AS padel grows exponentially within the UK so do the subsidiary industries thriving around it and for one such company 2022 has been an incredible year by any start-up standard.
Ola Padel and Tennis was founded by former ATP Tour tennis player Jack Carpenter and co-founder Georgina Barclay in August and has already taken clients on padel-inspired holidays to Portugal while their next trip to Barcelona is just two weeks away.
With trips already planned for Tenerife and Stockholm in 2023, Ola includes a strong cultural flavour in their jaunts while also making sure that clients benefit from the coaching of experts from Padel MBA, arguably the game’s foremost coaching company.
Now speaking with The Padel Paper, co-founder Carpenter has shared his belief that the social aspect of padel provides the perfect platform to enjoy a holiday when combined with pursuits like wine-tasting, sunset bike rides and sight-seeing.
Carpenter, who himself is a Padel MBA-qualified coach, explained: “Basically Ola Padel and Tennis started earlier this year in August when Georgie, me and a few others played in a padel tournament at the Roehampton Club and afterwards we were discussing going abroad and playing some padel with a few friends and we realised there wasn’t much opportunity to do that.
“So we spoke with a few of them about the opportunity to do this but didn’t really get the traction we hoped for but with Georgie and I both playing tennis we floated this idea to our tennis friends and we ended up taking a group of 12 to Portugal at The Campus Quinto do Lago.
“It was a real success and everyone enjoyed their padel and the opportunity to socialise and from there it has just snowballed really.
“Our objective is to get as many people playing padel as possible by bringing them together, taking them on a holiday and give them the opportunity to make new friends.
“We also do a bit of coaching on these trips and it is just such a sociable sport we try to get as many people as possible to interact on these trips but it is not just padel.
“But we also do corporate days and clinics and it has all happened in a nice way with a natural progression.
“Catherine Rose, the GB padel player who has now also qualified as Padel MBA coach, will also be joining us on these trips and I have no doubt she will greatly enhance our coaching delivery.”
There is also a corporate aspect to Ola’s opportunities as the 30-year-old added: “We move around depending on where the enquiries come from, we have held a tournament at Imber Court and the corporate days just vary in terms of location.
“On the corporate days it is a welcome tea and coffee, an hour and a half of training, some lunch, and a tournament in the afternoon with drinks afterwards.
“Going forward because of my connections in tennis we will also look to be adding a meet-and-greet with a name from tennis.”
Yet while the key to content on these trips is very much in the title of Ola Padel & Tennis it is the cultural aspect that adds an extra dimension to the Ola’s ventures to foreign fields as Carpenter explained: “Really we want to take groups to different places like Scandinavia and combine this with a trip around the fjords so there is a cultural aspect to this.
“Next year we are looking to go to Spain in February with a trip to Tenerife and Green Padel to get a bit of winter sun and allow people to enjoy a bit of padel and tennis and maybe even a bit of beach!
“I also have a few friends in Sweden and we are looking to go over there in April to a location just outside Stockholm.
“In June we are looking to do a trip to Tuscany just outside of Florence and we will play padel and then there is also a sunset e-bike ride and some wine-tasting and of course a padel tournament. The cultural aspect is something very important and perhaps unique to our trips.”
The next Ola Padel & Tennis outing is to Barcelona at the famous UP Club and includes some tasty extras as Carpenter revealed: “Normally we will take 12 people and arrange coaching for them and in that regard it is a help I am a qualified Padel MBA coach and we have partnered up with Padel MBA and Game4Padel to organise a trip from December 15 to 18 which is three days with coaching from Padel MBA-qualified coaches at the heart of it.
“There are also tickets to the World Padel Tour Masters included and a padel package for each client on the trip, which has a high-end Siux racket in there and we have seven people already signed up for that one which will be in Barcelona.
“We also look to also organise interaction with members of the host club through organising tournaments and normally we have a barbecue to really underline the social aspect.
“But in the Barcelona trip you will get three hours a day coaching over four days by Padel MBA coaches and two nights to the World Padel Tour Masters.
“That will be £749 and it will also include the starter pack and that is without flights and accommodation but with accommodation it is £949. At present we have two spaces left for Barcelona but they won’t last long!”
So if pursuing your padel obsession while being warmed by some pleasant winter sun sounds good meet the company who can make it happen.
If you are interested in signing up for an Ola Padel & Tennis Trip please email ola.padel.tennis@gmail.com
