2022 has been a year of seismic growth for Game4Padel with new facilities opening at Ipswich Sports Club, Heron TC in Cornwall, Broxbourne Sports Club in Hertfordshire, and Edinburgh Park.
While we have also reinforced our exclusive relationship with global leading padel coaching platform Padel MBA by holding a coaching course at Huddersfield LTC which has seen several of our top instructors complete Padel MBA’S highly respected CPC (Certified Padel Coach) course.
With so much going on in so many of our facilities across the UK we thought that the end of year would be the perfect time to share the journey of one of our partner venues and underline just how committed we are to building relationships that stand the test of time.
While also highlighting how helping build a real community feel at our partner clubs will also ensure that they get the absolute best out of their courts and coaching staff.
At Broxbourne Sports Club, which is situated in the picturesque Lee Valley in Hertfordshire and is flanked by the Lea River, two of our padel courts were opened in July at the height of the sizzling summer of ’22 that was.
As the club’s Head of Business Development, Sarah Elliott recalled it was the first step in a partnership that has gone from strength to strength: “The courts opened in the middle of July, and we had an amazing launch weekend with the guys from Game4Padel working incredibly hard and offering free sessions all day on the Saturday and the Sunday.
“It was incredibly well received and then it moved on from there. Game4Padel gave us two weeks where people could book a court for free and have a trial after that and it worked really well.
“Really that was like a soft launch and then we operated normally from the beginning of August, so certainly in the summer months the courts were fully booked up especially evenings and weekends.
“As we don’t have canopy roofs on our courts and the weather has deteriorated with the onset of winter that has dictated how busy we are but at 9.30 pm on Tuesday night there were still people playing!”
Supporting every club or sports facility we work with along the road is right at the heart of Game4Padel’s core values and this has not been lost on Sarah: “When you ask for help from Game4Padel they do everything they can to give it while they are also really nice people. Really our relationship with them is a partnership,” reflected Sarah.
She continued: “As a club we wanted to create a padel section that is a club in its own right within the club just like our tennis and squash clubs are. It is important to us that people mix socially and ultimately go to play against other clubs and that is why we have put a lot of volunteer effort into it.
“There have been various areas where we have needed a lot of support from Game4Padel, and I have to say we have also put a lot of work into it from our side, as you can’t just stick a couple of courts down and it all happens automatically!
“It did take quite a bit of effort on our part to help get people's heads around how to use the IT to book a court and use the system but that has improved as people have gotten familiar with it. It was stressful initially, but we have had a lot of support in this respect from Vincent Hivert (Game4Padel Growth & Participation Director) who has been excellent and really patient.
“We also have had a few meetings with James Rose (Game4Padel National Development Manager) who has also been very supportive and Game4Padel always try and do their best for us of that there is no question.”
Broxbourne have also benefitted from the services of Game4Padel’s experienced coach Jack Hazelwood who is playing a key part in growing the business and creating that club community feel valued both by us and Broxbourne Sports Club.
As Sarah revealed: “Jack Hazelwood is a Game4Padel coach and he has been coming on Fridays throughout the Autumn and these sessions have gone very well and Jack is just very good with people of all standards, he has become very popular.
“Jack has done a mix of private lessons, group sessions and coach led match play, and this has gone down very well.
“We are a community Amateur Sports Club on a beautiful site in the Lee Valley with 10 tennis courts of which three are real grass, cricket and hockey pitches, squash courts and a clubhouse with a beer garden and it is very scenic.
“The padel has been built on an old hardcourt tennis court and part of our parking area and aesthetically it looks really good which is important, and we are delighted with how things have progressed to this stage.”
However, when it came to breakdown of the club’s membership Sarah had a surprise in store: “I thought that because we have hundreds of tennis and squash members that the vast majority of our padel players would come from them and although a good number of them have, most of the people playing are completely new to the club!” she revealed.
The Broxbourne Sports Club Head of Business Development continued: “That said there is also a wide range of people who have tried racket sports before to people who are exceptionally good tennis players who have come from other clubs and really want to get into padel.
“Also, we have a lot of ex-pats from other countries like the Spanish and Argentinians and they are excellent and now people travel from all around the County to play padel at Broxbourne.
“Right now, we have 130 members and around 370 people who have registered and are booking courts to play and we will do more to drive the membership in the Spring and attract as wide a range of people as possible.
“We also have ex-cricketers who have taken to padel as a way of getting exercise when they would not have tried the other racket sports while our squash and tennis players continue to play their favourite sports.
“Really there has been no adverse impact on the existing sections within the club, padel has only enhanced what we offer at Broxbourne.”