ZEPHYRHILLS, Fla. — One of the fastest-growing sports in the world is gaining momentum in the United States and is even finding home in the Tampa Bay area.
The Pro Padel League (PPL) kicked off their first season this weekend.
What You Need To Know
- Padel originated in Mexico and is a hybrid of tennis, racquetball and squash.
- The world’s best padel players will be competing in matches over the next month at the Sarah Vande Berg Tennis & Wellness Center in Zephyrhills.
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- There are more than 25 million padel players worldwide and the number of courts in the U.S. is expected to double this year, according to the Pro Padel League.
The world’s best padel players will compete in weekend matches over the next month at the Sarah Vande Berg Tennis & Wellness Center in Zephyrhills.
An event of this scale happening in Pasco County is expected to bring a big impact to the area.
“It’s huge,” said Pascal Collard, CEO of the SVB Tennis & Wellness Center. “You see all those people here — 120 players plus the owners, plus the families are staying, they’re living here for the next five weeks. I mean, imagine how many hotel rooms and so on that are rented and they live, they go eat in the restaurants around here. It’s huge as an economic impact.”
Padel originated in Mexico and is quickly growing in popularity. The racket sport can be thought of as a hybrid between tennis, squash and racquetball. There are more than 25 million players around the world and the number of courts in the U.S. is expected to double this year, according to the Pro Padel League.
“What we are putting together in here is impacting thousands of millions of people worldwide because the sport of padel is taking the world by storm and now we are making that happen in the US,” said Marcos Del Pilar, co-founder and commissioner of the Pro Padel League. “The main legacy of the pro padel league is that we want to grow the sport and create a new ecosystem for the sport to be watched and played.”
Astrid Gehre, a padel player, is orginally from Paraguay but has been living in Texas for the last 10 years. She first got into the sport during the pandemic, while living in Paraguay.
“The only two sports that you could really play were sports with a max of four people so it was either tennis or padel,” Gehre said. “I have been playing tennis my whole life, I wanted to try something new so that’s how I got into it.”
Gehre said she hasn’t looked back and enjoys the social aspect of the sport.
“We get to meet other people,” she said. “There are so many international and high-level players that are already retired and so it’s exciting to meet people from all over the world and play with them.”
The league said their first season is just the beginning and they eventually hope to surpass the popularity of pickelball. The Pro Padel League’s first season will end with a championship the weekend of June 10. Until then, there will be matches every weekend and general admission is free. Click here to learn more.
