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Hey Padel enthusiasts welcome to Padel Smash Academy, I am Cesc and I am here with Julian and we're all about Padel! Whether you're new to the sport or an experienced player, you've come to the right place. Our goal is to provide you with the best tips & tricks, news, and weekly lessons to help you improve your game and take your Padel to the next level. So grab your Padel Racket and let's get started with all things Padel on Padel Smash Academy.
Nalle, thank you for
coming to Pedal Smash.
Why don't you tell us a little
bit about yourself, you know,
and where you're originally from.
Well, thank you first for having
me, uh, Pedal Smash Academy.
And, uh, uh, as you can hear a little
bit, um, from France originally.
Uh, half Swedish, but from France,
you know, I grew up over there.
I played tennis at UCLA, uh, for five
years, four years of playing and five
years in school and, uh, all my life
I've been between France and the U.
S.
Now I've been living in Miami 14 years.
So is tennis your first racket sport?
Actually, believe it or not, uh, my
first racket ever was, was probably
Padel because I started playing tennis.
I mean, I'm exaggerating.
As a kid, my dad, who was a Davis Cup
player for France, he, um, he probably
gave me a racket, but I can't remember.
I didn't like tennis at first, and,
uh, I just discovered racket sports
when I was going, uh, in Acapulco.
I was lucky, by chance, my, my
parents were going there for
the holidays for Christmas.
And, uh, one of the few rackets, uh,
the first rackets I was holding was,
was a Padel racket at the time.
Wow.
That's beautiful.
Let me, let me ask one thing.
I've seen on the internet, and I think
you post them, uh, a photo of you when
you were a kid on the Corquera, uh, court.
Yeah.
Is that, is that possible?
Yeah, exactly.
Tell us about that.
So, uh, like I said, if you know a
little bit about the origin of the
game, basically, um, these, this
group of, uh, they call it, you know,
jet setters in Acapulco, uh, started
creating this game, Padel tennis at
the time, and, uh, that became Padel.
Um, and, uh, and it happens to be that.
My parents knew those people from
traveling from the jet set when these
guys were coming in the winter or
in the summer to south of France.
They made my parents, Hey, why don't
you come over for Christmas to Acapulco?
And that's, that's how they got there.
And I was a kid.
I was first time, I think I
was four or five years old.
And, uh, for a few years, we did that.
That was kind of our
tradition for a few years.
That Viviana Corcuera.
Yes.
The wife of Enrique
Corcuera, who actually.
We all credit him, Enrique, for
inventing the game, but the person
who actually wrote the game, wrote
the rules of the game, is Viviana.
She was, uh, she was actually the,
the, the, the steady, serious one.
And he was Uh, the artist creator
who say, Oh no, let's cut down the
trees and let's put a wall there
and let's lower the net and come
up with something with his friends.
And, uh, you know, uh, one of them
was, uh, um, uh, the Prince of
Owen low and Alfonso de Owen low.
And, uh, that was kind
of how the game gelled.
And I mean, if you're interested,
I think I told you a little
bit before, but basically.
Um, everybody had their say and
every single house was inventing
their own tea, their own rules.
And, uh, some had no certain
volley, some had no hitting the
ball out because it's bothering the
neighbors and some playing with ping
pong, uh, different balls, right?
You want to know.
So, the same ball, but, uh, 21
points instead of playing sets.
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
And a bunch of things like that.
And, and, but initially they were the,
the platform tennis rackets, correct?
I, I, I mean, I don't think that
platform even existed at that time.
Okay.
So, they were, uh, Uh, Padel rackets,
when I say Padel, it said Padel, P A D
D L E, maybe it referred to a platform.
I'm not sure about that.
But there were these Marcraft rackets
and, uh, and, uh, and actually if
anyone has any of those rackets,
I'm looking for them because I would
love to have a memory from that.
And did you actually play
in that court on the, on the
first, oh, yeah, that does that.
That was the first place I played on, uh,
was that court, uh, because he was one.
So basically the way the tournament
was going at the time for the
adults, I was, for us, for the
kids, it was just a one day thing.
But for them, it was
like a whole week thing.
And they were pompously calling it
the world championships of Padel
and they were playing matches.
There was a draw.
I remember as a kid watching it and
you would play one day at one house.
And then the next day at another house
and they would regroup kind of the
organization at the main house, which is
the Porta Nova house, where they had the
final, they actually built the stadium.
I mean, the stadium, like, like some
bleachers built into the beautiful,
they even had fans on the court,
you know, at the time we're talking
in the seventies and eighties.
So it's, it's quite a feat at the time.
And, um, and, and yeah, that's,
that's how they were playing it,
but basically you would play.
And there was not one
court that was the same.
There was one court that was 18 meters.
The other one was 12 meters wide.
Sounds like right here in Miami.
Well, at least they have the same
dimensions, but there they had some,
some had a much bigger, uh, service box.
The other one had a net of a tennis court.
And, and so on.
So it was very particular.
And, uh, so, and Viviana was
the one who wrote up the rules.
She said, listen, guys, you guys are
bothering me screaming every night
at who should do what and what.
And so I'm just going to take charge.
And she wrote the book.
She wrote the first original.
rule book for Padel.
If I remember well, I remember that
the Argentinian rules were when
you serve, you have to stay back.
Yeah.
And the Spanish rules, you can
serve and come up to the net.
Well, it was, it, again, this whole thing
originated from that city, from Acapulco,
because there was, I cannot tell you
what, but probably an Argentinian, uh,
court owner in Acapulco said, no, in
my house, there is no serve and volley.
You got to serve and stay back because
it's too much of an advantage for
tennis players to serve and come in.
So, because he was not a tennis player,
I guess, and so that was his rule.
And, uh, that stick to that when they
was brought into Argentina, I don't
know if it's for that, but yes, in
Argentina in the nineties, I guess,
eighties, that's how it was played.
That's where I grew up playing
and you have to stay back
and then they got together.
So, so you've been involved in Padel
for pretty much your, your entire life.
So what happened after that?
I mean, you know, you were playing in
Corcora's house and what happened then?
That was really kind of a holiday
thing, like a week, a year.
It wasn't like really playing seriously.
And then for 51 weeks,
the game disappeared.
But that's one guy.
Why do you think that 51 weeks?
Because I was just living in Acapulco.
I was not in Acapulco, but what I
meant is There was this one guy that
was in that group that was a very,
uh, uh, famous and, um, uh, rich
French person called Tony Moray.
And he said, I'm just going to do
this in every single one of my houses.
And the guy had 30 houses.
So he had one in LA, he had one, and
the main one where I was playing was
in Saint Tropez in South of France.
And I would spend my summers there.
When I got older as a teenager to play, I
was, now I was starting to train tennis.
So I would train tennis in the
morning, like training really.
And then I would go and hang out on
the Padel court and always be, you
know, that fourth, you're missing
a player or you need to equalize
or give a lesson or something.
I would spend like five, six
hours a day on the Padel court.
Wow.
Yeah.
And when, when they became competitive?
No, that's much later.
So I really never take it, took it
seriously and it totally disappeared.
I'd say from when I turned 15,
16, I stopped going on holidays.
I would really spend my whole time in play
as a professional dance player, um, you
know, played the junior tour and then, uh,
then started playing some ATPs and so on.
So it totally disappeared
for like 10 years.
Then I went back to college,
uh, to UCLA when I was 21.
So, and I, I really rediscovered
Padel when I was 25.
I graduated from UCLA, stopped playing
tennis, had shoulder injuries, one
after another, two surgeries and so on.
And, um, and I, and I went back home,
literally after college, you know, not
really knowing what to do with my life.
I actually went to work one year
in New York, but I was 25, 26.
And believe it or not, I read
the local papers and there's a
quarter of a page that announces
big panel exhibition in Nice.
With Juan Martin Diaz, Seba Nerone,
Hernan Agusti, and Gabi Recca.
What were you thinking at that time?
No, there is not one.
No, not even.
What were you thinking?
Because it was like, Huh, that's funny.
It's the game I played and so on.
Let's go check it out, you know.
And I didn't know who
those guys were at all.
But I go and now I see for the
first time, I see a glass court.
It was still hard court on the
ground, but it was glass around.
And I see these beasts, because again,
those are the top four players at the
time in the world that were number one
and two, one and two or three and four.
And so they were playing like very
similar to what they're doing today.
It's still already.
And I'm like, I got to get on
the court and I get on the court.
I say, hello, my name is Nalle.
Or who the fuck are you?
I just think what you're doing is amazing.
Can you show me something?
And, and, and that just from that
day, I'm like, Oh, this is so cool.
Cause it's not so bad on my shoulder.
And I started playing in France,
which was, I want to say, similar
to what's going on here today.
Basically, if you're a decent tennis
player and you really focus on it, in
a year I was in the top 10 in France.
And the president of the federation in
France told me, listen, you know, the guys
that are in the national team, they're
all like, they want to go just to party.
They don't care about the game.
And they're all like
40 years old and so on.
Why don't you come with us
and you and your partner.
We were two tennis players.
You're a bit green.
At least you'll get some experience.
So I went 2002.
I was in Mexico for the World
Championships representing France.
So was was Padel really big in 2002 in
France or it was just, it was I, I want
to compare to what it is today here.
Really?
Yes.
Sweet.
So it existed, it was the start, believe
it or not, you may not know, but in
2000, the world championship of the FIP.
were in Toulouse, France.
Wow.
Yeah.
So that was the spark.
There was a promoter that believed in it.
He was actually the president of
the French Federation, Claude Bach.
And he really got the first spark for
Padel into France in 2000, starting
in 98, but culmination in 2000.
And then of course there was some kind
of, there was like, yeah, a hundred,
150 course, just like here now.
And unfortunately, Uh, it kind of
died down because he didn't, he
didn't convert enough people and he,
he actually had to retire from the
federation because he was doing a
bit of everything at the same time.
So, uh, people started asking questions on
how you can sell courts at the same time
as being the president of the federation.
It doesn't kind of go together, but.
So, but he did, after him, unfortunately,
uh, my father ended up becoming
the president because somebody had
to, had to, nobody wanted to do it.
Right.
And he, he's, what he did was to bring
it to the tennis federation, the French,
who's a very strong federation because
of the Roland Garros of the French Open.
So they had a lot of, um, money to pour
in and that's how it started in France.
So now the Padel belongs to
the French Tennis Federation.
So similar to what it's in England.
England, the LTA, I think
it's the same thing.
Wow.
That's interesting.
So now you're saying that you're
seeing the same thing here, right?
In Miami, is that what motivated you now
to, you know, open up a club or clubs?
So, yeah, I mean, uh, I opened
my first club in 2004, uh, in
Nice, France, uh, following that.
And it was always been a
passion project, never been.
Uh, about the money, I've lost a lot
of money over 20 years in battle, but
you're not the only one, but always
with great, I, with all the tournaments
I've organized, all the clubs I've
opened or helped it to open and so on.
It's never been, uh, cause I've
never seen the business, uh,
aspect of things, uh, so far.
Uh, that all changed.
Uh, in the recent years here in
the U S because what changed,
what can you, what can you have?
How can you monetize?
Yeah.
What changed, what changes, uh, my,
uh, well, the ecosystem exists now
in the world, in the U S no, not yet.
And, uh, and that's what, that's what made
me decide to really give it a, a shot in,
uh, on, on the business side of things.
Uh, and the real change was, uh,
the Miami Padel open in 2022.
Um, when I saw really the attraction
and the interest of the public.
Cause it's the first time that
really we exposed the game and, and
exposed kind of to a larger crowd.
To that level too.
Yeah.
To that level and to that crowd.
There was, there was the event in 2017.
Yeah.
You know, there was a world power tour on
the beach, but it was not organized by us.
It was, uh, we, we participate, we helped
a bit, but, um, it was not, um, it was not
the same level of, uh, of, of organization
and, uh, and, and it, it was not ready
either, you know, five years later, 22.
Uh, we know about that spark that
was created by also the, the COVID,
you know, uh, a lot of people
started going to clubs, uh, and,
and, and I, I felt the change.
And also the difference is even though
in the U S you think it's, it's a new
sport, it's very mature now in a lot of
countries, we have 70 over 75 federations.
that are reported, it's going
to become an Olympic sport.
Yeah.
Soon.
It's growing.
So, in the eyes of the U.
S.
uh, public, it may be, surprising, I would
say, or, uh, but in, in the rest of the
world, you can go to a South, uh, South
America, of course, but you go to Europe,
you go to the Middle East and even Asia.
You know, I just had my, my buddies came
back from, uh, uh, they went to play
Thailand, to play Japan and, and, and, and
look at Pat Rafter playing the Australian
Open and it's over, it's all over.
I mean, it's, and it's, you know, the U S
being the number one economy in the world.
And starting to get interested
in it, I see an opportunity.
I see a business opportunity.
I decided to, uh, build a company.
Uh, I partner up with a group, an
amazing group from, uh, uh, originating
from, uh, Chile called Utopia.
Uh, there are biggest professionals
in, uh, in, uh, the wellness,
uh, wellness centers and real
estate and, and hospitality.
And uh, it just clicked, you know,
and today, uh, they bring, uh, all
their business knowledge and so on.
I bring my side with the Padel
experience and, uh, here's Padel X.
And where do you see
Padel going from here?
I mean, first of all, you know, Padel
X, but mainly in the United States,
where, how far do you see the growth?
Listen, I, I, I honestly, I honestly
think it's going to be a hit.
I think it's going to go, who
knows where it's going to go.
I think it's going to be really big.
Um, it's too much of an entertainment.
It's too much of a, uh,
of, of a fun game to play.
And that's a good point, entertainment.
And that's, that's what's missing
for the other racket sports.
I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm
talking on the U S market.
You see, uh, I mean the U S market, the
U S as all the Americans have always
been the best and always been very
keen on being entertained and, and,
and having fun and that's what you see.
And that's what, I mean, I don't want
to compare every sport, uh, with other
racket sports, but a lot of sports.
Uh, have, uh, some great assets or some
great advantages and, and, and some
less, and the good side, the hard side
for Padel is, uh, it's hard to set up,
you know, you need a lot of permits.
There's a glass factor in the
U S for now, I think, uh, it's
still a bit of a challenge to
get, get your feet on the ground.
But, uh, once you're there, um,
there's no looking back because that's
why I always, what I say, I'm 91%.
This is a true fact.
Uh, we did a study, uh, when I was in
back in 20 years, but it doesn't matter.
We had 2000 people, uh,
come by, uh, a court.
We put in center of the town in France at
the time where again, the sport was even
less for infamous than here at this time.
And we asked.
Those, they had, they stepped on the court
for 20 minutes, hit the ball, and so on,
and then they had, in exchange of that, we
were asking that they give us five minutes
of their time to fill up a questionnaire.
Uh, and, and, uh, and they would say the
question, the first question was, have you
ever seen this or ever heard of Padel?
Nineteen eight or ninety
nine percent said no.
Wow.
Ninety nine percent.
So that tells you, would you
be willing to try this again?
Ninety one percent.
Wow.
You see?
Yeah.
And that's, that says it all.
To me that says it all.
Yeah, people become subjective to it.
So it's just a matter of exposing and
inoculating the virus to more people.
I love that bitch.
And so let's talk about Parallax.
Let's talk about the process.
Yes.
I've seen that.
I drive by there all the time.
And it's been like a
year, year and a half.
I see them like, When is
this thing gonna open?
I'm dying because I'm
like four blocks away.
Of course.
And now it's opening up.
So let's talk to, you know, some of the
people who may be interested in doing
what you're doing and the process and,
you know, how long that process is and
the changes and pivots that you have
to make to make this thing happen.
Listen, um, I hope we're trailblazing
for, for, for kind of people.
You guys are.
You are.
Uh, It's a, it's a hassle,
you know, in the U.
S.
especially, there's a lot, and I
understand it also, because there's so
much liability, there's a lot of things
to do, and the cities necessarily, they're
not familiar with it, they see the, the
aspect of having humans being with glass.
And, oh my God, you know what, I'm
just going to, uh, say no this way.
So you got to really, really,
really work a lot with the cities.
You got to get your permits
approved, uh, make changes.
Some places have to build these
crazy reinforced courts and so on.
And, and, and so it's a, it's a prod,
it's a, it's a, it's a real process.
It's a real process.
And, um, and that's what took time.
That's what takes time.
So, yes, we've been.
on this project for a little bit over
12 months today, but we're seeing the
end of the tunnel and we see the light.
We're a couple of weeks out from, uh, from
opening, um, 10 courts in downtown Miami.
So, you know, I, I think we
cannot beat the location.
Oh, no, it's a great location.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Incredible.
So what turf are you guys using?
So we're using, um, so we
built courts with Mehosset.
Okay.
And we're using the latest.
Apparently the latest generation
of, uh, of Mondo, uh, Mondo
course, the Mondo shot.
Yeah.
It's, uh, if you want to get into
the details, I, I, I love it.
It's not because it's texturized or it's,
yeah, it's texturized and it's, it's.
It's between just so the mini
monofilament that we have known for
so many years with, uh, a lot of sand.
Um, yep.
Uh, it's not like that, but it's not
like the, the first generation of
texturized, uh, courts, which have very
little or almost no sand, that are a
bit sticky sometimes for the knees.
It's right in between.
It's this texturized, eh.
With a little bit more sand than,
than the, the, the, the text, right.
They used to do now.
Have you played on it?
Yeah.
Yeah.
We've played, we've played on it and
honestly, I mean, again, uh, uh, maybe a
bit biased because it's, it's, it's, it's
our courts, but, uh, but I think they're
the best courts I've ever played on.
Good.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I really think you're doing panoramics.
Yes.
They're not, they're panoramic
courts on the back, uh, with,
uh, no, with the silicone.
So no, uh, no screws anywhere.
So in, since we have the, uh, camera
technology, we have three cameras
on each of the premium courts.
It will allow our customers to, without
even registering, just the fact that
they're playing on those courts, uh, they
will allow them to tap on the side of the
court, uh, if they want to mark a trim.
Inside the game when they're filming and
let's say at the end of the game if they
have a Marked four, five, seven trims
because there was that many great shots.
They just need to use their phone
and, uh, scan the QR code on the,
on the screen and poof, you get
access to all of that right away.
Genius.
And with the, you know, I thought
of that two years ago and I
presented it to a club and, and
that is, that is what people want.
Yeah, it's genius, but it's got to
be, listen, we, technology is great.
Yeah.
But it has to be user friendly, you
know, and, and we selected this, uh,
and we worked actually on it ourselves
with a French company, uh, called
Spash, uh, and we really, really, and
I hope, I hope it's going to come out
the way that we, we, we intended to.
But, uh, eh, the goal is to really make
it user friendly that you don't need
to have more than three clicks or four
clicks to go from having the courts.
You don't need to enter a
username and a password and
say who is who's there's no AI.
You know, the latest trend
is to try to make some AI.
Uh, to calculate the speed of
the ball, how many bounces,
how many points and so on.
So that's not the key on this.
The key is really to make it
fun and easy and shareable,
obviously, on the social media.
That's great.
So they will get the format, uh, on a
video format or, uh, on, on to be able to
just upload it onto their social media.
So is that a cost to them or do
you transfer it through, let's say
the cost per hour, uh, on the core?
Yes.
Okay.
guys.
That's what we do.
It's not a cost to them.
That's also another thing
that we wanted to, to do.
There's a, there's a small premium
to play on those courts compared
to the other ones, but, uh,
there is, um, but then that's it.
So if you play, or if you're a member.
Then it's free.
Okay.
So let's talk about that.
Cost.
What everybody wants.
Cost.
Cost.
You guys, you talked about membership.
So there's a membership.
Yes.
There's a non membership, right?
Yes.
And then there's the
benefits of that, right?
The cost of memberships or
non memberships and amenities.
So let's start with the cost first.
So the cost, I mean, listen, we're.
I think right there in
the market, uh, are.
So let's talk about members.
So what are the costs for a member?
So members, if you get the membership,
it's 1, 200, a membership a year.
A hundred bucks a year.
A hundred bucks a month.
Yeah.
But it's a one time fee.
Okay.
So you pay your member for one year and
you have an adversary date, doesn't,
you don't have to start a specific date.
And, um, then, um, it gives you, and then
if you're not a member or regardless if
you're a member or not, it's, uh, the
prices are, uh, on the main course is 135
an hour, an hour and a half, an hour and
a half, and 155 on the premium course.
If you, if you're a member,
then you pay 135 on every court.
Okay.
Okay.
So you get the premium ones.
Yes.
You get a 15 percent discount.
And what, what other premium
courts, what do you define a
premium court or a regular court?
So there's four premium courts that
have more amenities or more comfort.
When I, what I, what do I mean?
There's six courts that have a, a premium.
About two meters.
So, you know, six feet between the courts,
which is not enough to allow exits.
You know, when you play at a high level
and there's exits and the four premium
courts do have each one, the, uh, um, the
correct size for the ears, for the exits.
All four of them.
So basically between, between,
um, uh, two premium course, you
get four meters because you've got
to multiply by two, both sides.
And, um, that's number one, then
we're going to have, uh, they're
also next to the clubhouse.
They're more exposed.
And then we're going to have the video
technology and the video technology
is not only what I just described.
It's also for the, uh, we have.
A special lesson that, uh, will
start with me first because I'm
going to give a few lessons there.
Right.
For, uh, for the people who want
to get a full scope of their game.
Basically, uh, we, we will.
with the video, their game from A to
Z, and then we'll spend 15, 20 minutes
in front of a screen describing with
drawings and everything, uh, what
they're doing right, what they're doing
wrong, and then they can leave with
that recording home and work with it.
That's great.
Come back, maybe take some lessons
to work on the, those, those
details they want to improve.
Um, and come back a month later, redo
the video to see how they improved
those cameras, the same cameras
that they do in the play by play,
or those are different cameras.
So no, they, there is three
cameras on each court.
One camera is the camera you're
talking about, which is the
overall look, the bird's eye.
And then there's two cameras that are in
the corners, not in the corners based,
but they're filming at the corners.
To be able to see your technique.
Oh, okay.
Okay.
And then we have a third, a fourth
cameras, but more with a, we have a system
that goes with the iPads that you can
actually, if you want to specifically film
something at the net, for instance, or so
on that the angle of the cameras placed.
Is not getting, you can
get that, that as well.
Wow, that's incredible.
Yeah.
Pretty cool.
I like it a lot.
So, question that everybody ask
if you, they wanna take a lesson
with you, how much is with it?
They, they called father of Padel.
. . So we're still working on that.
Uh, , he's to see if
he's got a lot of demand.
What?
To opens up.
It might change.
Might change, yes, because
I, listen, my, my goal is not
to be on the court full time.
Uh, uh, this is the first of many.
I thought you wanted to play all
for your life to play all the time.
Exactly.
Playing, playing, playing.
I love to play.
I love to train.
I love to, I love to
coach, but I love to coach.
I, I really want to compete.
When I say compete, not necessarily me.
I see myself as a, as a, as a coach.
As a coach for either high level players
or want to become high level players.
Uh, I would love to, um, I'm
going to create an academy.
I would love to form even kids from,
from scratch that really are motivated.
They want to be the first, that first,
I want to call it, even though we have
a couple good US players today, but the
first real generation of US players.
And because that, that, uh, that's,
that's a must, there is no, there is
no for the game, for the sport to grow.
We got to have some U.
S.
champions and that is really
something I, I would love to, to do.
That's a great point.
And it's incredible that United
States doesn't have not even
one, I mean, junior academy.
I mean, I, I love, I
love what I'm hearing.
I mean, that would be fantastic.
Okay.
So what other benefits do the members
have or is that, is that pretty much it?
So the membership at Parallels is really
for the people who want to belong.
It's for the people who,
um, Come and play a lot.
It doesn't give you necessarily, it's
not, it's not, it's not a money play.
Uh, the people who take the, the
membership or the ones that want to
play on the premium courts, they want
to be, uh, invited to the social events.
We'll have some social events once, uh,
once or twice a quarter, specifically
reserved to the, to the members.
We'll, they'll get some merchandise.
We'll have, uh, we have some specific
merchandise for Miami Padel.
In, um, uh, Padel X in Miami.
Uh, that we are very actually
proud of saying that we're
recycling a hundred percent.
Everything is made out of a
hundred percent recycled plastic.
Wow.
Yes.
That's incredible.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We, we really, really,
it's really a cool thing.
Even our furniture is made, and you
will have a tag on your merch that will
tell you exactly how many bottles were
used for that piece of, of, of merch.
That's pretty cool.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We're going to have, um, So a shirt,
like a polo shirt is about 11, 11
bottles or, or a long sleeve shirt is 18.
Wow.
A cap is seven.
And, and even our benches
are 1800, you know.
Wow.
Yeah, it's incredible.
Yeah, it's, it's, it's.
So do the, do the members get access
to reserving courts sooner or not?
Yes.
Okay.
So that's, that's.
To me, I think that's going to be
the biggest perk because the members
will get access to the reservation of
the course two weeks in advance, and
they'll be able to book the course
five times over those, those two weeks
and rolling, rolling reservation.
So for the people who really want to
play at specific times, uh, on specific
days, uh, that's definitely something
that there will be interested in.
The non members will only
get two reservations.
in a period of three days.
Oh, that's it.
Okay.
Yes.
Oh, that's a, that's a huge part, man.
Two weeks.
Yeah.
So let me ask you, let's say I
like to play at six o'clock in the
afternoon so I can do in those two
prior weeks, I can reserve five, six
o'clock slots before anyone else.
Yes.
Oh, that's incredible.
Yes.
I really think that the, and we're
going to limit the members as well.
The number of members where
we're, cause we don't want to.
We don't want to close, we're not
trying to close the club for members.
You see, that's not our model.
Some other clubs do that and
that's a different model.
But we're really trying to be a mix of
the people who actually want to belong
and be playing at the best facilities.
Um, uh, and the people who just come pay
to play, you know, uh, which is a major,
we want to try to build the base today.
We're not as, as, and I'm saying
this for the whole industry.
We're in a phase where we need
to build the base, uh, and it
will be better for everyone.
So I'm, I'm welcoming.
I know that, um, some other clubs are
opening a lot of courts and so on.
I don't see that as a problem.
I see that as a blessing if anything
today, because, uh, until we have.
Until I, I, I'm going to sound
crazy, but until we have like close
to a thousand courts in Miami.
Because we can't fulfill
the demand right now.
We're not, we're not competing.
Okay, I got a question for you.
Alright, do me and Julian get
complimentary, uh, uh, membership passes?
Or at least me, or at least me.
Exactly.
You're a spotter.
We'll, we'll definitely hook you up.
You heard that?
It's something interesting.
Let's say I'm a member and I want to book,
let's say, well, you are, you are now.
Well, no, I want the six o'clock slot
every Thursday for the entire year.
For the entire year, would you,
as a member, can I do that or not?
No, you up front and then the
reason I, I, I, because I do
that a lot of the Northeast.
I know, but I don't know
if that's good business.
I, I, I, I just, I would not accept that.
The, the reason is, uh, I it's, it's
just, we want to give to as many people
as possible, the possibility to play.
And if I say yes to one person that
wants to do that, then I'm going
to have to say yes to 20 others.
That's a great point.
And, and so for us, uh, we
don't, we don't think that's
the way we don't want to play.
We really want to build the base.
We want to give access to the courts
to as many people as possible.
Um, and that's why we have, uh, I think
a great Um, we have valley hours where
the course are gonna go for 90 bucks.
Yeah.
Smart.
So that's will be in the middle of
the day, or, you know, so, yeah.
So, uh, this way, uh, because
not everybody can afford Yeah.
150 bucks or 135 bucks.
True.
Uh, so we really want to
give access to the course.
To as many people as
possible to build the base.
So let us know a little bit what,
um, everybody needs a racket.
So what brands are you going to have?
I mean, what, what, what can
I get when I go to the club?
When I walk through the doors,
we're building this club.
Um, it's a temporary event, uh, for now.
And so we have one phase.
The phase one is with a, a hospitality
tent, but you will have food and you
will not even see it, you will feel.
built it, we're building it out as
you, you, you were saying as we speak
and you will not have the feel of that
you're in a tent, a, you will have a,
a, an entrance with 80 screens showing
everybody where, where they're playing.
Um, you will have a large, very large,
uh, 18 foot bar, uh, with a reception
on one side and the, and the bar to,
to the clients on the other side.
What type of bar?
You're talking about, uh,
you know, beer and wine.
Yes.
It's going to be, it's
going to be mostly drinks.
snacks.
We're not, we don't have a kitchen.
We don't have a restaurant, so to say.
But do you have other foods there like
other people, you know, third party
companies offering food there or?
Not for now.
Not for now.
Really, we want to focus right now.
on the Padel aspect.
Okay.
And so far, I haven't seen great success
throughout my 14 years of being in
Miami with the FNB and Padel clubs.
Yeah.
Okay.
Uh, in, in, in our phase, Of the, of
PadelX, which is the first one, we
really want to get the Padel side right.
Yeah.
We want to, of course, offer to our
customers the best drinks, the best
sports drinks, energy drinks, uh,
probiotic drinks, and, and, uh, and
all these trendy drinks that come in
and, uh, and, and the best snacks,
uh, energy bars, uh, some, some small
meals, you know, we're looking at.
Doing some quiches, some, uh, some, some,
um, sandwiches, some sandwiches that are,
but nothing, unfortunately, we, we can't,
by, by code, we can't, under the current
situation, we cannot do anything more.
Okay.
So how about, uh, bathrooms, of course?
Yes.
How about showers?
Yes.
Yes.
Oh, great.
That's awesome.
Again.
Under, under this phase, we will
have, it will be temporary showers.
It's the kind of, um, um, for
now, uh, we are building out
the showers in a second phase.
Uh, a bit later this year.
So what's the second phase?
You talk about first phase.
So what's going to happen
in the second phase?
So what are the amenities there?
And what are the changes?
In the second phase, we,
we're still studying.
We're going to stay the way we
are, uh, as much as we can, um,
uh, for the next few months.
And, uh, we're still conceptualizing
the next phase, but the next
phase will be a locker rooms.
Uh, it will be, uh, under AC, uh,
clubhouse, uh, you know, we're
studying every single thing.
We've, we've evolved with this and, uh,
and we're going to see also how this gels.
Yeah.
So I'm assuming you're going to
listen to your customers and based
on that, make some, some changes.
Very important question.
I mean, such a, having such a
prime, prime location parking,
is there going to be parking?
How's that going to be?
Yeah.
Yeah.
We're very excited about that because.
We're going to offer, um, a
full size parking with, uh,
over 30 spots inside the club.
And then you got few spots around also,
uh, where one of these spots that's good.
Yeah.
That's really good.
Is it free?
Yes.
Free for members or non members or?
For now, it's free for everyone.
Okay.
The keyword for now.
Yes.
No, we want to, same thing.
Listen, we want to see, I mean,
listen, there's so many aspects,
there's so many ways you can do this.
Yeah.
You know, do you want to inflate the
price for the, for the, for the court
or blend it in or so on or so on.
But for now, you know, we're,
we're, we're coming in very humbly.
Uh, we want to see, we want
to listen to our customers.
We want to see how they react.
What we do know is that we really
put all the effort in getting the
Padel experience to be the best.
Uh, we want to have what we believe the
best courts, um, out there at this time.
the best lights.
That's something for me.
I was really adamant about this because I,
I don't, I don't see that well at night.
Yeah.
So we're going to, we're putting
12 led lights on every court.
So what are you going to do?
Because you're right.
I mean, uh, when I play at
night, sometimes that light
is just not diffused enough.
Um, and if they lessen it, you can't see.
So what is your tactic there?
And, and, and, you know, uh, so
I'm not, Light engineer myself,
but, uh, we did hire the best ones.
Okay.
We, we believe, and, uh, they basically,
it is not to, it is not the point.
The point is not to make
the, the strongest light.
The point is to, uh,
diffuse the number of bulbs.
Yeah.
And if you look at our lights are,
I, I want to say six feet long, and
they're showing, they're, they're
shooting in many different directions.
Directions, right.
Uh, we saw a study and.
We believe we've been told
it's, it's the best possible.
It's the same license center
court at Roland Garros.
Oh, that's beautiful.
So did you have to get that from a
different third party company or was that
through my horse set or how did you, I
mean, we all work together with the same,
you know, I'm very close friends to Hernan
Auguste, who was the CEO of there and, um,
and, uh, we, this was a passion project.
We really wanted, I was really,
I want to make this, uh, we
put a lot of thought into it.
Uh, we didn't want to, it's, it's
always a balance also because
you don't, you know, just put the
strongest lights and that's it.
No, you want to orient the lights
and, uh, and then there's a lot of
tweaking and, uh, and listening to
all the experts of the industry and
to, to assemble the best courts.
Okay.
Okay.
Let's talk about coaches.
Who do you have there for coaches?
So, uh, we have The number
one coach, you, of course.
We have an amazing coach
that we hired from Spain.
His name is Simon Castello.
And, uh, then I have,
we have some surprises.
Good.
I don't want to tell you.
So how much, how much is it?
I don't want to, I don't
want to disclose yet.
We do have some surprises because
you know, the competition is fierce.
You got the poachers.
So, so now we, we, we haven't,
we haven't, we've selected
very, very specific coaches.
We're trying to build a very
homogenous team and, um, and we try
to cater or to address the needs
of every single kind of client.
We're trying to give roles to our coaches.
And, uh, that's where, um, uh, that's,
that's, that's the way we want to do it.
So how much is a class, you know?
Well, it depends.
It starts at 150 an hour.
Um, and, uh, depending on how many
people are on the court, it goes,
it goes higher for the lesson, but
Of course, you, you cut, if you're
two people, you divide by two.
If you're three, you divide
by three and, and, and so on.
So, so let me ask you now, let's
say I want to go and play there.
What programs are you going to offer?
Are you going to do clinics?
Are you going to do, I
mean, what other options?
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
We're, we're going to be having
a full program of, of events.
We want to be a very eventful, Um, club,
um, my partner Juan Pablo loves to call
it the Disneyland of Padel, basically.
I love that.
Yeah, I love it.
So it, the idea is to cater
to, you know, we want to have
kids clubs for after school.
Uh, we want to have clinics for
women, for men, for competition.
Uh, Americanos, um, we believe
a lot into these Americanos, uh,
very, very social, successful,
social, you meet a lot of people.
Uh, so the idea is.
And then we're going to be listening
to, you know, just now a lot of
people say, Oh, I have this group
of players and we want to help
them in their community as well.
And I believe in that we have a club
manager that is not on the court.
And, uh, that's what
she's going to be doing.
But so, so.
Let's say now you're going
to have all these programs.
So I'm a customer.
Where should I go to
see what you guys have?
You have a website and if
you can, Oh, this is coming.
We we've, we've, we've chosen to
not disclose, uh, too much or talk
for months and years of coming
soon, coming soon, coming soon.
We've been trying to be as
discreet as possible so far.
And today, um, as we're
getting closer, we're going to
start releasing information.
Uh, yes, of course we have a website.
Uh, for now, it's just a landing page.
Uh, we will, um, open it very soon.
Same thing with the social medias.
The, the classic, uh, I would say the
classic streams of, of, of information.
So, Nale, tell us a little bit, uh, who
are your, your product providers at the
club, your sponsors and things like that.
We're very happy and proud, actually,
that we, uh, me being French also.
that we're actually partnering
with Lacoste for, uh, the first
real, um, adventure into Padel.
They haven't built a brand yet, but,
uh, they've, uh, we've been able to,
um, secure a partnership with them and
we're producing, and we're going to
be addressing all our pros in Lacoste.
That's big.
How did that happen?
Because they're not
really into Padel, right?
How did you make that happen?
If you listen, it came, yeah,
it came out when we started.
Working on the, um, on the brand and I
was thinking and meeting with a lot of
brands, uh, and, uh, it, and it happened
at the French open when I played in
2022 and I'm talking to Wilson and I'm
talking to head and I'm talking to all
the bull Padel, you know, I'd say the,
the original, uh, or the typical brands.
And I realized that none of them were
really offering much, except for me, of
course, you have some free, uh, A gear
for the pros and, uh, uh, some deal
on the balls and something like this,
but imposing a lot of, um, a lot of
exclusivities of selling their brand or,
or a lot of constraints, I want to say.
And, uh, that's when I met actually
with, and I was looking at the brands
and who could be a really premium,
uh, brand I would love to dream about.
And Lacoste came up pretty first, uh,
yeah, came up first and, uh, I was
able to get my network going and got
introduced to the CEO and, uh, pitched
him on the, on the idea at first.
It was a long shot.
And here we are, you
know, that's beautiful.
Yeah.
Yeah.
He loved the idea.
He loved the concept.
He loved the, the 360 offer.
Um, he loved the positioning and, uh, to
be honest, he wasn't even so acquainted.
He thought he was like, Oh
yeah, well, Padel or pickle.
We don't know which one
we're going to go for.
And the same guys, you
got to come to battle.
Lacoste is not a pickle brand.
And so, so, and, and that's how it is.
And here we are, we have an amazing
collection branding, uh, with parallel
X also, uh, the lacoste collection.
And for the, the material, we,
we, we're going to be working
with Nuestro, Pallon Nuestro.
Um, the idea was we didn't want to
specifically engage with one brand
where we would impose to all our
pros to play with a racket they're
not necessarily familiar with.
That's smart.
Yeah.
Um, and that's, you know, for now it's
a great deal to be with Pallon Nuestro.
They're the biggest
distributors out there.
Um, so it allows us to
be a little bit flexible.
Of course, they will help our pros
to, uh, to be, uh, equipped for the
rackets and the bags, but otherwise
for all the rest is with Lacoste.
That's beautiful.
Yeah.
That's so about Baboulat
is that other way.
In a friendship company.
We will sell Babolat rackets.
Okay, good.
So, all this now, all our viewers and
listeners, they're getting excited.
Is there an opening day?
Is there, is there some, I
mean, is there a specific day?
I mean, everybody's getting
excited with all this.
So, we're going to be
very careful with that.
Okay.
Because you only have One
chance of being doing a first
impression is really important.
Um, so we, we're going to soft open,
open softly first, uh, friends and family
before, before you, I mean, once we get,
um, before we have everything set up,
we don't want to receive the public in,
in a place that is not fully finished.
And then we're opening to the public,
hopefully in the next couple of weeks.
Great.
And, um, and we'll go from there.
We're planning on having a grand
opening a bit later in April.
Um, that will kind of really, once we're
ready, everything is in place, then we'll
be ready to, for, for big announcements.
So what data management
are you guys going with?
What?
Data management, your software, and
what app are you going to be using?
Play by point.
Play by point.
Great.
Everybody's familiar with that.
Yeah.
Exactly.
That's, that's exactly the reason
we chose to go with play by point
because, uh, they have a, so far an
overwhelming majority of the clubs, uh,
running, people are familiar with it.
We are a totally new brand
and company, uh, and club.
So it made sense to, to
go with Play by Point.
Yeah, the great thing about Play by
Point is that you can have all the
clubs that you want in the main.
And you just click in each one and
then you can book and all that.
I think it's fantastic.
Okay, so let's talk
about any new projects.
I know you have other clubs opening
up or possibly other clubs opening up.
Can you talk a little bit about that?
Yes, we, we, I can talk about
what we, what's going on.
We're happy to announce already
that we have a second club that's
going to come in Boca Raton.
Beautiful.
Indoor club.
And, uh.
You said indoor.
Yes.
Oh my gosh.
Amazing.
There's nothing in Boca
Raton, I don't believe.
I don't think so.
Good.
I love it.
And then, uh.
What's the timeframe on that?
It's going to be this year.
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
It's going to be definitely this year.
Good.
And then Palm Beach.
Palm Beach.
So you're staying East Coast or are you
planning to move Midwest or West Coast?
So far, so far we're going
to focus on South Florida.
We believe that.
It's, uh, where the market is a
bit more mature and, uh, we'll,
we're going to stay here for now.
But it's amazing that now that I'm
sure you do as well, you heard.
Of these different pop up clubs all
over the country and all that, which is,
it's a great sign, you know, we haven't
seen that in the past couple of years.
I mean, you hear projects in the West
Coast, in the Midwest, in the Northeast.
You hear a lot of projects, it
is a lot of flowing money going
into this, to this industry.
It's pretty amazing.
You know, um, what do
you think about that?
Do you think, uh, there's enough?
people for those clubs.
I see that right now, but do you
see at one point, you know, the
demand not being there and how
do you keep the demand there?
Are people still excited to continue?
Like if me, I'm a fanatic,
I'll play it forever, but not
everybody's like, like me.
Um, listen, uh, I think that
the game is here to stay.
And I think that the, the markets
are going to open one by one.
It's not going to be one special
specific actor opening all the markets.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Uh, there's a lot of froth right now.
Uh, we, like you said, we hear about
so many projects, uh, but it's not that
easy to get on your feet on the ground.
I really hope that a lot of, and I think
a lot of companies are going to succeed.
And, uh, that's, but that's,
that's exactly, um, the
industry we want to build.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I think going back to what you
mentioned something before is that.
There's room for everybody here.
And if you take that, let's say
tennis, tennis, you know, you have
the tennis background and all that.
I mean, how many tennis clubs are or
courts are all over the United States
and there's still room for growth.
You know what I mean?
You see the new tennis clubs coming up
and with Padel being such a new sport,
and so it's becoming so popular that.
Uh, the growth, it's infinite for now.
I mean, there's so many people.
Only time will tell.
You know, we, we we'll see, we're going
to see, uh, we're obviously very bullish.
Um, We think it's, uh, we're here to stay.
The game is here to stay.
Yeah.
We all made some moves and, uh, and
we hope, uh, we hope everything, uh,
and, and even more is gonna happen.
Yeah.
And, and I, I, I know that you play a
few times at, at, at Ocean Club and,
and when we took those courts out and we
put, we, we do the tennis score out and
we put three Padel courts and everybody
was very skeptical, but it's been very.
popular.
I mean, everybody's loving
it to play there, right?
I know.
I, I, I already, we
cannot play, have a court.
Yeah, exactly.
I mean, that, that's, uh, and I think
that's the, the real growth is going to
happen here in the United States when you
have these country clubs and the starting
courts away and putting Padel courts.
And I think that's the date.
It's trending right now.
That's what people are doing for sure.
Yeah.
You know, all right.
Now, thanks for coming
past master Academy.
I want to wish you all the luck and man.
Julian, we'll be at your soft
opening with our membership.
See you there.