Hello, everyone.
Welcome to another exciting episode of Padel Smash Academy.
Here in sunny Miami, we have the weekly news for you.
So let's start with, uh, the Reserve, right?
Let's start with the Reserve event.
Tell us, you were there, tell us, uh, how, how was it?
Um, it was amazing.
I mean, I gotta say that Reserve Club, uh, takes it here, you know,
because they, they, I mean, where are you going to, where are you going to
be able to see these four, uh, you know, top level players, uh, play,
you know, and actually play with them.
It's a pretty incredible.
They had Miguel Lampardi, Coqui Nieto, Gonzalo Rubio, and Chipi, uh, Munoz,
uh, incredible players, all top 20, uh, players from World Padel Tour,
uh, members who were able to play with them, which was really, really great.
I mean, I played with all of them.
It was amazing.
I know I got to see some really, really exciting video clips on Instagram.
I mean, the level that you were moving, you, you look like a classic
ballerina playing on the court.
I mean, you were just floating there.
It was pretty amazing.
Maybe for a couple games, that was it.
I think, yeah, maybe for half a game, probably.
Oh, I mean, that's pretty good.
Half a game.
I mean, that level was incredible.
Um, opportunity to be able to do that at that club was amazing.
I mean, it's again, some of the benefits of being a member.
I mean, if you're ever considering being a member, I mean, there's
so many great benefits there.
I mean, it's just unbelievable.
And then afterwards you're able to see an exhibition game, you know, they played
against each other and it was great.
Uh, yeah, let's give some, some kudos to, to Wayne Boyes, the owner
of Reserva and everyone else there.
They always pull up some outstanding, incredible Padel events.
So well done guys.
Okay.
So let's talk about Pan American Games.
Uh, you've been nominated to go, right?
Yes.
Congratulations.
Yes.
We got Palace Smash going there.
Yeah.
We got somebody presenting that.
So, uh, you're representing USA.
Yeah.
Right?
And so, uh, tell me a little bit about it.
How many teams are there?
And how is, well, let's go with that.
How many teams are there?
Well, first of all, I mean, I was proud, uh, I'm probably, uh, nominated
to represent the US, uh, the USA in, in the upcoming Pan American Games.
Uh, they're going to be held in Brazil, specifically in Cambodia.
You, um, 75 of us play Padel players from the U S are going there to
represent, uh, the American flag.
Uh, super excited, super nervous.
I mean, it's going to be a very highly competitive, uh, event, Padel event.
Um, how did we get chosen?
Um, the USPA.
Uh, assign a captain for each specific team, and then the
captain chooses the players.
The way, the format it is, 70 percent of the, uh, when you choose a player
has, it's bit, uh, ranking base.
So if you have a good ranking, you're almost guaranteed that you're going to go,
especially if you're on top 10, top 20.
And the other 30 percent is based on skill levels.
I mean, some of these players are very good players, but
they don't compete as much.
So that's the way it's been, it's been, uh, format or set up.
So how did you get in then?
Uh, connections.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Figures.
Yeah.
Okay, great.
Uh, so how does that work?
How do you determine who plays, who doesn't?
Is it team based?
I mean Uh, first of all, if you've been playing the, uh, some tournaments with
a specific partner and that partner is also going, uh, that is recommended
because you guys already know each other.
Uh, we've been having, uh, weekly practices.
Uh, play with different partners and then, uh, see who is a good fit to what.
Um, and it's been pretty good.
I mean, some pretty good players are coming.
Um, the funny part is that, uh, we don't have players, uh, the,
the, um, some of the players are going to be playing different, uh,
divisions because we don't have enough players for each division, sadly.
Uh, but Padlet is growing here in the United States.
Hopefully next year is going to be different, but we're so excited.
We're going to be competing against the rest of the American countries.
Uh, you know, the strongest teams are going to be Argentina,
Brazil, uh, Chile, uh, Paraguay.
Uh, Uruguay has, has some very strong teams.
So nervous, exciting.
And, um, let's, let's go USA baby.
And I didn't know they had a senior citizen division.
They do, they do.
They're 65 and over, so.
So tell me about the, let's talk about a little bit about the
World Padel Tour in Mexico.
Yes, yes, Mexico.
Yep, that was, uh, let's talk, I know, I know, you know, most of you guys know
the winners, uh, Cuello and Tapio, but let's talk more about, uh, Leontino.
I mean, the performance in that tournament was just unbelievable.
Unbelievable.
That Leo, man, can hit the smash, that ball, man.
It doesn't even seem like he's putting a lot of effort in that ball.
It just goes up for three all the time.
Incredible.
Amazing athleticism.
Um, they, they had to beat, um, uh, um, Paquito, right?
Paquito and, uh, who would it be?
Chingoto.
Chingoto, right?
Yeah.
They beat them and then they also beat Garrido and, and Mau Mau.
Yeah.
To make it to the, to the finals.
Yeah.
Um, it was just unbelievable.
I mean, there's times when I think that's definitely the future.
Some of the kids that I think are going to do very well next year.
I mean, these two kids are under 20 years old and they're
beating pretty much everyone.
Right there, you're watching right now the next generation of Padel players.
Something very, very interesting.
I don't know if you pay attention or not.
They played the entire tournament without a coach, only by themselves.
They had no coach whatsoever.
So everybody else has a huge team behind them, including a coach.
These two young kids, they made it to the final without a coach.
Pretty, pretty impressive.
It's amazing.
But why do you think that is?
Uh, they probably didn't have any money because coaches have cost a lot of money.
But I think they've proven themselves, right?
Yeah.
I think most coaches would invest some time, you know, you know what I'm saying?
Um, sometimes it is difficult when, uh, let's say I'm a Padel player.
I have my own coach and the other, my partner has a different coach.
Who gets to choose which coach is going to be representing us during the tournament.
Sometimes it gets a little bit, uh, frictionless that,
that, that relationship.
Uh, but I don't know, I don't know the insights, uh, but you know,
that could be one of the reasons.
The other one is, is the financial reason.
Which may, may not be, but, uh, pretty interesting because they
have no guidance whatsoever.
So they really went out and played their best and, and incredible.
So imagine when they have a coach.
Yeah.
You know, they're gonna, I mean, I, I'm looking forward to seeing them, uh,
at the semis and finals, uh, you know, of all the tournaments, uh, next year.
Yeah.
And they're, they're part of the Knox next generation team.
Uh, Knox is doing a great, great, uh, program for next generation players.
They have them all living in the same house, all the young players,
uh, practicing with the same coaches and all that, and they're
part of that specific group.
That includes also Agustin Tapia, which is obviously at a different level.
And something interesting, uh, happened in the final.
That, uh, um, uh, Leo Ausberger, If he, if he would have won that
specific tournament, he would have made it to the finals of the Masters.
That's why that's always crying.
That's why he cried out right at the end.
And he was so close.
And, uh, and that was, he was crying right at the final because he was so
close to made it to the Masters finals.
Which is a huge achievement for any Padel player.
Yeah, at his age especially.
Yeah, at his age, yeah.
It's true.
Okay, great.
So let's, let's talk about the PPL, right?
Uh, the new teams, right?
New teams in the PPL.
And new players coming on, you know, on board the PPL.
I mean, we've got a lot of great.
I think so.
I think we have a three more new teams.
Yeah.
Right.
So let's, let's go over that.
I think we have the first one is, uh, Houston Volts.
The Houston Volts, uh, is coming out of Houston, uh,
with some exciting new players.
They haven't confirmed all of them.
They have in the draft, uh, I think it's in January, first week in January.
Yeah.
Then we have the Florida goats, baby, with daddy Yankee.
So that's an exciting, it's going to have a new, you know, vibe on it.
So, so how do you say that again?
The Florida goats, baby.
Oh my gosh.
Yeah, yeah.
So that's going to be really cool.
And then you have the New York Atlantic.
Which, uh, Juan Martin Diaz is going to be playing for in the PPL next year, 2024.
It's going to be amazing, huh?
And we should mention that, actually, as of the World Padel Championship
in Mexico, He has called it quits.
He's retiring from the World Padel Tour.
I saw that.
I saw his speech and it was a tearjerker, man.
I mean, he does so much for Padel.
He's just a legend.
Yeah.
And it's tough to let go of Padel, you know.
You know, he has, he had a great, you know, great history.
Um, I think he's going to move on to great things also.
And, and, and, you know, in, in, in affiliated with Padel.
Yeah, just to give you a little bit of the flashback, he was number one
in the world for 13 consecutive years.
I mean, at any sport to be number one out of any sport for 13 consecutive
years without getting injured, without, you know, especially having your
partner, you know, sticking with you.
And they were almost undefeated, undefeated without losing a professional
match for almost two years with Bela.
His partner was Bela.
They were the undisputed kings of Padels for, uh, 13 years.
And, and after they split up, uh, Bela went up to be number one in the world for
another three more years, over 16 years.
So it's, his achievements on the Padel world, they're outstanding.
Uh I don't know if somebody will break those, but I don't know.
I mean, that team, Bella and this was like an amazing team.
Wow.
They were unbeatable.
Unbeatable.
So let's talk about the Exxon cap.
Something very interesting.
Probably you guys haven't heard about it, but let's give us,
let's give them an update.
Yeah.
That's, that's new.
I think, uh, I, we don't have a lot of info on it, but we have some
basic, uh, uh, um, information on it.
Um, we know that it's somewhat like a team, team sport, right?
It's going to be in, uh, in Madrid in February of next year.
Uh, there's six, uh, franchises.
Um, so let's talk a little bit about those six individual franchises
and they're going to be owned by, uh, athletes or celebrities.
Yeah.
And I think it's, uh, I call it, there's the PPL on steroids for a
simple reason that there's a huge.
Money prize behind it, the winners will take a million euros
home, uh, which is huge, huge.
They're playing in Madrid, uh, they're playing, I believe it's at the, uh,
Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid stadium.
I mean, it's something really, really exciting.
I mean, the exposure is going to be huge.
And, uh, some of the owners of these six teams, they're like
big sports stars and celebrities.
One of those is Andy Murray, former number one, uh, tennis player in the world.
Rafa Nadal and Rafa Nadal Academy.
That's a sponsor also by, um, his watch, uh, what's the name of his watch?
Uh, this high end watch.
Yeah.
But I mean, it's, it's, it's, uh, sponsored by that.
Also, we have Eva Longoria, the actress.
And we have a team from Puerto Rico.
Uh, called the Bella team, uh, by some, you know, high, high end, uh,
entrepreneurs in, in Puerto Rico.
Uh, it's super exciting, super exciting.
And we also have Jose Calvo Sotelo.
Jose Calvo Sotelo is the brains behind, um, uh, this whole Exagon Club.
I had a pleasure to meet him and I had spent some time with him.
He's the owner of Mat for Padel, uh, club, uh, one of the top clubs in Madrid.
It's in Pozuelos.
Um, if you ever go to Madrid, go and check them out because it's absolutely beautiful
club and Jose, it's an outstanding person.
Great, great, great.
Million dollars, huh?
A million, no, a million euros, even more.
Euros.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
And I wonder if that's going to continue every, every year, or this is just
like, uh, you know, at the beginning stages, or is it going to go up?
Is it going to go down the prices?
I mean, that gives a lot of motivation for people to get
into this, uh, this franchise.
And let me ask one thing, what would it happen if they're jumping in the
jumping, you know, Across the ocean, and they come into the United States.
Now they're going to be big, because it's the same format as the, uh, PPL, right?
Yeah, that's true, yeah.
So, it's going to be interesting.
I'm not sure, I think that's their second stage.
I think they're going to look at analytics and see and assess how well it went.
Yeah.
You know, in February.
Yeah.
If it went well, then, you know, they might cross, cross the boundary, right?
And then come over here.
Yeah.
We'll see, we'll see, we'll see what happens.
A lot of drama there will be a lot of drama there for sure.
All right.
Let's talk a little bit about the Racket X.
I know it's coming in next year.
You're involved in Racket X.
So let's talk a little bit about that.
Racket X.
I'm part of the team at Racket X.
Racket X is the first ever uh, Racket Sports Expo.
Uh, coming here, coming in the United States or in the world.
Uh, it's coming here to Miami at the Miami Beach Convention
Center from March 24 to the 26th.
And basically what we're doing is we're bringing all racket sports
together under the same roof.
That's going to be tennis, Padel, pickleball, squash,
beach tennis, ping pong, name it.
We're going to have all, all racket sports coming together with a big emphasis
on tennis, Padel, and pickleball.
And we're building a tennis court.
We're building four Padel courts.
We're building four pickleball courts.
It's going to be a super, super exciting event.
We're going to have professional players from all the racket sports coming
and give talks, uh, do exhibitions.
Uh, we're going to have vendors from ITs, from apparel, from naming all the
big brands, they're going to be here.
From Adidas, Wilson, um, you know, all, all, uh, Padel brands, uh, you
name it, they're going to be here.
Super exciting.
If you're in Miami in March, March 24th to the 26th, come and check it out
because it's going to be super exciting.
Racket X.
Nice, nice.
So what can a consumer really expect when he goes there?
They're going to obviously talked about, there's going to
be all racket stuff there, but there's going to be booths there.
The ability to play, actually play there in rather Padel, pickle, or tennis.
Uh, what, what else can I can expect?
Well, the, the expo is going to be oriented to both, uh, B2B, uh,
business to business and business to consumer, final consumer.
So you're going to have both ends.
Um, uh, and yes, we're going to do the courts.
They're going to be allotted to each specific brand.
Let's say, uh, bull Padel wants to do a show their rackets for people
to try out their new bull Padel rackets that coming out in 2024.
So they can use one of the courts for, um, other businesses,
owners, or final customers try those Padels and check them out.
So it's going to be super interactive and it's going to be super, super exciting.
Right.
Is there going to be any Padel players or celebrities there?
Anybody could say?
I can't say it right now, but I guarantee you we're going
to have professional tennis.
Padel and pick ball players, uh, coming up and give speeches and give exhibitions,
do programs and things like that.
Nice.
We'll keep you updated on our news, uh, moving forward.
And we're going to be most likely, hopefully broadcasting
from on location from there.
So that's going to be exciting.
We'll try to be live there.
It's pretty cool.
Um, okay.
Well, thanks.
Thanks guys for joining us for our weekly newsflash and we'll catch you next week.
Stay tuned.