Tag: long island sports

On the heels of the pickleball explosion, another sport that’s relatively new to the U.S. is being served to Long Islanders. 

Padel&, which plans to open in Syosset next month, is bringing the sport, described as a cross between tennis and squash, to Long Island after opening a location in Greenpoint, Brooklyn earlier this year. 

The fledgling chain is building a 15,000-square-foot padel club on the second floor of Long Island Sports Hub at 165 Eileen Way that’s slated to open on Saturday, Nov. 15. The facility will feature four padel courts, a sauna, cold plunge, lounge, pro shop and locker rooms. 

Padel& is the brainchild of two brothers from Sweden, Markus and Rikard Hellqvist, who founded Padel United in 2018. The company had about 50 padel clubs throughout Europe before it merged with another Swedish chain PDL Group in 2022, making it the world’s largest operators of padel facilities with 118 locations and dozens more in the pipeline. 

After the merger, the Hellqvist brothers turned their attention to the U.S. market, which has only had a smattering of padel clubs since the American Padel Association was formed 30 years ago. 

Padel originated in 1969 when a Mexican businessman built a court at his home in Acapulco. In the 1970s, padel spread to Spain and Argentina and in the 1990s the sport could be played in the U.K. and several other European countries. 

Padel& follows another growing chain called Padel Haus, founded by Mexican restaurateur Santiago Gomez. Padel Haus has three padel clubs in Brooklyn and others in Nashville, Atlanta and Denver. 

Padel is usually played by four people on an enclosed court with solid rackets and tennis balls on an astroturf surface. 

“As long as the ball bounces on the ground, it can hit the walls,” Olof Alper, the club manager for Padel&, told LIBN. “You can hit it on the ground to the other side, or you can hit it back onto the wall and ricochet it. That kind of adds another dimension, where you don’t have to only worry about the balls coming from in front of you, but also in back of you after the ball is hit.” 

Padel& will offer private classes, clinics, leagues and tournaments. The Syosset club will also have membership options, but Alper says you won’t have to be a member to play. 

The chain is focusing its expansion on the New York metropolitan area. Alper said Padel& chose Syosset because “it’s a racquet sports-based community which they thought would be a good proof-of-concept” to see if it will work. 

“It felt like a good fit, especially with how much tennis and sports in general were appreciated out there,” Alper said. 

For now, the business is not thinking about franchising the concept. 

“The idea is to focus on the tri-state area, Long Island, and then expand within the Northeast,” Alper said. “But we’re just taking it one location at a time.”