What if a padel club measured its success not on court occupancy, but by its social impact? That’s the philosophy of Social Sports Society – and their ambitions in the UK padel market are big.
Founded by Swedish entrepreneur Jesper Konstantinov, Social Sports Society opened its first venue, a three-court facility in the shadow of the Wembley Stadium arch, in May. Since then, it has secured planning permission for a huge 200,000 sq ft site in Brent Cross, north-west London; a three-court venue in Stockport, Greater Manchester; a 10-court indoor club in Derby city centre and 10 courts in Manchester’s Victoria North regeneration area.
This is a big year for Social Sports Society, who hope to have 23 courts built and operational by Christmas 2024 across four venues. They’re not the only UK padel operators expanding rapidly, of course, but the their modus operandi is a little different.
When Konstantinov started playing padel in his native Sweden four years ago, he was intrigued by “how people from all different demographics interacted in a social setting – kids from an estate, stay-at-home mums, builders, welders and the CEO of Volvo. It was a melting pot of Swedish society.”
He observed how all their interactions on social media were about meeting up to play padel and be healthy. “There was no bickering or aggro,” he says. “I understood what drove the Swedish padel market – but that market was almost saturated, so I looked abroad.”
With padel in its conception stage in the UK, Konstantinov saw the opportunity to help shape it into the inclusive sport is it has the potential to be; a sport with zero (or at least very low) barriers to entry, a driver of positive health and wellbeing, and a community hub. “If we do it the right way, it has the potential to change lives in a way that all sports should,” he states.
“If football was invented today, no-one would say that the majority of the revenue should go only to the biggest clubs, with a few players paid millions and the grassroots only given breadcrumbs,” he reasons. “My vision is to help shape the padel market into the sport we would all like sports to be.”
Thus, Social Sports Society have a Head of Social Impact and Sustainability, Sally McGuckin, who has so far helped the Wembley Park venue link up with local schools and charities, offering free court time to refugees, local workers and other community groups. They’ve also partnered with Coach Core and have taken on an apprentice coach at Wembley who is a local role model to young players. McGuckin is introducing social impact measuring tools to record metrics for success.
Future clubs will be developed in collaboration with ‘enablers’ (influential figures in the local community). “It’s all about the community and giving back to the people,” says Rachel Tan, Director of Growth and Development, whose background is in architecture and social housing. “Our ethos isn’t to shoehorn something into a community – it needs to fit their needs. In order to do that, we need to get to know them.”
Padel will be offered alongside whatever sports and activities will meet local demand – cricket, football, climbing, skateboarding, kabaddi, yoga and more. Clubs will also feature work by local artists.
Several of Social Sports Society’s upcoming sites, such as Victoria North in Manchester, are on so-called ‘meanwhile use’ sites (under-utilised or vacant spaces). This is a prospect that Konstantinov and Tan find particularly exciting. “We can help shape a whole new community and launch other sports facilities within that development as it grows,” says Tan.
Their first public crowdfunding round launched this month and its founder has boundless confidence in future success. “Our projections are that we will be the biggest padel operator in the UK within a few months,” said Konstantinov.
