Sammy Arora of Pure Padelplaceholder image
Sammy Arora of Pure Padel | Tom Groves Weddings
Sammy Arora is at the heart of the world’s fastest-growing sport and its impact on the UK
Lifelong Liverpool fan and young entrepreneur Sammy Arora never imagined the club he supports would be the reason behind his booming business. In fact, it was former Reds manager Jurgen Klopp who unknowingly planted the seed that would blossom into this snowballing success.
Sammy is the founder of the rapidly expanding Pure Padel — a UK-based chain of clubs created to feed the demand of this intriguing sport. Padel is something of a tennis-squash hybrid and has been named the ‘fastest-growing sport in the world’ by the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA).
Sammy is now at the heart of padel’s rapid rise in popularity in the UK, and there’s more to it than just making note of who’s picking up a racket and stepping out onto the court.
Jurgen Klopp introduces Sammy Arora to padel
We attended the opening of Pure Padel Nottingham and spoke to Sammy about his journey so far, and how former Liverpool boss Klopp introduced him to this competitive yet sociable sport.
When he was 17 years old, Sammy got his first taste of padel while playing with the legendary manager after his father won a raffle prize.
“My dad turns to me and my siblings and says 'kids, I've got a surprise for you'. We get in the car wearing our gym gear and we rock up to Melwood. I walk up to the gates and thought 'this can’t be right', I thought I was going to stand outside and take photos of Virgil van Dijk arriving for training,” Sammy told Liverpool World.
“But then Klopp comes out and shakes my hand and he's holding a padel racket, and I'd never seen a padel racket before, and he goes 'come on, we're playing'.
“Klopp built a padel court at Melwood as a way to bond with his players and that’s where we ended up playing for the first time.”
Football isn’t the only sport Klopp is passionate about. Red Bull’s Head of Global Soccer has his own Berlin-based padel company that he set up with his son Marc.
What is padel and why is it becoming so popular?
Padel was only invented in 1969 by a husband and wife duo while they were on holiday and looking for a cure for their boredom. Since then, the growing sport has more than 30 million players worldwide and Sammy doesn’t expect this trajectory to slow down.
Padel uses the same scoring system as tennis but is played on smaller, enclosed courts. The rules are slightly different to tennis, allowing the ball to be played off court walls, similar to squash.
Padel rackets are solid and do not have strings, while the balls look like tennis balls but are also slightly smaller. Players serve underarm in padel and typically play in doubles but singles matches are also encouraged.
“I knew the demand was going to be there. People love racket sports in the UK — squash, tennis... so it was a no-brainer that it was going to work,” Sammy, now 24, said. “The demand was there but there was no supply, and it was one of those things where once I had my eye on it, I had to do it.
“The stigma around tennis is it can sometimes feel quite formal, whereas with padel, you can just rock up in tracksuit bottoms if you want, and just jump on the court.
“Another reason why padel is booming right now, is people are trying to find new things to do that are healthy. Playing padel for an hour-and-a-half burns 900 to 1,000 calories. But some play padel and then go to the pub afterwards — it's a sociable sport and that's why it's doing so well.”
Growing padel and the UK’s interest
Inside Purel Padel Nottinghamplaceholder image
Inside Purel Padel Nottingham | Pure Padel
Pure Padel Nottingham is the first club to open in the Midlands, while plans for venues in Birmingham and Solihull are underway. The chain also currently has clubs in Manchester, Alderley Park, Stockport, North Leeds, and Darlington.
Sammy aims to have opened 30 clubs by the time he turns 30, which is a six-year business aim. To stay on track, he will need to open six new padel clubs around the country each year.
“We think we're going to smash those numbers. Next year we are building ten new clubs. The more you build, the more you understand the business model and it becomes easier to expand. The first few are obviously difficult to build and understand how to run them but now we've got the model right, we can really start to expand. So it's really exciting times.”
While Pure Padel is making waves by assisting in the growth of the sport overall, Sammy is passionate about making it a welcoming space for each individual who picks up a racket.
“The beauty of padel is how inclusive it is. It's a rare thing as well to have matches where kids can play against their grandparents — that's the unique thing about padel. Because it's so easy to play, you see that.
“We're trying to push inclusivity all the time. One thing we're really pushing for is women's-only sessions.”
Sammy and Pure Padel are eager to provide 'morning, evening and social sessions' for women to encourage beginners who may not 'feel as confident jumping on the court with strangers'.
“When we first started, we noticed we were about 80/20 ratio men to women and we really pushed to get more women to play. It's all about empowering you to gain confidence in playing.”
The padel bug has bitten millions of people around the world, including high profile celebrities and sporting legends like David Beckham and Serena Williams. As the UK continues to embrace the sport, Sammy is determined to be at the forefront of its growth.
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