Ultra Padel in Miami will soon be expanding from its current nine-court set-up into an astounding 29 padel courts, making it one of the largest padel clubs in the world.
The man behind the bold expansion project is Julian Wortelboer. With the possible exception of Marcos del Pilar, no-one else in the U.S. padel world wears more hats than Wortelboer. He’s an accomplished player and master coach, the President and CEO of the Padel Coaches Association, founder of Padel Smash Academy, an investor in — and advisor to — Park Padel, he does padel racket reviews, leads padel tours around the world, and even co-hosts a padel podcast. And, most pertinently, he is now Chief Padel Officer of Ultra Padel in Miami.
Ultra Padel is already highly impressive, boasting five outdoor, three indoor and one singles court. But by this summer, that number will rise to 29. This will include an additional 12 outdoor courts, which could be ready as soon as April, and an additional eight indoor courts (including the first-ever “kids’ court” in the U.S.), which are slated to open in June.
Much more than just the world’s largest padel club
Julian’s excitement — and pride — about the project is obvious, and he makes it clear that Ultra Miami won’t just be the biggest padel club in the world, it will also be among the most impressive and unique across the board.
For starters, Julian explains that the investment group who owns Ultra (after purchasing from another investment group in November 2022) is French, and he tells me, “They obviously love Roland Garros. So we are going to make all the courts a dark brick red colour, which is going to be super, super cool. There is no other club around the world with that colour of turf.”
Technology will also play a big role at Ultra. Julian says: “All the courts are going to have AI and cameras, and there will be little gazebos next to each court. The AI cameras will pick up the best plays of your match, so that while you’re taking a break in the gazebo, you’ll be seeing the highlights of your best points, similar to watching highlights of the World Padel Tour on YouTube.”
(I ask Julian if, like me, you’re not a good enough player to have any highlights can the AI cameras invent them for you? He gives me his signature warm laugh and says, “Yes, maybe, we’ll see…”).
Perhaps not surprisingly, Ultra’s off-court offerings will be every bit as plush. Julian says: “By October 31st, if everything goes well, we’ll be opening the rest of the indoor facility, where we’re going to have a five-star restaurant and a wellness component with a spa and gym. The gym will have a cold bath, cryogenics systems, Pilates and yoga classes with both hot and regular yoga.
“It’s going to be a full-on operational padel club with all the extra amenities included,” he proudly states.
Plenty of challenges, but the sky is the limit
While Julian’s enthusiasm is abundant, he also admits: “It’s going to be an interesting challenge for us to be able to get the ball rolling. Right now the days are very long. But we’re already talking to Red Padel, the National Padel League (NPL), and the USPA to do a zillion tournaments. So we’re going to have events pretty much every week.”
He’s also quick to point out all the advantages that come with operating such a large facility, saying: “If you want to run a big, crowded tournament — let’s say 120 players — but you have only five or six courts, you’re really limited to what you can do. You just don’t have the amount of real estate to run those kind of tournaments. But here with 17 courts just outdoors, the sky is the limit. We can run tournaments for 400 players at a time.”
When I ask him if Ultra plans to host any Premier Padel, AI, or PPL events, he tells me that there will definitely be an A1 tournament later this year and that he should be able to share some exciting news about the upcoming 2024 PPL season very soon — and given that the PPL itself has said its first two events (slated for April 1-6 and April 8-13) will be held in Florida, I have a pretty good guess as to what that news will be.
“There is no better place anywhere to run a professional tournament than Ultra,” Julian concludes.
A true padel mecca
Although Julian knows his role as Chief Padel Officer will be crucial to Ultra’s long-term success, he’s quick to also point out the importance of building the right team and fostering a close-knit community that pulls in players of all backgrounds, ages and ability levels.
He tells me: “We’re building a top-notch team. I’m getting calls daily from people around the world who want to come work here, and we’re hiring the best padel players in the U.S. to come work and train here. I’m also talking to some of the top professional players. I want them to train here every single day, because this is going to be the place.
“We’re also having the first junior padel academy in the U.S. Right now we have zero, we have none — which is just incredible,” he adds.
He then points out that Ultra will be both the world’s largest indoor and outdoor padel club. “Any way you look at it, we’re going to be a behemoth. We’re going to be huge,” he says and then asks me, “It’s going to be the, what would you call it, padel central of the world?”
When I offer up “padel mecca” he responds, “Yes! A padel mecca, pretty much.”
Julian is always incredibly generous with his time, but I also know how busy he is, so I ask him if he has any final points he wants the padel community to know? I can sense he is beaming on the other end of the phone as he wraps up our chat with:
“We are going to be the biggest club in the world, literally. It’s going to be a padel mecca, like you said. People from all over the world are going to come here to play padel. We are going to be living the padel life, the padel dream. That’s our vision. And we’re super, super excited. So come to Miami and check out the new Ultra Padel club!”
You can visit Ultra Padel in Miami daily between 7am and 11pm at 6301 NE 4th Ave, Miami, FL 33138. For further information, please call them at (786) 765-4599 or visit their site.
This article first appeared on our US sister title The Padel State.
