Padel serves up new social scene 

Namibia Padel co-founder Francois Wahl recently discussed the sport’s rapid growth, its social and accessible appeal, and what is needed to boost participation nationwide.

“Many people who used to play tennis and squash pick up the game easily,” he says.

“But those are technically difficult sport types. The barrier to entry for padel is much easier for players without a racket sport background, making the sport accessible.

Wahl says padel is a social sport, since people have drinks afterwards and watch other games.

He says serious clubs need to have four courts to host proper tournaments and events, one can make it work with two courts.

“Since it is privately driven, it depends on entrepreneurs to add more courts and clubs in Windhoek, which would make the sport grow more. More courts mean more players,” he says.

He says for the sport to grow, one needs to have all courts full for the majority of the evenings and weekends.

“Costs per game are generally expensive, so you need middle- to high-income people who fit this category of players.

“However, at Namibia Padel, we use a credit system for all players, which, if used properly, leads to players essentially getting a 50% discount on all bookings.

“Players can speak to our pro shop staff to learn how to use our credit system effectively.”

Wahl says Namibia has a lot of talented sport people in general.

“The learning curve for Padel is steep, so you can break away from beginner level to intermediate quickly. However, the step-up to advanced levels require much more game time and coaching.

“Luckily Namibia Padel often hosts events and tournaments for all levels to ensure players get exposure and improve,” he says.

Namibia Padel offers private coaching for players to reach the next level, Wahl says.

“We also host a children’s academy for the future stars to be groomed.

“We’ve seen top players in other countries, even our neighbours in South Africa, but we still have a long way to go to be competitive globally.”

Wahl says padel can easily become a number-one sport.

“If more courts go up, more players invest in coaching training to be able to coach players to become better, and if we compete cross-border, the sport will grow.”

He says he believes once schools adopt padel as a sport to compete against each other, it would become even more popular.

“Namibia Padel is open to all schools to structure specific coaching and competitions for their school. First movers will have an advantage,” he says.

Wahl says all clubs in Windhoek and across the country regularly host tournaments and events.

“You can contact any club and ask how to participate, and they will tell you what events they have. Hosting competitions for all levels is a great way to draw in new players, and I’m unaware of any club not having an active tournament schedule.”

The post Padel serves up new social scene  appeared first on The Namibian.