoothies and acai bowls and I cannot wait to serve some Dottie smoothies at our Grab and Go bar for our members. I'm also very passionate about music. I was a DJ for a brief time in college. One of the first times I went to play pickleball, the friend who took me set out her speaker and started blasting music while we played. I absolutely loved it and it was so different than the way I grew up playing tennis, which was always so serious and quiet.
Kitchen or Non-Volley Zone – This refers to that area in the court that is seven feet from both sides of the net. As the name implies, players are not allowed to execute a volley shot while inside this area.
So with that all being said, there is a lot of experience and passion that is behind Net Game. Jill and I are pouring our heart and soul into this business since we want Net Game to be a place where people can come in and play pickle (or not) and just have a good time. Our mission at Net Game is to provide a fun, vibrant, inclusive space and community where players of any age or skill level can come together to cultivate skill, foster camaraderie, and promote an active, healthy lifestyle.
Belle Curve Stories is about women navigating life with grit, grace, and growth. What do these three words mean to you?
Grit describes what’s going on in my life right now. It's been a ton of grit in this last year, and I know it's going to continue to be. We're hopefully going to get to a point where I'm gonna be like, “Yes! We have a manager operating this place. I can go on vacation!” I keep dreaming about this beach vacation that I'll maybe take in a year.
It takes a lot of grace to handle the relationships. There was a point where something in the business was super contested, and I had to make a call and handle the conversation with a lot of grace. We respect everyone we have been working with and they’ve respected us.
There are two types of growth going on with me right now. First, there is individual growth. I didn't know if I could get Net Game to the finish line. I have grown so much, just understanding the capacity that I have and what I can do. There's more to grow too. In my growth, it's amazing the additional confidence I’ve developed. Not that I wasn't confident before, but I now have this all-new confidence about myself and what I am capable of doing. I hope that my kids are learning from my growth and this experience as they are living through this and dealing with me.
Secondly, there is the growth of Net Game. I mean, Net Game started as an idea, and with a little nudging by my family and friends who care about me and with an amazing business partner, the idea has become a reality.
What advice would you have for your younger self, say 20 years ago?
Don't stress about what you major in or what your first job is because it definitely is not going to be your last stop. You're gonna get a job and it might not be your dream job, but it's going to start your path. It's going to be all the stops along the way that are going to guide you to your final destination. Don’t always listen to what other people are telling you that you should be doing, but do stop and listen to the signs and nudges around you.
Dorothy Foster, age 46, is co-founder of Net Game, Westmont, Illinois, and co-founder of Real Social, a local group of parents dedicated to delaying smartphone use for children. A former attorney and life-long lover of racquet sports, Dorothy gives credit to her family for helping her get to where she is today. While she gives special credit to her aunt, Marilyn Bellock, who is her dad’s sister, Dorothy recognizes that she comes from a long line of strong business-minded women on both sides. After all, she was named after her grandmother, Dorothy Comiskey Rigney, who was part-owner of the Chicago White Sox and her great-grandmother, Grace Comiskey, was the general manager of that ball club in the late 30s and early 40s.
More information about Net Game can be found at netgamepickle.com or @netgame.pickle on Instagram.
More information about Real Social can be found @realsocial_illinois on Instagram.
Such an impressive, interesting story! Wishing you great success, Dorothy, and that vacation in your future, too, for all your hard work!
Dorothy, thank you for sharing your story! We're looking forward to the grand opening!