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Padel Smash TV is the media arm of Padel Smash - a platform dedicated to the people, stories, and innovation driving the growth of Padel worldwide.
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We had no clue what the,
what the market was.
I mean, we knew there were players,
we plays, French people played, but we
really had no idea what the market was.
And the idea was, okay, we'll
build a club and whatever hours
we don't play, we rent it out.
And hopefully it plays for the expenses.
Yeah.
What if it doesn't work?
It's fine.
We got, we gotta, we
gotta, we gotta power it.
We gotta cut.
Hey everyone, welcome to another
exciting episode of Panels Smash Academy.
We're here in a beautiful, unbelievable.
Incredible island in the
Caribbean, in Saint Martin.
And we're visiting the SXM Paddle
Club, the first paddle club in the,
in the, uh, Caribbean, would you say?
Yeah.
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
And here we are with Ricardo
Perez, co-founder, co-owner,
co visionary, and the masterful
brains behind this beautiful club.
Ricardo, welcome to the channel.
Why don't you tell us a little bit.
Ricardo Perez and Chu came up
with this crazy idea to put a
paddle club in the Caribbean.
Well, first of all, you know, we're
very happy to have you guys here.
I mean, we are big fans of you
guys on all your, or your social
media and all your channels.
So it's really an honor to
have you guys, uh, here.
Uh, honestly, this started as a hobby.
Uh, we started, um, we used to play at
the only court that was on the island.
It was hard to get, you
know, a, a time there.
It was not necessarily the best facility.
So there was a court somewhere
here, one court, one public court,
the private public, the French side
public court on the French side.
And it was not really structure.
And one day we said, you know what?
Why don't we build our own club?
And the idea was, but who's that?
That might you, your friends or people?
Your partners.
My friend.
Um, it's, uh, Argentinian, also
one of the best architects here
on the islands name is, uh.
Ignacio Rey, and he said, oh
yeah, let's, uh, let's build,
uh, you know, let's build a club.
I have only played like
twice at that point.
Always played tennis and, and they
said, okay, well let's build a club.
I said, oh yeah, great idea.
He just said it because
he said it like that.
Yeah.
To other people.
And you know, the next day, you know, the
next 24 hours, I'm trying to reach him.
I cannot reach him.
I call his wife.
He goes, where is your husband?
You know, she goes, okay, we'll call him.
And I said, okay, I know
everything about Paddle.
I have the location, let's do it.
And he goes, ah, I have a problem.
I hadn't mentioned to this other
guy that I also wanted to a club and
let's meet with him because now I
feel, you know, challenged, obligated.
Oh.
So anyway, that's how Patrick,
our third partner, comes into
the, comes into the picture.
That's right.
You know Patrick, it's uh, French.
He lived in Panama,
played paddle in Panama.
Many years.
So it's you, Patrick, and Alex, right?
I know, uh, me, Patrick, and, uh, nacho.
And Nacho.
Nacho, okay.
Yeah.
So what do you guys contribute
on each of your puzzle?
Also, I, you know, besides the looks
join the club like me theater.
Yeah.
I'm like, besides the talent, you
know, I, uh, I, I, I'm really the
business aspect of person, you know?
Okay.
Operations Management, finance.
Yep.
And, uh, and marketing.
And marketing.
You're expert.
Yeah.
Sales.
Very important.
And sales.
And uh, and Nacho is, uh, the, uh,
player and the, and the architect side.
And Patrick also, you know, big
players and also on the construction.
And so who does operations?
The operations.
I, I the operations.
Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah.
And now with the new expansion,
we'll talk about that.
We actually hire a professional
general manager that's gonna manage.
Both Operations Forest now,
did this island be, you
know, know much about battle?
I know you guys had one private club.
Was there enough people there
to really make it sustainable?
Because right now, I, I, I was, when
I came, I was a little concerned,
but I see this always packed.
We couldn't even, we couldn't even play.
We had, we haven't played yet.
Yeah, we, we had no clue what
the, what the market was.
I mean, we knew there were players.
We played some, a lot of French
people played, but we really
had no idea what the market was.
Right.
So we took a, a big gamble on really.
It wasn't really a gamble because we
were building a club for ourselves.
Right, right.
And the idea was, okay, we'll
build a club and whatever hours
we don't play, we rent it out.
And hopefully it pays for the expenses.
Yeah.
What if it doesn't work?
It's fine.
We got, we got, we got, we
got a power, we got a cut.
It's a great attitude, man.
So, so America, tell me about
this or place originally was an
old beat up, uh, tennis court.
This was an, actually an
abandoned tennis court.
Okay.
And the way it's positioned.
You know, the wind blows, you know,
from the ocean here we're like a hundred
meters from the ocean and this all,
what it did was just collected garbage.
I mean, we have footage from when
we first take came to look at it.
Wow.
And we were like, yeah, sure
we could do a, a club here.
And we started originally with the
two quarts of the sites and two re
uh, uh, recommission containers.
Exactly.
And before we knew it, the
two cords were not enough.
Yeah.
And.
Um, nacho, which is a
incredible architect.
He said, no, no.
Let me, let me draw this down.
Wow.
Then we fit the third court and we moved,
you know, with cont with a, with a crane.
The containers we moved in, and
that's why the club is, the fourths
are on the lower level, and then
we have two other deck levels.
Very smart.
You know, uh, I, I, I love how
the cont it's amazing nowadays
what you can do with containers.
The containers are pretty much, you have.
Bathroom bar, uh, shower and shop.
Shower and shower and shop.
Right.
So everything with those
two containers, correct?
Correct.
That's incredible.
So now you are very fortunate
that this was a tennis court and
you had already a footing, right?
Strong footing and some
asphalt to start with.
So all you had to do is
what little leveling, right?
To get the port on?
We, we, we did, you know, I
mean, on the center core, you
know, we changed the, the turf.
Uh, we had some like groundwater issues
that, that resurfaced afterwards, but.
Thank God those are, are
already under control.
And what court, what
courts do you guys go with?
Uh, we, the, our, our
quarts are, uh, paddle 10.
Okay.
Out of, uh, Barcelona.
Great.
Great people, you know, great product.
And, uh, the turf is,
uh, Mando, Mando turf.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
That's why everybody are.
Okay.
So let's go back to you.
Um, what do you, you, you're just not,
you're entrepreneurs, so what other.
Verticals.
What other businesses do you have?
I know that you ha you're
working with a hotel, right?
So, and then you also have a restaurant.
So let's just talk a
little bit about that.
My, my, my day job, you know,
my real job pays the bills.
It's the Oyster Bay Beach Resort
and the Coral Beach Club, for which
I am the, the general manager.
I mean, uh, I, I came to the Island
Oreo as an accountant working for KPMG.
And my specialty was, uh, uh, uh,
resorts, hotels, banking, and finance.
So this fits perfect into that.
So this fits in into that.
And, um, and then, you know, from the
entrepreneurial side, we have a, well,
let's go back to the Oyster Hill Hotel
and we're staying there and we wanna
thank you 'cause it's very beautiful.
Appreciate, you know, you could
see the, the, you know, the, the
ocean, you could see the water.
Um, you got the pool.
I mean, it is the food
there, the restaurant.
Thank you.
It is really, really
beautiful on both sides.
Thank you all, all.
It's a, it's a great place.
You know, it's owned by, by two
gentlemen out of Philadelphia.
They're great, great people and, uh,
and, and so, so yeah, the resort is
oyster pond facing St. Bytes, you
know, incredible, incredible view.
We have, you know, uh, a oyster baby
resort is four star, and then we have
the Coral Beach Club, which is 26, you
know, five star ultra luxury villas.
One of the best villas on the.
On the island.
So, so let's, let's go back to the club.
So take us to, you came with a crazy idea.
Find a spot, build a club.
That first day, so now what?
You know, you opened the door and
said, I have three paddle cords.
Wait, wait.
You sign, Martin.
Wait.
You gotta go step back because
you have a great community.
I gotta tell you.
Yeah.
I mean, awesome.
You gotta go.
One step back is now I found a
place, now I got the great idea.
Now it's like, okay.
How do we pay for this?
How do we fund this mean,
how do we fund this?
You know?
So that was like, so at the time
there was, uh, a, uh, program called
the NRPV, which is the National
Recovery Program, uh, bureau.
Okay.
So we actually got a hundred
thousand dollars of a grant.
Oh, that's great.
To start the business and a,
and like a SBA kind of loan.
Yeah.
You know, and, and then the rest
was, you know, our own funding.
So, so was there any major conditions?
Uh, any, uh, yeah, tunnel.
What are they?
Tunnel conditions, you know,
uh, it, it had to be for profit.
Okay.
Uh, small business.
It had to have a proper business plans.
Mm-hmm.
And the first three years,
you couldn't divest.
Okay.
The, the.
The business.
That's right.
So when was that?
What year was that?
That was four years ago Now.
Was that a loan or was that a grant?
It both Grant and loan.
A partial grant or loan Partial grant.
Yeah.
Uh, how much of it was a grant?
A hundred thousand dollars grant.
$50,000 loan.
Man, that's great.
Wow, man.
That that's your part.
The business.
So right.
Year, year on the, in the rat race.
So now suddenly you open the doors.
Now you have this amount of
money that you need to pay back.
How do you fill the courts?
How, how, what was the first.
Reaction after opening the club?
Well, the first thing that
we did is we actually did a,
a, uh, a, uh, kids program.
That's the first thing, because
we figured this has any future.
You have to start from the kids.
Yeah.
So, so, so we started a program was
called a Future Champs, uh, program.
And we raised funding for that.
And, and the idea of the program
was you sold, so when you say raise
funding, was that privately funded?
Private fund friends, you know, that's,
you give Grant to, to start the program.
And the idea of this program was.
That, you know, any kid could come
and take lessons on the weekend
and we provide for water rackets,
you know, lessons for free.
Now, let me ask you a question.
Did you have to qualify them or just
anybody can come or how does that work?
Anybody?
Anybody could come and do.
The parents were aware of what Paddle was.
I mean, no.
We created, we created, I mean, we,
we did a ton of, you know, PR and
buildup like we're doing with a new
club right before we open the doors.
I mean, it really was about a year.
You know of Okay.
Paddle is coming, paddle is coming.
Right, right, right.
What is paddle?
You know, pictures.
So, I mean, the great thing
now with social media, you,
you could do so much Yeah.
In the form of marketing.
Yeah.
Uh, I mean, I had a great support from.
From the government, from the
tourist board, from the PR firm.
So it's all, I mean, what can you
suggest to people that are having di
difficulty, you know, getting people
on the court, because I gotta be
honest, I mean, this is always passed.
I mean, is it because it's a small
community or is it because you
know, you really invested, went
out there and, and invested in
kind of educating what battle is?
Both, both supply first
all supply and demand.
Gotcha.
I mean, as I mentioned to you guys a
couple of days when you arrived, as
you know, we, our claim to fame is
that, uh, we have built the first quar
in Saint Martin, the first courts in
Lo, in West Africa, in, in La Togo.
Wow.
The first court.
The first court in Surinam.
So, and, and hopefully
Barbados and Antigua and a
few other islands coming soon.
Wow.
So, so, so we did a ton, you
know, of, uh, open houses, uh,
introduction to the sports.
Uh, for example, you know, Roge, uh, who's
teaching there is a, the, um, the founder
of the International Senior Paddle Tour.
We brought in, uh, Sandy Ferguson,
uh, one of the hi biggest, like
you guys, biggest influencer on the
other side of the, of the Atlantic,
you know, from the paddle school.
From the paddle school.
Yeah.
Uh uh.
So I mean, we're like this tiny
little club in the middle of the ocean
that you can't even find in the map.
So, you know, jumping
into the paddle world.
So now you're successful here and now
you're venturing out to other countries.
How do you duplicate that?
Because there's a whole
different, different area.
Yeah.
Well, I mean, I mean, we sell courts,
we represent, you know, estate port
builders, and we always tell the
people, you know, that, that we're
presenting to us, we're not the cheapest.
You know, our courts are not, you know,
unfortunately from China, uh, uh, our
courts from, from Europe, you know,
they're certified, you know, uh, uh,
in, uh, international Federation courts.
Certified, uh, turf.
But when we sell a court, we
sell basically our consulting.
Exactly.
You know, we, because our, our experience,
you know, what, what are the dos and,
and, and, and don'ts of, you know, I,
you know, uh, I'm gonna mention another
island that, you know, we offered this.
And he said, okay, well,
you know, we could offer you
all, your price is too high.
I said, well, you know, here's the.
The first things that you should do.
You know, we didn't finalize the
deal and I said, well, I'm gonna
tell you what I did for you.
I went and I bought the name of the
domain of the club, and I ba bought
the name of the domain of the island
where you're gonna build a club.
Right, right.
Smart.
I still own them, by the way.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
You must be a little bit, you know.
Yeah.
Little bit.
A little bit upset about that.
No, but, but, but again, that's, you
know, what's, that's the first thing
that we thought he, we did where Yeah, of
course we bought the name, the domains.
Yeah.
You know, you wanna do a
business, you wanna secure.
Right.
Your, your social media.
Right.
Uh, real estate.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Exactly.
Yeah.
So, but again, that comes with knowledge,
that comes with expertise, experience.
Experience.
Yeah.
You know, I know what things to do.
I mean, like, for example, where
the, where we build the new.
The new, uh, uh, barbecue area.
Barbecue area that was, uh, Patan court.
Yeah, we thought it was a great idea.
It was a complete flop.
Yeah.
A complete flop.
Yeah.
I mean, people came and
played for ten five.
The first five days they never came back.
Back.
Yeah.
And we spent a ton of money on it.
Wow.
Okay.
What was that again?
You said the PR tank?
You know, like the Oh,
like a, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Bache.
Yeah.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
We thought it, we thought we was like the
greatest thing we, gold, we called it.
Well, tell us a little bit, so
how the people here took it.
When you first built it, was it
difficult to build a community?
No.
No, no.
It was.
First of all, you know, the French
are fanatic about the sport.
Yeah, that's true.
I mean, really are, and half of the
island is French, so they knew about it.
So the Dutch are fanatic about
the sport and as, as you guys
know, and you say in all your, in
all your shows, you know, they.
Anybody that has never touched a
racket in their life in 90 minutes,
they could be playing a game.
Exactly.
I mean, you see, I was listening, I
was listening to you, to your lesson.
That's right.
I mean, so, so, so that's true.
I mean, so, so the, the, the
entry, I mean, right, right.
Now, look, you have a lady
that I just met from Colombia.
First time I ever played, you
know, you have here, guys have
been playing, oldest guys have
been playing for less than a year.
This guy's also been playing for less
than a year, then they're on the, on the
other side, you know, so, so you have all
different type of, of levels, you know,
and our, our biggest, biggest challenge
here is not having enough courts.
Yeah, it's true.
I could see that not having,
I'd too proud of all.
Yeah, that's a good problem to have.
Oh yeah.
It's a beautiful problem.
Those are the good problems.
Yeah.
I mean, this place starts
at six o'clock and it's.
Nonstop until 11, with the exception of
the date for our viewers and listeners.
6:00 AM to 11:00 PM Okay.
So you can understand how many Correct.
All those what, 16, 17 hours?
Yeah.
Yeah.
And there's some people arrive at five 30.
Wow.
Wow.
Okay.
And now we have a a, a lu there,
downtime between 11 to 3:00 PM
because of the sun and the heat.
Mm-hmm.
But you know, I'll send you
pictures after your eyes go back.
On the 20th of next month of
December or January, we gonna
install our first roof here.
Oh, smart.
Wow, smart.
So this cord that we're
facing, it's gonna be covered.
Yeah.
So I guarantee you that now that 11
to three, it's, it's gonna be Yeah.
That's great.
It's gonna be smart.
Very smart.
Very smart.
But again, you know, um,
I'm a numbers person.
I'm an operation person, so
going people was like, oh, why
don't you build rules, you know?
11, we're full the rest of the time.
Right, right.
11 to three, even if we're full,
does not justify paying for the roof.
So how do we pay for the roof?
Ah, that's right.
Sponsor this baby.
We, we gotta, we gotta sponsor that
pay that pays for the roof because our.
Our courts sit on them on the most
viewed, you know, uh, traffic.
A lot of vision.
Got a lot of traffic, a lot of
exposure, tournament exposure.
That's right.
So our sponsor for the roof
is NACO Insurances, which they
are all over the Caribbean.
Right, right.
So it's, you know, we're
promoting health, you know, a
better health, healthy lifestyle.
Yeah.
Uh, I mean, we're promoting exercise.
And so forth.
So it really fits completely
with their program.
It's very smart.
It also, it also doesn't hurt
that they're, that their, that
uh, that, uh, the, the board of
the, uh, the, the president of the
board of directors place every day.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Of course.
That, so that doesn't hurt either.
Yeah, exactly.
Exactly.
All right.
So let me ask you a question.
Uh.
How much money do you have
to raise, uh, for this club?
What was the total amount excluding
the, the, the, the cannabis.
Okay.
I would say all in, we
probably with maintenance and,
uh, Rebos, we're close to.
For the three quarters, probably
close to $500,000, half a million.
Okay.
So, and how long have
you guys been open for?
Uh, this week.
It was our fourth year.
Fourth year.
So when was the return on investment?
What, what year did you
I would say two years.
Wow.
That's great.
I mean, the, the, that is great.
The money that I put in over
and above the original grant,
I, I got it paid within a year.
That's great.
Wow.
That's incredible.
Yeah.
That's really good.
Now, what is the investment
now for the canopies?
The canopy is close to $50,000.
Each one or the whole, uh, per court.
Per court, yeah.
So 150 files.
Remember the, the challenge that we
have here is that we're in hurricane
and, uh, on a, on a hurricane rated
area, you have to take those apart.
If, if that happens, basically what you do
is you, the, the, the structure will hold.
Okay.
Depends on what it is.
You'll take the, the canvas out.
Yeah.
So how about the court?
How, how do you deal with the court?
You, is it hurricane proof or do
you have to take the glass off?
How does it work there?
There's, there's nothing.
Yeah, there's nothing a
hundred percent there.
There's nothing a hundred you guys live.
I know that, I know you guys live in
Miami, so you know, it's definitely,
but at what point do you figure,
okay, these are my precautions, these
are things that have to do or not?
So our, our, our plan policy procedures.
Yeah.
Our plan for a big hurricane
is in a day's time.
I mean, you know, you always
got a couple of days in advance.
If this is a, we know it's gonna come Yes.
Close to us.
Hurricane, you know,
category three or more.
Our plan is we will take the glass down.
Okay.
On the, and put it ground.
Put flat on the ground.
Yep.
Yep.
And that's gonna do two things.
The chances that this glass is gonna lift
as minimal and the glass, the chances.
That the turf is gonna lift
because of the weight of the glass.
You cover both.
That's smart.
That's right.
That's great.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Listen, I've seen my share,
but you have sand already.
We'll just have you
with glass on top of it.
I've seen, I've seen my share
of storms throughout the years.
Right?
So we're always thinking of that.
And the mesh, you know, it's the
easiest thing to replace if it
gets twisted and stuff like that.
You can, it doesn't create
any wind recessions.
What creates the wind resistance?
Is the, is the glass?
Yeah, of course.
Yeah.
It's like a sale.
Yeah.
Correct Sale.
Correct.
So, Ricardo, one of the major
challenges that every club has
around the world is coaches.
And we're here doing a
coaches certification of to
create more coaches here.
When you started the club.
I'm sure that was a big challenge, right?
Correct.
So how did you create your first coaches
and where do you see the coaching
situation here at the Allen going?
It's great, great, great question.
Because it was a concern.
He was like, how do, how
do we grow the sport?
How do we teach new people the sport?
So Alex, which just took the, the
certification with, uh, with you guys,
uh, was, was and still is our first coach.
Uh, he was a former tennis coach.
I will say he's.
On the number one, two or three
players on the, on the island.
And, and, and he started, you know,
he, he started, uh, coaching and
still coaching now adapting his
certification, you know, tennis
certification to paddle, which is great.
But, but again, you know, we brought in,
as I said, guys like Roque and Jorge,
which are, you know, uh, you know, legends
on the, on, on the paddles, uh, from, from
Argentina, from the, from the eighties.
They also showed, you know, uh, coaching
style and coach and paddle coaching.
Uh, then we also brought, you know,
uh, uh, Sandy Ferguson, which is, you
know, one of the worldwide, I would
say one of the best known coaches,
you know, especially on social.
Yeah, yeah.
On social media.
Uh, and, and so, so we have invested
in bringing them, bringing Sandy and.
Like, you know, you know, we don't
make any money on the, on the coaching
aspect of things, but you create future.
But we create future.
Exactly.
We're investing on, on developing the,
the on, on developing the, the sport.
I mean, our, our idea is, you know, to
grow the sport in, in, in the Caribbean.
I mean, as you guys know, you guys
interview my friend, uh, uh, Carlos
Lopez, life from Puerto Rico.
Yep.
Who's one of the owners of the.
Of the team from the Mexico Cup Yeah.
In Puerto Rico.
So, so we are so, so, so like him, you
know, we are really investing in growing
the sport in, in, in the Caribbean.
Our idea is to see, you know,
eventually the sport become, you
know, an Olympic, an Olympic sport.
Uh, uh, soon it looks like, you know,
I've been reading the last couple of days.
Yeah.
But it looks like 2032.
Yeah.
It's a real, it's a real possibility.
Promising.
Yeah.
You know, of, of happening.
And fortunately, you know, the whole
Olympic thing is such a bureaucracy.
Yeah.
And I mean, come on.
They had to, you know, break
dancing for the last, I know
Australian so much Australian teams.
Alright.
I mean, you don't have
panel, right, right, right.
I mean, or, and even
pickleball for that matter.
Right?
I mean, so, so yeah.
So we're, we're, uh, uh, uh, coaching
is an integral part of developing
the sport and getting people from
that beginner base from that.
You know, bad habit based off, you
know, going and smack the ball.
Right.
However you feel like it.
Right.
And to start doing it and
enjoying the sport even more when
you know how to hit the ball.
Right.
When you know the different shots.
When you know where to position yourself.
Exactly.
You know, it's uh, yep.
So, alright.
What's the next step for Ricardo when
it comes to paddle and for success?
Yes.
For me, the next step for me for paddle.
I would like to, I know you're not done.
No, no, no, no.
So we're, you know, good question.
We're in the process right now
of opening the largest paddle
facility in the Caribbean.
Wow.
So big as the, where is that?
You know, it's a cold, uh, SXM paddle in
Porter plus sun closer to the airport.
Right.
With the border, with
the, with the French side.
So with the French side, we're gonna
be building seven padel courts.
Wow.
Two of those courts are a stadium
professional court with more than
the regulation space on the outside.
Wow.
You know, for space, for players, you
know, referees, uh, really the idea
is that we could bring international
caliber tournaments to that facility.
Uh, also have either four
or eight pickleball courts.
We're still keeping two tennis courts.
Uh, swimming, pool, spa, and gym.
Oh, it's like a whole, like athlete club.
Yeah.
The whole country club.
It's a whole country club.
And the greatest thing about that,
is it gonna be inclusive like that?
Like a country club?
Like a member only or, yeah, a membership,
but it's also open to the public.
Okay.
And, and, um, the, the great thing
about that facility is that, is, you
know, uh, we, we it's scalable, right?
You know, so depends there's more
land there and you can, there's more.
Not only there's more land.
We could convert, you know, for
example, if we see that pickleball is
taking off, we could take some more
space and develop more pickleball.
Course of the tennis, tennis, uh, court.
The path.
Correct.
Alright.
Now enough.
So, I mean, I keep telling, you know,
now together between the two clubs,
we're gonna have 10, 10 ADE court.
Oh.
So I keep telling people
Yeah, don't worry.
Now with the seven additional courts,
having space is not gonna be a problem
enough that it, it, it's far enough
where it's, you're not gonna be, you
know, grabbing your market from here
for over there, or you're going, we,
we already operate a new market there.
We both, both, okay.
You know, it's a, it, small islands,
it's funny how they operate.
They become geographical.
It's like, uh, it's like you guys
in Miami, the guy from Kendall
doesn't wanna come to downtown.
Gotcha.
Yeah, of course.
It's about the same,
whatever's closer to me.
It's about whatever's closest
and more convenient to me.
Well, the guy that's finishing
working in downtown wants to play in
downtown before he goes to Kendall.
So you're gonna create a pretty,
a, a new community there.
We we're gonna create a, a, a
new community, but we're building
from this existing community.
The first thing that we did is we created
an elite membership package for a limited
time that those that are members here.
Goodbye member.
They buy and upgrade.
Oh, it's smart.
In membership on both places.
It's smart.
That's really, that's beautiful place.
So, so as I was telling you, I keep
telling people, nah, don't worry
what this is gonna happen now.
It's gonna open a lot more, you
know, paddle, you know, space
and court times for everything.
What I'm really hoping is that it Walt.
Gotcha.
Okay.
Okay, gotcha.
Yeah.
So that we really have to find a way to
even create more so something that all our
viewers and listeners that run the world,
they always, always are very curious and,
and they always wanna know how much does
it cost to play Paddle in San Martin?
How much is a core times?
How much is a lesson?
How is there memberships?
Why don't you give us a little bit
the breakdown that was on my mind.
That's Gregory, you said that.
I mean, we started at a low,
at a low, at a low point.
Now we, we got, our new
rates are out, um, a year.
Membership costs $750.
Okay.
Okay.
About what, 60 bucks maybe?
Uh, yeah, just about that.
Um, a, a monthly.
Now what are the benefits to that?
Okay.
You could play unlimited paddle.
All you want.
No way.
No way.
No way.
All you, I'm joining.
Well, coming just for that.
I joined just for that.
But the same, the same
thing goes for the Wow.
That's cheap.
For the monthly membership.
You know, the, the monthly membership,
it's gonna be, uh, 90, $95 a month.
Okay.
And again, you get a unlimited battle.
The trick is, and, and we
had the founding members, you
know, that paid a little more.
And that was for a limited,
for a limited time only.
The difference is if you, if you supported
us before, you know, with this crazy idea
and you gave us money before, you know,
you were locked in for 10 years Wow.
At a very limited, uh, price.
And those guys are king.
They get to book ports 15 days in advance.
Gotcha, gotcha.
So that's a big difference.
Family members, 15 days, especially
if there's only three courts in
this area, that's bit correct.
You know, this, this guy here is
one of them, you know, one of like,
you also went to like your kids.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
I did talk to them.
I am, yeah.
Yeah.
So, so anyway, so, so that's that.
The yearly members get to
book pen days in advance.
Okay.
And monthlys and, and, uh, and, uh,
Walkins only five days in advance.
Ooh, that's a tough one.
They need to play really
well to get invited.
Right.
Listen, listen, lemme,
lemme put it a swing.
I don't book courts, I just
wait until somebody bites me.
I mean, that's, well,
you're quiet, I'm sure.
And how many members total
do you have right now?
Um, I think active members, we have,
you know, you got all up and down, I
think we have over 300 active members.
Wow.
Wow.
For three courts.
That's incredible.
But people that have register for
the last four years, we have over
2000 people that have registered
either as walk-ins or members.
Or a combination of both.
You don't have, you don't have
the option to pay to play.
Yeah.
Pay house is nasty.
You that.
Yeah.
Yeah, you do.
So what is the cost to pay to
play if you're not a member?
Pay to play now, our new rates,
it's uh, $96 for an hour and a half.
Hour and a half.
Okay.
So every play's cheap.
Cheap.
Every pay.
24, 20 0, 24 bucks.
Yeah.
$24. Very, very free.
That was very, I mean, do you think
that's, I mean, it's hard to tell what.
Fair market prices.
If there's no, if you're
like the first club.
So how, how I'm in the, how do, I'm in
the, I'm in the hotel business, right?
And Conrad Hilton said many years ago,
any hotel that is running 90% occupancy
or, or, or more, the rates are too cheap.
Mm. Are you guys at that rate occupancy?
We and, uh, yeah.
Too cheap.
Then on our, too cheap.
On our, on, on our peak times.
We're, we're, we're at that level.
Gotcha.
And, and.
The thing is, you know, what
is it cost at the new place?
Uh, it's, we, we, we, same, we
are starting at the same rates.
Gotcha.
Okay.
We're starting at the same rates.
I mean, again, look, we remember we
didn't started this to be a business
venture, you know, so we, we also,
there is some feel sense of social,
you're an entrepreneur and this is a
business that I'm, this is a business.
But there's also some, I mean,
look, I live here for 34 years.
I mean, this Saint Martin has
been great to me and my family.
Mm-hmm.
And so there is a, a level of social
responsibility of still making it, you
know, affordable, fair, fair price.
Yeah.
And fair.
Yeah.
Uh, uh, because you're part of the
community that's say on both sides.
That's correct.
That's correct.
So, so, you know, every year we
keep increasing it like that.
Like I told you, we just replace
the, the center, uh, turf, you know.
We, we spend, you know,
six, $7,000 in doing that.
Yeah.
I mean, we just did a barbecue
area where people are free to use
it, you know, that costs money.
Uh, we did, you know, new showers.
Yeah, I see.
Talking about in the bathroom,
we just, we just created a, a,
um, a massage treatment room.
Yeah.
So we're constantly reinvesting
back on the, back on the club.
So, let me ask you a question.
Since you're on an island, how
do you, if you need, if a glass
breaks or, or you need something.
What's the time that, that you
need to get that over here?
Or do you have extra pieces of glass or,
that's, you know, again, I, I, I lived
and I, I formed an island in Puerto Rigo.
I lived here for 34 years.
You always need to have spare parts.
Yeah, yeah.
We always have a glass, extra glass.
We actually have an extra
pallet of sand there.
You're looking at the net maybe.
Uh, nets, uh, we have it.
Uh, over net overs.
You know, we have, uh, so we
always, as a matter of fact, we had
an issue with a glass last week.
We replaced the glass
in four, in four hours.
Did it break or was somebody
It broke, fell through it, or?
I, I think the, the protection
between the Oh, the silicone.
The silicone wore off.
Yeah.
And it touched me.
There was some wind that
night and it just blew up.
Wow.
Wow, wow.
So what, what are the, uh, expected
opening time of the new cloud?
Uh.
January 5th.
You're kidding me.
No, no.
It's, I mean, everybody Always 2026.
Huh?
2026. Listen, you guys come tomorrow.
Bring your work here.
Well, we, we gotta come,
listen, come tomorrow.
Work working here, because we're
uploading four containers tomorrow.
Wow.
I love it.
I love it.
I mean, I hope, I hope
it's not like Miami.
Where they said it's, it's gonna be
opening in two weeks and it's six months.
How so?
Six months later, how is the
permits and stuff like that?
I mean, a lot of towns very different.
How is, how is it here?
It's, it's a lot easier here
in the sense that, you know,
we're, we're known, you know?
Right.
And, and instead of opening a whole
brand new permit process, we're,
we're going to a branch, uh, uh, a, a
branch license, which is a lot easier,
uh, that you already established.
You have a corporation.
So it's a lot easier to do that and we're
operating from established country top.
Gotcha.
Gotcha.
So, REO, we're looking forward tomorrow,
we're going to visit the club and we're
gonna create a, a much more content for,
for that beautiful club up upcoming and.
I'm sure there's gonna be a second
trip for us to visit the new club.
Yeah.
And, and, and just, you can give anything.
Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.
You know, our, our time here,
we're having a wonderful time.
You're a great host and, uh, we're
really, really appreciate you.
And, and by the second, actually, you
know, as I said, you know, the other day
when we had dinner at a, at our, at a
restaurant, uh, Bolson Wine, uh, Bolton
Wines, uh, it's, uh, we said, look, uh.
Uh, like you guys, our goal is
to spread the sport of paddle.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Uh, uh, I mean, you guys are
great ambassadors of the sport.
Uh, hopefully we'll see
each other in Miami.
Oh yeah.
And, uh, and, uh, premier and,
uh, Rockett X. In, uh, and in
Barcelona, the summit definitely.
And it, and where this sport is going.
And by the way, you know, we
build a community from our local
market, you know, local residents.
We haven't even touched
the tourist market.
Yeah, right, exactly.
Right.
That's a great idea too.
We haven't even touched it.
Yeah.
And Miami is the same like that.
Yeah.
Miami is not too far from it.
Yeah.
And you know, say Martin
does 500,000 people.
And, and cruise ship.
Yeah.
You know, and these people are
looking for experiences every,
everywhere to go and more and more
the conscious, oh, let's go exercise.
Yeah.
You know?
Yeah.
Let's go, let's go shred some
of the pounds we made on the,
on the boat and, uh, yes.
Right.
So, so I, I think once we have the roof,
you know, we're, we're 10 minutes away
from the cruise ship here of Philipsburg.
Yeah.
So I think we're gonna
track a lot, a lot of more.
But once again guys, thank you.
Thank you very much for.
The privilege of having you guys here.
Ricardo, thank you for
everything he's done for us.
Congratulations.
Okay.
You success here and, uh, we'll
continue spreading the we'll see
you sir. Battle and see you guys.
And thank you guys.