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17
Feb
What makes Harrogate a padel hotspot?
It’s a national obsession in Spain and is one of the world’s fastest growing racket sports. Sporting icons including Rafael Nadal and David Beckham are hooked on it, while Andy Murray and Virgil Van Dijk have invested in it.
And now the UK seems to have joined the padel craze. While not quite at Spain’s level of six million players, the UK saw an estimated 90,000 people playing padel during 2023 — a massive 1,400 per cent rise from just 6,000 in 2020.
The Lawn Tennis Association reported in December that 2023 had been a record year for the growth of padel courts in Great Britain, with around 130 new courts built, almost double the 2022 figure of 70. It estimates that there are now more than 350 padel courts spread across 135 venues, a growth of 600 per cent since 2019. Forecasters are even predicting that padel will be an Olympic sport by 2032.
Padel in Harrogate: 'There's the demand for it'
In Harrogate, the sport has been thoroughly embraced. A glance at the LTA website's map of courts in the UK shows a definite cluster in the town. There are now 11 padel courts, with the most recent opening just last month at David Lloyd. The only other courts in the wider area are one in Ripon, one in Chapel Allerton, four in Wetherby and one in Ilkley.
James Gaston, manager of Harrogate Sports and Fitness Club, spotted padel’s potential well before its ascent in the UK. He opened an outdoor court at the club in May 2019, followed by an indoor one at the beginning of the pandemic. He said:
Harrogate’s a bit of a padel mecca. We’ve had people come from as far as Hull and Liverpool, although not so much now because more courts are popping up everywhere.
We were ahead of the curve; we started it in Harrogate. I thought it would be good for the club, it complements us well because we have squash and racquetball. It’s also really social because the court is small, so we have lots of friends and families playing together. What has surprised me is the number of people who have started playing padel and have never played a racket sport in their lives.
The club’s padel facilities are now so popular that membership reached capacity and had to be closed two months ago. A planning application has recently been submitted for two more covered padel tennis courts, as well as 92 additional parking spaces.
James said an uncovered court costs about £50,000 to build, while a covered one is more than double that price. He added:
Our new project is a total cost of £400,000 so it’s quite a commitment but we think there’s the demand for it. It’s not only the courts but also the access, groundworks and a new reinforced grassed area. We’ve decided to leave the uncovered court as it is because people love it in the summer.
Great facilities and supportive community
Invented in Mexico in the 1960s, padel is a combination of squash and tennis and is played inside a covered or uncovered glass-walled court. Its universal appeal is due in large part to the ease with which new players can learn it and quickly get into a decent game – the underarm serve helps. It can be adapted according to players’ fitness and has different levels of complexity to keep proficient players interested.
Surge Padel in Harrogate
Surge Padel has the largest number of courts in Harrogate, at six. Fully affiliated with the LTA, the centre hosts regular national tournaments which attract top players from across the country. The last tournament brought together over 150 players including the UK number one and two.
Business development manager Jason Cullen said the centre has been "very successful" since launching just over two years ago. Membership has grown from around 1,400 people to 5,500, with players travelling up to an hour to get there. He attributed padel's popularity in the town to a combination of Harrogate's accessibility, great facilities and supportive community of players. Surge has since made further investment in an eight-court centre in Bristol, which opened early last year, while 12 courts will launch in north Leeds this spring.
Jason said:
The demand is there. The courts in Harrogate are fully booked at weekends and there are often only the 6am time slots left during the week. We run junior classes that are very popular, and our app is widely used, allowing people to find someone to play with at any time. We also have a team of top-quality coaches available to help players work on all aspects of the game.
A gamble that's worked
Over at Harrogate Spa Tennis Club, members are loving the two new covered padel courts unveiled in May last year. The courts were developed after plans for new indoor tennis facilities had to be put on hold due to the rising cost of steel during the covid pandemic.
Players at Harrogate Spa Tennis Club.
Centre manager Yaz Torry said the courts had been really busy since opening, with a mix of players of all ages and new junior coaching sessions proving popular.
She agreed with James that Harrogate is a ‘padel hotspot’, with customers travelling from as far afield as Castleford to play at the club. She said some of their tennis members had also become padel players, while some people who came initially for padel had started playing tennis. She said:
They are similar sports but I’d say padel is a bit easier. You can pick it up quickly; the rules are easy and it’s fun. Introducing padel was a bit of a gamble but it’s worked really well for us. It seems to be the money-maker at the moment. The number of compliments we have got for our courts has been amazing.
Nevertheless, Yaz said the club’s ambitions to develop their tennis facilities were still very much alive:
We are a tennis club and the plans are still there for the tennis to expand. Tennis is still hugely popular in the UK and the season is approaching with events such as Wimbledon.
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