Former professional squash player Scott Fitzgerald is pioneering a unique padel offer for clubs which combines the expertise of Dunlop and Italian court manufacturer Favaretti Padel.
Welshman Fitzgerald is a former world No.80 on squash’s PSA World Tour, who later coached in the UK and USA. He has spent the last seven years as resident coach at Centro Sportivo Plebiscito in Padova, north east Italy.
The club started with two padel courts a few years ago and now has eight. As playing numbers have exploded in the last couple of years (thanks in part due to padel being permitted during the pandemic) and squash has stagnated (again, partly due to Covid-19), Scott has found his attention increasingly drawn to the 20 x 10, rather than 9.75 x 6.4 of the squash court.
Having been sponsored by Dunlop during his squash playing career, he then combined coaching with being an agent selling Dunlop equipment around the squash clubs of Italy.
Recently, he was approached by Favaretti Padel, a family-run padel court and canopy manufacturing and installation company, to head up international sales. The role tapped into his knowledge and personal relationships at rackets clubs across Europe. He soon had a brainwave that would leverage his 24-year relationship with Dunlop and benefit all parties.
“It’s not quite as easy as it used to be for rackets clubs to set up accounts with manufacturers of rackets, ball and equipment,” Scott explains to The Padel Paper. “Sometimes you have to pay 100% up front and there are extra costs involved since the pandemic.
“My idea was to collaborate with a provider like Dunlop, so new padel courts and padel equipment would be part of the same package.
“It’s a win for the club, as they get a high-quality court from a premium provider and an equipment package as part of the cost. It’s a win for Dunlop because they get new accounts and a win for Favaretti because we can align ourselves with a huge manufacturer like Dunlop and get more courts in the ground at clubs around Europe.”
The result is the ‘Favaretti powered by Dunlop’ court with exclusive colour and branding. For every one of the courts sold, the club gets 4000 euro worth of Dunlop equipment to kickstart padel activity.
The partnership with Dunlop is part of Favaretti’s international expansion which began in January. As we speak, they are almost finished installing three panoramic courts with canopies at Game4Padel’s new project at Golf It! in Glasgow and they are also installing courts at the exclusive Shell Bay residential and golf resort in South Florida.
“Squash will always be my first love, but padel is now dwarfing squash at my club here in Padova,” says 42-year-old Scott. “Squash is stagnant and, if anything, declining, but padel is going berserk. The growth has gone through the roof.
“Padel really exploded during Covid when squash was not allowed due to the restrictions, so players shifted across to the padel court during that period to get that competitive feeling and even play in tournaments. Many have never come back to the squash courts. Padel is something new, fresh and exciting.”
That trend is being replicated in many other nations and Scott – who played league squash for clubs across Europe – was brought in by Favaretti to help grow its business beyond Italy and into new territories.
“We’re receiving four, fix or six quotes requests every day from rackets clubs – and not just for a couple of courts, but four, six or eight, or to add covers on existing courts. A lot of clubs now realise the potential and see padel as a legitimate business.
“We take care of ordering, delivery and installation for courts and covers. It means clubs don’t have to deal with two or more different businesses at once. It’s something that gives us a big advantage and we’re really excited about.”
