AFC Bala in Bala Cynwyd has opened the first public, indoor padel courts in the Philadelphia region, giving gym-goers a chance to try the popular international sport that has been slowly making its way to the U.S. John George served up the particulars for the Philadelphia Business Journal.
Padel is a racket sport played on a court that is smaller than the areas traditionally used for tennis. Scoring and play are generally like its more famous counterpart; however, when played indoors, the walls are fair game and matches can mimic the action of squash.
Like pickleball, the rackets (in padel, they’re bats), are not stringed.
The three newly opened courts are part of the gym’s Sports Complex. Currently, there are just around 120 padel courts nationwide, but there are more than 30,000 across the world.
The sport was invented in Mexico in 1969 and is played in close to 60 countries.
“This sport is going to blow up in the United States,” said AFC Bala CEO Matt Littman. “But nobody is going to have a cooler place to play than this.”
The padel courts had a soft opening in January and an official grand opening event on April 1. Since its January opening, around 300 people have already used the courts to play the new game, and 80 have become members.
Read more about padel in the Philadelphia Business Journal.
