Our History

THE BEGINNING

Kay & Richard Yuspeh bought their first club, the Highlander in Brookfield in 1986. The Highlander was only a racquet club but Kay had a vision of adding innovative programs, cutting edge equipment, and most importantly, a top-notch professional staff, to set this club apart and make it “elite.”

Starting with a new name, a team of 15 employees, and a membership base of 700 the Highlander, an indoor tennis club, was on its way to becoming Elite Sports Club-Brookfield, an industry leader. Kay began remodeling by breaking ground for an outdoor pool. And that first summer she invented SCAMP, a children’s summer day camp.


 

OVER THE YEARS…

By 1990, Kay had quickly renovated and expanded Brookfield Elite adding a 35,000 sq ft. addition that included a gym, fitness center, expanded playroom, and indoor pool transforming it from a tennis-only club to an all-encompassing recreational facility.

Kay’s second club, North Shore, became part of the Elite entourage in 1992. Like Brookfield, this tennis-only club was transformed into a comprehensive fitness facility two years later. We welcomed Mequon in 2005, adding a new fitness center in 2006. And our newest addition to the Elite Sports Clubs family is the former Le Club, which was purchased by Kay in 2012 and is now Elite Sports Club-River Glen.

As Kay transformed her clubs into full-spectrum health & fitness facilities, she also nurtured and grew their existing tennis programs, the club’s backbone. Under the direction of Randy Stolpe, who joined Kay back in 1986, the Elite Sports Clubs grew to sport the state’s largest professional tennis program with a team of 40+ teaching professionals and a combined total of 35 indoor and 5 outdoor courts.


 

AND INTO THE FUTURE…

Starting with Brookfield’s original 15 employees, we have grown to a team of over 400. Many grown children from the original team are now employees, and many former employees have returned in redefined positions. People who started here with minor positions have risen to levels of higher importance, including management.

Our clubs’ environment makes it easy for employees with childcare needs and offers flexible, family-friendly work schedules. Management supports employees in their pursuit of certifications and advanced degrees and employees are encouraged to stretch their parachutes.

In 2019, Kay decided that she needed to develop a succession plan for the business to ensure that the staff and members were well taken care of well into the future. She was reached out to by a team working with Lakeshore Sport & Fitness (LSF) based out of the Chicago area. Kay had over 40 years of history with the former owners of LSF and knew that it was similar in spirit to Elite. Thus, Elite Sports Clubs was acquired by a group led by Peter Goldman, which owns Lakeshore Sport & Fitness.

Now under new leadership, the Elite Sports Clubs will continue its decades-long history of excellence in the Milwaukee area as each club is continually redefined and upgraded to aspire to our mission:

TO ENHANCE OUR MEMBERS’ QUALITY OF LIFE BY CREATING A VIBRANT COMMUNITY OFFERING CONTINUOUSLY IMPROVING WORLD-CLASS SERVICE!