When Connie McHugh opened Airport Fitness in 1996, it was known as the Vineyard Tennis Center. Today, the facility spans three floors and includes a fitness club, cardio rooms, personal trainers, classes and steam and sauna rooms.
This Thursday marks the club’s 30th anniversary, and Ms. McHugh and her team are ready to celebrate. There will be a party on Thursday, Oct. 15 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the club.
Through all its changes, Ms. McHugh has come to see adaptability as essential to the success of Airport Fitness.
“I think in business, if you don’t grow and change, you’re dead,” she said.
Ms. McHugh didn’t always know she would become a businesswoman. But her love of tennis has been with her since childhood.
“I remember driving through a public park with my mom when I was probably eight years old,” she said. “I grew up in Wisconsin, and it was early December. There had been a light snow the night before, and there were a bunch of people sweeping off the tennis court. I’ll never forget, I turned to my mom and said, ‘They must really like that game.’”
Her curiosity about the sport continued, but opportunities to play were limited when she reached high school. At the time, girls had few organized athletic opportunities at her school.
“This was pre-Title IX, and some of the girls started to protest the fact that we had nothing,” she said. “When I was a sophomore, they offered three or four different sports…I thought, ‘I’m going to do everything.’”
Tennis was the sport that stuck. From then on, Ms. McHugh devoted all her free time to the game.
Her passion became the basis of her career. In the 80s, she began working in Philadelphia as director of junior tennis programs for the United Tennis Association.
When she married Islander Leo McHugh, she made a permanent move to the Vineyard. She brought her passion for tennis with her, and began her club with the goal of uniting tennis players across the Island.
“There were all these pockets of tennis [on the Island], but they never knew each other,” she said. “This was the first melting pot for Island residents who were tennis players to actually meet each other.”
She then decided to add a fitness club to the building in 1998 to support the health of the players.
“We thought it would be great if the tennis members had a place to get stronger and had a place to warm up,” she said. “But then a whole different demographic came in.”
Ms. McHugh and her team worked on renovating the original two tennis courts, which comply with tournament regulations, to accommodate pickleball, soccer and basketball depending on community needs.
“Our Brazilian neighbors play a five-on-five game called futsal here three or four days a week,” Ms. McHugh said. “We really do a lot in this space. It’s become very conducive to lots of things.”
Airport Fitness has also been offering pickleball for over 10 years. Ms. McHugh said when she attended a conference about the sport 12 years ago, she knew it was going to be a big deal.
“We were the first club to offer pickleball on the Island,” she said. “We have two permanent pickleball courts and an option for four.”
The option comes from the use of removable tape to mark additional pickleball courts on the tennis courts.
She shared that the priority of Airport Fitness has always been the Vineyard’s year-round residents, and what they express interest in.
“The parking lot is busier in January than July,” she said. “We built this for the Island residents.”
Ms. McHugh and her team of 15 employees are looking forward to the chance to celebrate Airport Fitness’ long tenure on the Island, and hope people will come join them.
“We’re going to celebrate the fact that we’re still alive, and we’re still here,” she said. “We don’t know if it’s going to be four or forty people, but it’s going to be fun.”