After months of work, Dunedin is now home to two brand-new padel courts. Padel is a Mexican sport invented in 1969 which has been described as a hybrid of squash and tennis.
Pure Padel co-founder Tom Price said they were now adding the final touches to the courts.
‘‘It’s been a bit of a journey ... it started with the concrete slab and then all the steel work. We’ve just completed all the glass framing and got the Astroturf down over the last weekend.’’
There will be an open day at the two courts, located at Tennis Otago at Logan Park, tomorrow from 11am to 3pm.
‘‘We’re going to do 15-minute games and also some beginner, ‘I’ve never touched a paddle before’ lessons as well — anyone can just show up.’’
He said there would also be a sausage sizzle and some refreshments to celebrate the new courts.
The inspiration to bring padel to Dunedin happened because Mr Price, who lives in Auckland, often comes down for business and to visit family. He missed playing padel when he was down here, and decided Dunedin would be the best place to build a court.
‘‘I love being down here, but the only thing I don’t love is not playing padel when I’m down, so I solved that problem by building a club.
‘‘Honestly, padel is the most addictive sport I’ve ever come across.’’
Luckily, six months later, the first courts were built, and he has been playing since.
A padel court is about half the size of a tennis court and has fibreglass at either end of the court.
The sport is essentially the same as tennis, but starts with an underarm serve and, as long as the ball goes over the net it can either be volleyed on the full, or can bounce against the glass behind the player to continue the volley.
Mr Price said after the grand opening, people would be able to book time slots for the courts online on the Pure Padel website and all equipment would be available in the clubrooms as part of the booking.
