Former Dutch squash champion and national coach Nicole Beumer swapped a strung racket for a padel bat during the pandemic, fell in love with the 20×10 and founded the hugely popular Expat Padel Club.
Based at the eight-court Plaza Padel Amsterdam, the Expat Padel Club now features hundreds of players and has the simple but perfect slogan, ‘Play padel, make new friends.’
Earlier this month, the club staged its first ever Padel Nations Cup. Expat teams representing Brazil, Argentina, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, India and the Rest of the World did battle for prizes supplied by sponsors Bullpadel, The Padel School and Welocate.
After a career in which she reached world no.18, represented the Netherlands for a decade and led the national team to a European Championship victory in 2010 during a four-year spell as national coach, Nicole admits she “found it very difficult to let go of squash” as her love of padel took hold. “It took two or three years to come to terms with not feeling like a traitor!” she laughs.
She took her padel coaching qualifications after the pandemic and started playing, coaching and organising events at Plaza Padel. “I didn’t think padel was anything spectacular when I first played it,” she admits. “But we were allowed to play outside during the lockdowns and I started to learn and enjoy it more.
“When everything started opening up, lots of padel clubs opened. I found I was playing with a lot of expats and I really enjoyed their company. There are so many ex-pats in Amsterdam it’s unbelievable – it’s so diverse. I’m half French half Dutch myself, have done a lot of travelling with squash and have worked in a multicultural setting for so long I feel at home there.”
She now organises social events, coaching sessions and competitions every three weeks for the different levels of expat players. The Nations Cup was the biggest event yet for club members. With a professional photographer, videographer, prizes and lots of social media activity, she says the players “felt like stars.”
The Expat Padel Club is the latest in Nicole’s list of entrepreneurial sporting innovations. For over 30 years she has run a company called Team Power, which runs team-building events for corporate clients using sport as a tool. Initially the sport was just squash, but it has since expanded to tennis, rowing, Paralympic basketball and, of course, padel.
A Team Power day with corporate clients typically has a theme, for example self-leadership. This theme is introduced through specific exercises on court, often with the help of a well-known sportsman or coach, and then an evening dinner will feature an expert speaker expanding on the same theme.
Nicole also dabbles in writing, making videos and travelling. As for what’s next? A lot more padel!
She says: “Physically squash became really demanding. I was always suffering with physical pains as it’s such a brutal sport. I’m so happy to have found another passion. Padel is less demanding cardio-wise, I’m learning new skills, I can play indoor and outdoor and make new friends. It’s something I can do for the next 10 years – at least!”
