Ever heard of padel? New BGC sports club hopes to make it big in the PH

Meet the hot new sport called padel
Nov 27, 2022
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PHOTO: Manila Padel Club, IG

THINK OF it like tennis, but with walls. And if you've never heard of the sport before, the founders of the Manila Padel Club would definitely like to change your mind.

Within the lockdown of the past two years, athletic couple Alenna Dawn and Fredrik Lonnqvist built a 360-degree sports club in the heart of Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, aiming to introduce the fastest-growing sport in Europe and Latin America to the Philippines.

With over 2,000 square meters, the location at 9th avenue, corner Lane R (near Uptown BGC) holds five padel courts, an outdoor gym, and a restaurant-café.

“We wanted to build a club that’s open to all, no alienation, anybody can come and try, we’ll introduce them to padel, do run-throughs of the rules, socialize with the community, and let them get addicted to it,” Dawn told Spin.ph.

It has exclusive club memberships and also accepts walk-ins to try out and play. All first-timers are given a free all-access opportunity.

Like tennis, but with walls

Developed in the 1960s in Mexico, padel is a sport that came about when a tennis player met a squash court. Then it grew massively in Spain, where tennis is big, and eventually spread all over Europe. Now, there are over 30 million players worldwide.

The sport is very much similar to tennis. It even uses the same ball.

In the walled court, players can return balls off the wall.

It also uses a net, which is much shorter in height compared to a standard tennis net. Padel only has 88-cm net, because only underhand serves are allowed.

Mechanics are basically the same: race to 6, with a 15-30-40 ladder per game. Hence, it is played in doubles only.

According to Dawn and Lonnqvist, fifty percent of their current club members are tennis players. This includes Philippine tennis legend Felix Barrientos and his sister Pao.

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“I love padel! Being a former professional tennis player, getting into padel has been such an exciting new challenge where I can bring in my skills, experience and the desire to progress in a sport related to my first love — tennis,” Pao said of Manila Padel Club.

Introducing padel in the Philippines

Due to the travel restrictions, Lonnqvist, a Swedish national was locked down in Spain and Sweden, which led him to discover, and then fall in love with the sport.

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Lonnqvist then called Dawn to introduce the idea of popularizing padel in the Philippines. She was shocked at first, but eventually bought into the plan and started brainstorming.

The couple took a year to plan and fine-tune the idea, before getting to work in June 2021. The Manila Padel Club was finished December 2021.

But it was only in late 2022 where they officially opened to the public.

What can you find in Manila Padel Club?

Apart from padel, they also conduct different activities like spinning classes, outdoor yoga, pound rock out workout, and more.

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Padel, though, is the centerpiece. From the time they started operations, Alenna and Fred had seen people from all ages get started on the sport.

“The youngest players we had here is 3 to 5 years old, and the oldest is 93,” Lonnqvist shared.

The courts and gym are open 24/7. Their café also serves breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a rooftop bar at night. Food ranges from pre-workout meals or drinks to full meals.

Padel-only membership is P24,000 for the entire year. The gym-only tier also goes for the same price. Get both for only P40,000.

Walk-in and occasional visit fees and rentals can also be found on their website.

Only the beginning

Benchmarking a padel milestone in the country, the couple has been in touch with organizations like Philippine Olympic Committee and Philippine Sports Commission to spread the sport's gospel.

For now, Bonifacio Global City is the perfect place to start.

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“BGC is a perfect area to introduce it. There are young professionals in the area, but we’re looking into expanding to two more locations moving forward.” Lonnqvist said.


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PHOTO: Manila Padel Club, IG
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