GAME4PADEL National Development Manager James Rose has acclaimed the launch of our new Oliva Nova Beach & Golf Resort facility as a “great start to a really exciting project.”
Oliva Nova is situated on the Mediterranean coast between Valencia (Gandia) and Alicante (Denia) and basks in the Spanish sun while being cradled by sea and mountains.
Our state-of-the-art seven Mondo Super Court centre was opened last weekend by Oliva Nova Resort Director General Luis Borho and Mayoress Yolanda Balaguer plus other local dignitaries, in an on-court ribbon-cutting ceremony in the presence of half of the Game4Padel team and Padel MBA coaching legend Manu Martin.
Assessing just what this ground-breaking development will mean for Game4Padel and our members James shared: “Considering the time frame we had with the Easter weekend I am really happy with how the opening went. We were delighted with how everyone came together to make it happen, how it looked and worked and also we were blessed with some great weather. Really it was a great start to a really exciting project.
“Similar to how we work in the UK, we will work in partnership with Oliva Nova in supplying padel expertise but also enabling them to offer a great product to their guests and to the local community and last weekend demonstrated just how strong our partnership with Oliva Nova is.
“They have top equestrian events at the resort and had over 1000 horses there recently for a massive Grand Prix and they know what they are doing commercially in terms of promoting events. So, for Game4Padel it will be about us managing the courts, installing the coaching programme, and making sure it is multi-faceted.
“We will have a lot of groups coming for padel holidays and clinics, guests staying at the resorts in July and August will use the courts and outside of these months we will have football teams using it as part of their training and we will host corporate events and tournaments and clinics in conjunction with Padel MBA.”
James added: “This will really complement what we are doing in the UK as we’ve always wanted a holiday padel destination in Spain. And if you are a Game4Padel member in the UK you will also enjoy your discount benefits on the courts at Oliva Nova.
“We now also have the ability to host tournaments of all levels for people of all nationalities and also the big local playing contingent and I think that will make for a lovely blend.
“In this respect on our website we will have a specific section for padel holidays with Oliva Nova and also on the coaching section in terms of what we are doing with Padel MBA there, so it is very much a case of watch this space on social media and our web pages.”
James was keen to provide a flavour of what was a truly memorable launch weekend for Game4Padel at Oliva Nova Beach & Golf Resort: “On Thursday we had a soft launch before the launch weekend proper and this included key resort staff and employees of Oliva Nova who were invited for an Americano (tournament) in the evening and we put the show and the music on and had a fun time with everyone mixing in over a couple of hours.
“It also provided the perfect opportunity to showcase what Game4Padel is all about. Also with Michael Gradon, Peter Gordon, and Ali Gordon all there to help it showed just what the essence of padel is and how we work and it was a great atmosphere.
“As always people were nervous at the start and it was a case of: ‘I don’t know what I’m doing, I can’t play!’ and two rounds of play later they were all laughing and chatting and we couldn’t get them off the court at the end – which is a nice problem!”
Friday sprang to life with a 9am to 1pm welcome session at which there was an enthusiastic response from local residents with a 1pm exhibition match also going down very well before the afternoon welcome session got underway.
In the evening attendees were treated to a Padel MBA master class run by the great Manu Martin and his team followed by an evening exhibition match before a barbecue on the superb padel terrace rounded off a glorious day.
Saturday saw the official opening and James recalled: “We had staff from the Town Hall and Yolanda Navarro the Sports Tourism leader down to open the courts with Manu Martin, Michael Gradon, Peter Gordon and myself, Luis (GM Oliva Nova) and Mayoress Yolanda Balaguer on the Saturday evening cutting the ribbon and then the courts were open!
“I must also mention that Manu Martin gave a really nice endorsement of the venue and that was lovely and hugely appreciated.
“There were also a lot of families there and kids playing, some unbelievable players plus others who have never played before – but they all came together and it was just a really lovely weekend.”
Projecting forward James revealed that it is full speed ahead for Game4Padel at Oliva Nova and he said: “The courts opened for general play on Monday morning with our first bookings which is exciting and now we will start to build a programme for the big Spanish holiday weekend (San Isidro) in May and of course there will be lots more clinics as things unfold.
“Then we start receiving groups here for padel weekends and clinics, and it will be very busy with all the clients who reside in the resort in July, August with a lot of big padel fans coming from Madrid.
“September to the end of the year there will be more Padel MBA Clinics, CPC (coach training) courses, corporates and padel players from the UK for padel holidays. In fact, the hotel has already received a big booking for more than 50 players for September so the word is out there!
“The padel plaza is at the heart of the resort. When you are playing on the padel court you can see people teeing off on the first and finishing off on the 18th. Padel changing facilities are linked to the club house and the padel shop.
“With a superb restaurant and beautiful views Oliva Nova is just a special place and everyone at Game4Padel is just really excited about the future of our partnership with the resort.”
Comments