The echoes of bouncing basketballs ring through the gym. Heavy steel crashes as weightlifters train to exhaustion. Parents scream with joy as their kid scores the game-winning point.
You might hear these sounds on any given day as you walk through the TBK Bank Sports Complex in Bettendorf. And as announced to the public in February, you’ll soon be able to hear the crack of a golf club driving a ball through the air.
A new addition to the TBK Bank Sports Complex, which will be located across Middle Road from the current structure, will take an already impressive facility brimming with opportunities to a sports and entertainment mecca. Developer Ryan Hintze, owner and operator of Corn Belt Capital, along with developers Kevin Koellner and Doug Katz, are developing a three-story golf range along with a hotel, athletic fields, and space for commercial buildings. Construction began this month.
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It all started with a magazine article about golf ranges.
“At the time, when I was looking at this smaller golf range, I couldn’t even have dreamt of the amazing facility that we’re building right now,” said Hintze.
Ryan Hintze, Chief Executive Officer of Middle & Forest Grove LLC, speaks during a news conference to announce a 70,000 square foot golf entertainment venue is being developed near the TBK Bank Sports Complex.
As soon as he read that article about smaller golf ranges, Hintze, born and raised in Bettendorf and a Davenport Assumption graduate, knew he had an opportunity to bring a new and exciting business to his community. He immediately sent a message to friends asking why the Quad-Cities didn’t have an entertainment golf range like many other major metropolitan areas.
Nobody had an answer for him.
“Living in Kansas City, then visiting places like Des Moines and Omaha, it’s like the Quad-Cities, with entertainment venues like this, we’re just almost behind,” Hintze said. “I think this is an incredible opportunity for the community to kind of take this momentum and run with it.”
The future site of a 70,000 square foot golf entertainment venue near the TBK Bank Sports Complex. The development will also feature several multi-sport (Baseball, Softball and Soccer) turf fields, which will be managed by TBK Bank Sports Complex.
New Space, New Activities
Golf is the one sport you haven’t been able to participate in at the TBK Bank Sports Complex.
“Golf is very big in this area with stuff like the John Deere Classic,” said Kirk Whiteman, Director of Sport at TBK Bank Sports Complex. “But golf is an outdoor sport. It’s hard to do year round.”
This new driving range will expand on the Quad-Cities golf options to allow golfers a more realistic experience at any time of the year. Troon, a golf company out of Arizona, will operate nearly 62 golf-hitting bays throughout the building.
“Whether it’s a first time golfer or experienced golfer, when you go have fun at a range like they’re building, it sparks interest,” said Sara Cross, Executive Director of First Tee Quad Cities, a youth development organization that gets kids involved with golf.
Available behind these driving range bays will be approximately 5,600 square feet of event space and 1,700 square feet of pre-event support space. The venue offers another local option for groups and companies to hold gatherings with the added entertainment value of the golf bays.
“Public golf courses in the area are phenomenal. The need was for the entertainment portion of it,” Cross said. “It’s going to allow people to play casually and get a group of friends together. It’s more of a fun way to spend your Saturday night.
The Facilities of our Dreams
While the Bettendorf community anxiously awaits tee-time at the new golf range, local groups are taking advantage of TBK Bank Sports Complex’s existing state-of-the-art facilities. In fact, the complex is already pulling in visitors from across the country, and it’s a testament to the services they provide for the community.
“We have a lot of people involved in multiple sports here,” Whiteman said. “We get people from all over, central Illinois, St. Louis, you’ll even see license plates from New Hampshire and California.”
The complex has built up its reputation as an excellent space for youth sports through partnerships with local clubs and coaches looking to build well-rounded students and athletes within the community.
One such club is Platform Elite Volleyball Club, which is in its 18th year of operation. They operate 32 indoor volleyball teams, boys and girls, and hold tournaments, clinics, and lessons at the TBK Bank Sports Complex.
Platform Elite Volleyball Club hosts a clinic.
The club moved to the complex when the facility first opened, and has called it home ever since. Co-founder Melissa Kurth credits the spacious facilities and excellent location as helping them double in size.
“It allows us to grow and reach players that maybe we weren’t reaching before we moved here,” she said. At their previous location, they had access to four courts. At the complex, they are typically using eight.
Their partnership with the TBK Bank Sports Complex allows Platform Elite to offer a program volleyball players can’t find many other places: beach volleyball. They run a beach doubles league for ages 10 through 18, as well as a beach volleyball club.
“Beach volleyball is growing right now. Colleges in the Midwest are popping up with more beach programs,” Kurth said. “Beach volleyball is a little more laid back. We just want them to have fun and it’s a little less pressure.”
A Platform Elite Volleyball Club team celebrates a point.
Kurth said they’ve had players on their teams from all over the region, from Rock Falls all the way over to West Liberty. The easy access off of Interstate 80 and facilities with tons of opportunities draw these families in and allows kids to see competition and form friendships they may not have had access to before.
The ability to play in a facility of the TBK Bank Complex’s caliber, with the surrounding amenities to support large tournaments, allows Platform Elite coaches to focus in on what really matters – making sure your child has the best experience possible to learn and grow.
“There’s life lessons learned every day in this gym,” Kurth said. “We’re not just teaching volleyball. We’re teaching these young ladies and young men how to work through problems and we hold them accountable. Whatever your goal, we’re going to strive to help you get to that goal.”
Building More than Just Strength
“Managed correctly, [youth sports are] an uplifting, confidence builder,” Whiteman said. “You learn those intangible qualities you need for life. Teamwork. Social skills. Interpersonal communication. Dedication. Discipline. Sports build character.”
The TBK Bank Sports Complex is building its arsenal of character-building coaches and leagues every day. Recently, local basketball coach and trainer Jordan Harris has established his base at the complex and is offering one-on-one and group basketball lessons.
Harris coaches for the Augustana College’s women’s basketball program and is a director for the Quad City Shockers AAU program. He has been training youth basketball players in the Quad-Cities for the last three years. Speaking with Harris, you can feel the palpable energy and excitement he has for training the next generation of basketball players.
“TBK is just the place to be!” Harris said. “It’s a great facility, there’s great people. I get access to way more kids. There’s a lot of kids that like to play basketball, and they all like to come and show up at TBK. You have way more space here than you could have ever imagined.”
Basketball trainer Jordan Harris shoots around while waiting for his next lessons.
Children in grades 4th through 12th can book either small-group (4-8 players) or individual lessons with Harris through the TBK Bank Complex website. He aims to get a basketball in the hands of as many kids as possible and develop them into developmentally sound players.
He’s seen firsthand from being in the gym how not only basketball, but access to all of the amenities offered by the TBK Bank Sports Complex, has helped kids in the area grow as both people and athletes. Kids are showing up to the facility on a regular basis to work out in the gym, lift weights, and bond with their friends over a shared love of sports. That kind of dedication and effort wouldn’t be possible if this facility wasn’t right in their backyard.
“I know a few kids that come up here to use the weight room every single day, and it’s taken whatever they play— football, baseball, basketball—to another level,” Harris said. “They’re outperforming everybody because of the hours that they put in alone.”
Harris believes that encouragement and instilling confidence in a young basketball player is the key to growing both skill and emotional well-being in a kid.
“The worst experiences I’ve seen in my position are the coaches that bash a kid for not being able to make a layup or not being able to make a pass. Coaches have to be able to tell the kid, ‘it’s okay. Let’s just keep working and trying,’” he said.
He’s excited for his future in basketball coaching in the Quad-Cities, especially as he expands his abilities to coach more kids at the TBK Bank Sports Complex.
“When a kid leaves my program, they’re going to leave with a better character, they’re going to have better confidence, and they’re going to be a better, polished player. Maybe basketball doesn’t work out for them, but he’s going to graduate college and maybe become a doctor or lawyer one day. That’s still a kid that I would say was successfully pushed out of our program.”
To book lessons with Jordan, visit www.tbkbanksportscomplex.com/sports-complex/individual-sports-training.
To become involved with Platform Elite Volleyball Club, visit www.platformelite.com.
