Inside the R&B Sports Center, a new private athletic and community campus coming to Wellington
- Jake Nicholas
- 6 hours ago
- 2 min read
Wellington is officially landing one of its most distinctive new private athletic and community concepts. The R&B Sports Center, a private, invitation-only campus founded by renowned tennis professionals Betsy McCormack and Rodrigo Nascimento, is taking shape as a multi-disciplinary destination built around sport, mentorship, and community — designed by Spina O'Rourke + Partners.
The campus is being shaped as a multi-disciplinary athletic and wellness destination. The program will bring together tennis, padel, one indoor clay court, and one hard court, a martial arts room, skate ramps, and a pump track, a rehab and wellness pool, a music recording studio, and a café — creating a layered environment where athletes, families, and the broader Wellington community can train, recover, and gather under one roof.
At the helm are two of tennis's most respected names. Betsy McCormack brings a remarkable career in the sport, including two Grand Slam titles and a lifelong connection to the development of world-class players through her family's deep roots in tennis. Rodrigo Nascimento is widely respected for his transformational coaching approach, having guided players to significant breakthroughs — WTA finals, victories over world No. 1 players, and dramatic ranking climbs. Together, McCormack and Nascimento are known as much for their credentials as for their hands-on intensity, coaching elite professionals and young beginners with the same care.
The personal story behind the project gives R&B Sports Center its real depth. McCormack has known Nascimento for over 30 years and has witnessed his profound life transformation firsthand — a journey grounded in accountability, self-reflection, forgiveness, and redemption. That lived experience now defines how he coaches. Nascimento leads with a servant mindset, driven by a desire to offer others the guidance, belief, and opportunity they may not otherwise encounter — meeting athletes and individuals at a deeper level than technique alone.
The center's broader mission reflects that philosophy. While the program is designed to support young athletes — particularly underprivileged youth with the drive to pursue tennis — it's equally envisioned as a place for adults and the wider community to recharge, find balance, and reconnect through sport and wellness. The intent is a place to step away from daily pressures and rediscover clarity, with structured pathways for mentorship and competitive development sitting alongside everyday community use.
Spina O'Rourke + Partners brings significant depth to the design team. The Palm Beach-based firm is known across South Florida for its work on civic, residential, hospitality, and athletic projects — and is shaping the R&B Sports Center as an architectural environment that supports the program's full range of uses without feeling institutional. The campus is being designed to feel both purpose-built and personal, with spaces that flow naturally between athletic training, recovery, creative expression, and community gathering.
At its core, the R&B Sports Center is built around the life lessons sport teaches — discipline, resilience, focus, and belief in oneself — developing not only athletes, but champions in life as well. All of it fueled by McCormack and Nascimento's shared philosophy: do it "for the good."
