About Us
Welcome to Wildwood Racquet and Wellness Club
Our Mission
“Providing an exceptional racquet club experience through elite professional instruction, programming, play opportunity, and a member-centric approach to service.”
Our Vision
“To create a best in class Fort Wayne destination as a full service racquet and wellness club that enhances the lives of our staff, members and community.”
Welcome to Wildwood Racquet + Wellness Club, creating an exceptional racquet club experience since 1972. Our newly renovated facility features 10 resurfaced indoor tennis courts, 6 dedicated indoor pickleball courts, and 4 outdoor hard tennis courts with 8 lined pickleball courts. Become a member and elevate your game with expert instruction, a wide variety of tennis and pickleball programs, and exceptional amenities.
Meet Our Management Team
Josh Rifkin
President
About Josh
Josh grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana and began playing tennis at a young age. In fact, he progressed through Wildwood’s junior pathways. This led him to a collegiate career at Ithaca College (2007-2011) in upstate New York. He became the school’s first All-American in doubles with his partner and holds the record for most career wins in the school’s history. In 2024 he (along with his doubles partner) was inducted into the Ithaca College Athletics Hall of Fame as the first tennis players in program history.
After college, Josh continued his passion for tennis and turned professional in 2011 training at The Austin Tennis Academy (Austin, TX). When his career was cut short due to injuries at the end of 2012, he came back home to Fort Wayne and began teaching professionally at Wildwood Racquet + Wellness Club. He taught all levels of tennis with high-performance tennis as a focus. Concurrently, he founded Synergistic Body, a private training studio training sport specific athletes, general population clients, and anyone looking to improve their performance in their life or sport using a holistic approach to health, fitness, and performance.
In 2016 Josh returned to The Austin Tennis Academy as a fitness and tennis coach. He spent 2016-2020 in Austin, Texas directing the fitness program, training, and coaching the athletes at The Austin Tennis Academy. Josh was excited to move back home to Fort Wayne and bring his experience and philosophy of training back to the Midwest region. Since returning home in September 2020, he reignited Synergistic Body, a holistic fitness and performance studio. At the top of 2024, this morphed into his role as Owner of Wildwood.
Josh’s direction for Wildwood is to create a best-in-class Fort Wayne destination as a full-service Racquet and Wellness club that enhances the lives of its staff, members, and community.
In his free time, he enjoys kettlebell workouts, finding the newest comedy shows and movies, stand-up comedy (watching and performing), seeking out the best cold-brewed coffee in town, trying new food spots, (food and coffee snob), and a good Xbox session with friends and cousins.
Emily Davis
Club Manager
About Emily
Experience in Fitness/Wellness and Hospitality: 10+ years
Since graduating from Indiana University in 2013, Emily has spent most of her career in management and directorship within the fitness industry. Within her career, member relations and high customer service standards have been a major focus. Emily is passionate about both exemplifying and promoting a healthy and active lifestyle and cultivating meaningful relationships. She is excited to share her passion as she grows into the private club and racquets industry.
Outside of work, Emily is a proud parent of her 10-year-old daughter, and they love spending time with their dog. When she’s not at the club, you’ll find her running, cross stitching, drawing, or getting lost in a good book.
Michael Parker
Director of Tennis
RSPA Tennis Professional
About Michael
RSPA Elite Professional
Teaching experience 25+ years
Playing experience 30+ years
Michael started playing tennis when he was 12 years old and started playing year round in high school. He played collegiately at Tyler Junior College where his team won a National Championship and Michael was an All-American. He continued his playing career at IPFW where he played #1 singles and #1 doubles for the Mastodons. While playing at IPFW Michael started working part time at Wildwood and has transitioned from teaching professional, to head pro, to director of tennis.
Michael has been married to his wife, Beth Parker, for 18 years and has 3 kids, Macy (18), Jackson (14), and Halle (11). They are a very active family. Michael enjoys playing golf in his free time and watching all his kids’ activities.
Mike Carpenter
Director of Pickleball
PPR Pickleball Professional
About Mike
Doubles DUPR – 5.126
Mike attended Marietta College in Marietta, OH where he was a three-time captain of the men’s varsity tennis team. Upon graduation, he became the assistant coach for the men’s and women’s tennis programs at Marietta and shortly after, took over the role as the head coach for both programs. A role he kept for roughly a decade before moving to Bradenton, FL to become a tennis coach at IMG Academy.
While at IMG Academy, Mike trained aspiring junior professional tennis players, helped with the videography program for full-time students and summer campers. He gave presentations on singles and doubles strategy, and maintained an extensive online coaching regimen via an online coaching platform called CoachNow.
In 2021, Mike found Pickleball and fell in love with the sport. Taking quickly to the sport, he has achieved a DUPR of over 5.0 in singles and doubles, competed in professional qualifying tournaments, and brought his tennis coaching experience to the Pickleball courts where he gives technique and strategy-based lessons that encourage proper form, good decision-making, and a competitive spirit. He looks forward to making Wildwood Racquet + Wellness Club the premier Pickleball community in the greater Fort Wayne area.
A fun fact about Mike: He plays tennis right handed but plays Pickleball left handed! Mike can make a mean smash burger and enjoys spending his free time with his wife, Alex Carpenter.
Alexa Reinking
Junior Team Tennis and USTA Local League Liason
RSPA Elite Professional
About Alexa
RSPA Certified Instructor
Teaching Experience: 21 years
Alexa is starting her 21st year with Wildwood Raquet + Wellness Club, having been hired as a high school helper in 2004, then became a certified professional in 2006. She taught tennis and worked as a front desk associate while obtaining her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at IPFW. Once she graduated, she became full time at Wildwood. Besides teaching, she also is the tournament director for all USTA junior tournaments, she is the local league coordinator for Junior Team Tennis, she runs all of the in-house leagues, and is in charge of various special events. Her most recent accomplishment was winning the Cap Leighton Award in 2020. Off the court, her biggest accomplishment was beating breast cancer in 2024!
Alexa recently got married in September of 2024 to her husband, Nate. She also has two boys – Ryan and Rowan, who enjoy playing both tennis and soccer. Alexa is an avid Duke basketball fan and her favorite hobby is reading.
Chef Tanisha Clark
Executive of Food and Beverage Operation
About Tanisha
Chef Tye is an accomplished culinary executive, certified nutrition professional, and bilingual leader with more than fifteen years of experience building and leading high-performance food and beverage operations across private clubs, hospitality organizations, and entrepreneurial ventures. Her background spans large-scale club dining, catering and events, cloud kitchens, meal-prep enterprises, and full-service restaurant ownership, with a consistent record of elevating quality, efficiency, and guest experience.
Prior to joining Wildwood, Chef Tye served as Executive Chef of The Riviera Club in Indianapolis, where she oversaw all culinary operations including à la carte dining, catering, special events, and concessions. She led teams of up to fifty staff members, managed purchasing and inventory systems, controlled food and labor costs, and partnered closely with senior leadership to deliver elevated member experiences. Her leadership style emphasizes structure, accountability, and workforce development, including partnerships with Ivy Tech Community College.
As a business owner and founder of Tye Tasteful Plateful Caribbean Meal Prep and Café, Chef Tye successfully scaled high-volume meal production operations, including nutrition-driven programs supporting professional athletic organizations. She demonstrated strong financial stewardship by driving profit growth, reducing waste, and adapting operations through strategic cloud kitchen expansion and process optimization.
Her entrepreneurial experience also includes founding Sazón de Panamá, the Midwest’s first Panamanian restaurant. In this role, she led all aspects of operations, financial management, vendor negotiations, and brand development, earning regional media recognition. Earlier in her career, Chef Tye held executive culinary roles internationally, managing high-budget food programs and leading multicultural teams.
Chef Tye brings a global culinary perspective grounded in disciplined operations, financial responsibility, and guest-focused hospitality. Her leadership is guided by a simple and deeply held motto of faith, family, and future. These principles shape how she builds teams, develops people, and creates sustainable food and beverage programs.
She is a certified nutrition professional, ServSafe Food Protection Manager certified, licensed to serve alcohol in Indiana, fluent in English and Spanish, and holds a degree in Accounting. These credentials support her strong command of operational systems and financial accountability.
Chef Tye is also a proud mother of two children, Anastacia, age twenty-five, and Aiden, age fifteen. This role further informs her people-first leadership approach and reinforces her commitment to mentorship, balance, and building environments where individuals and teams can grow with confidence and purpose.
You can reach out to Chef Tye or anything related to Courtside at: [email protected]
Your court awaits.
Begin your membership at Wildwood today and receive exclusive benefits.