Gloucester and Scotland fly-half Adam Hastings is one of eight rugby stars investing in UK padel club operator Smash Padel.
The eight Scottish players are among 15 new investors who have collectively committed £500,000 to fund three new sites opening in early 2024 and an anticipated four more later next year. These venues will add to Smash Padel’s initial club in Bicester, which opened earlier this year. The company previously raised £1.8m.
Adam, son of legendary Scotland captain Gavin Hastings, commented: “As rugby players the game of padel makes sense to us. Rugby gets a little trickier as you progress but it is easy to pick up and it doesn’t take much to get you hooked. So we can see parallels with padel and we identify with any social game that has its foundation in friendships for life.”
Along with Adam, the other Scotland Rugby investors are Adam Ashe, Richie Gray, Hugh Jones, Peter Horne, George Horne, Blair Kinghorn and James Lang.
Smash Padel stands out in the UK market for its thriving junior programme. As reported by The Padel Paper, two of its junior players recently earned an Adidas sponsorship deal after winning an Under 16 trophy in Bristol.
Paolo Toffollo, CEO, explained. “We see juniors as the cornerstone of community and our junior Smashers programme is illustrative of our desire to drive participation across the age spectrum.”
Carson Russell, COO of Smash Padel (and former CEO of London Scottish Rugby Club) added: “Whilst Smash Padel’s CEO still plays rugby at 55, most of us now get our sporting kicks elsewhere. We believe that padel offers a comparable thrill and can be enjoyed across a far wider spectrum of age and physicality.”
