The Joy of Padel podcast with Scott Reddick (JOPS02E11)

Delighted to announce the latest episode of “The Joy of Padel Podcast,” featuring an in-depth conversation with Scott Reddick, the dynamic force behind the P1 Padel Club in Las Vegas!

Episode Highlights:

• Scott Reddick’s Journey: Discover how Scott transitioned from a competitive tennis background to becoming a passionate advocate for padel. Learn about his adventurous spirit and the risks he took to dive into the world of padel sports.
• The Allure of Padel: Scott shares his first encounter with padel in the Bahamas and how he instantly fell in love with the sport. He discusses why padel is so addictive and fun for players of all levels, from beginners to seasoned racket sports enthusiasts.
• Building P1 Padel Club: Get an insider’s look at the creation and growth of the P1 Padel Club. Scott talks about the challenges and triumphs of establishing a premier padel facility in Las Vegas, including the importance of cultivating a welcoming and inclusive club culture.
  
• Marketing and Growth Strategies: Learn about the innovative marketing techniques used to attract new players and the significance of having skilled pros who can teach both the technical and social aspects of the game.
  
• Future of Padel in the U.S.: Scott discusses the potential for padel’s growth in North America, the importance of professional tournaments, and the exciting prospects for expanding P1 Padel Club to new locations.
• Personal Insights: Scott reflects on his own game, the joy of introducing new players to padel, and the rewarding experiences of seeing people fall in love with the sport.

Whether you’re a seasoned padel player or new to the sport, this episode is packed with insights, inspiration, and the infectious enthusiasm that Scott brings to the padel community.

Tune in now to hear Scott Reddick’s story and his vision for the future of padel!

Listen to the Episode: https://minterdial.com/2024/07/scott-reddick

Vamos, padel!

To find out more about Scott Reddick and the P1 Padel Club:

• Find or follow Scott on Instagram: SCREDDICK and P1 Padel
• Check out the P1 Padel Website

To listen to the show:

To listen to The Joy of Padel podcast, you can use the embedded player above, or go find it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or any number of other podcasting services listed here.

Send in your questions or reactions:

Please send me your questions — as an audio file if you’d like — to nminterdial@gmail.com. Otherwise, below, you’ll find the show notes and, of course, you are invited to comment. If you liked the podcast, please take a moment to review and/or rate it! ¡VAMOS!

Further resources for The Joy of Padel:

competitive tennis | Joy Of Padel Podcast | Las Vegas padel club | P1 Padel Club | paddle addiction | padel business model | padel clinics | padel club culture | Padel Coaching | padel community | padel courts | padel customer service | padel expansion | padel growth | padel lessons | padel marketing | padel membership | padel Partnerships | padel social events | padel Strategy | padel tennis | padel Tournaments | Racket Sports | Scott Reddick | tennis scholarship

This transcription comes courtesy of Flowsend.ai, an AI service for podcasters:

Minter Dial: Scott Reddick, great to have you on the Joy of Padel podcast. I am out here in Las Vegas with you. It’s not very often that I do a face to face with the Joy of Padel and I wanted to talk to you about what you’re doing out here. I’ve been very interested in everything that’s happening in the United States. So, first of all, Scott, in your own words, who is Scott Reddick?

Scott Reddick: That’s a good question. Who am I? I’m someone that’s passionate person, hardworking, very driven. I love adventure. I love excitement. I love new opportunities. And that’s kind of, I guess, a good segue into, I guess, how I got started in paddling in this business.

Minter Dial: Well, if you like adventure, you like risk.

Scott Reddick: I do. I do like a bit of risk. I’m someone that dabbles in risk in certain things that I’ve done, adventure wise, business wise, and so, yeah, I would agree with that.

Minter Dial: That’s great. So we are here in Las Vegas at the P1 padel club, and you have eight courts outdoors. Amazing facility. Tell us about, first of all, your road into padel Scott. How did you discover padel What on earth made you take on this addiction?

Scott Reddick: Sure. It’s a great question. My background is tennis. I grew up playing competitive tennis as a junior. Went away to school in North Carolina to play on a scholarship. I’m originally. I’m Canadian. I’m from Toronto, was born in Montreal. Our family moved to Toronto when I was younger. So, yeah, I grew up playing tennis. Absolutely love the sport. It’s my passion. It’s something that’ll always be a part of my life. Had a long road of career, different endeavors and things like that. But I ended up living in the Bahamas, which I currently still do. I’m relocating to Las Vegas because of the business here. Yeah, about three years ago, I moved to the Bahamas and was out there at a really nice resort called Albany. And I was training with some of the juniors there playing tennis, and they said, hey, do you want to come play padel And I said, I don’t know what that is, but yeah, sure, let’s go do it. So I’d been playing tennis out in the sun for 3 hours. They said, hey, let’s go play padel I said, okay, let’s go do it. So we went out and played, and in the first 15 minutes, I fell in love. I was like, what is this sport? This is unbelievable. And of course, immediately as a tennis player and someone with bracket sports experience, I thought, oh, I’m going to be great at this. And then I realized off the bat that, no, that’s not the case. I have a lot to learn. You can’t just crush the ball at every point. But we stayed out there for probably another 3 hours and I was exhausted, but I didn’t want to leave the court. I was like, this is the best thing I’ve ever seen. And so, yeah, that was my first introduction to playing padel

Minter Dial: It’s amazing how many stories I’ve heard about pro or, you know, driven tennis players going, doing some padel on the side, you know, or either swimming or padel But when you pick up the padel racket, there is no turning back. So tell us, why do you think, Scott, that padel is such an addictive, so quickly addictive sport for so many levels, not just, you know, good racket players, but so many people. Like, we’re just talking with John, who we played with just right away.

Scott Reddick: Yeah, I mean, I think it’s, to me, there’s an element of it that obviously it can be very competitive and very high level if you want it to be, but it’s just so much fun. There’s an element of like, of fun about it and game like gamified that is kind of missing from tennis a little bit. And I guess maybe it’s the level I played at in tennis, but it was always like if I wasn’t playing amazing or if I didn’t have the right person I was playing against, I was kind of like, kind of done with it, whereas it doesn’t. I’m a bit biased because I’m part of a club and I’m out there playing with everyone, which I absolutely love, but I just love being out there. It’s like, even today, you know, we’re playing in the hundred and whatever it is heat, and I wanted to keep playing, you know, it’s just, it’s just so much fun and it’s such a game and it’s, there’s elements of chess to it, which I love. And it’s so dynamic. And yeah, I love it for those reasons and many others.

Minter Dial: That’s brilliant. One of the things I was talking with Gabo, who runs an amazing thing called Tasty padel in Stockholm, and he talks about how it’s even fun to watch, not even the pro levels, as long as you have four reasonably competent and even players on a court, even that’s fun to watch because of course it’s fun to play. But that element of fun to watch, how important is that for the development of the sport?

Scott Reddick: Yeah, I think it is really important. I mean, you made such a great point, and I agree with that completely. Sometimes when I’m out on the courts, I can’t believe that the point is still going on. And it almost like where it makes you laugh, where you’re like, no way. That person got that back. And the points. I certainly don’t screws it up. Exactly. It’s just like that. That part of it is so entertaining as well. And like you said, it doesn’t matter who’s on the court. If you get people of similar ability out there, their rallies can continue. It doesn’t matter if they’re beginner or intermediate or advanced. And I think part of that is just, it keeps you coming back for more. It’s like when you get one of those crazy long points, or even if you watch it at the pro level, you think, oh, my God, like, this is just an element of the game that is so unique and so much fun.

Minter Dial: We’re going to get into this little later about how the watchableness of padel tennis is, I think, something that’s important to me, and we’re going to look at that relative to a pickle and a, and a lawn tennis, but just sticking with you a little bit longer. So one of the things I’m constantly trying to dig into is how do people convert not just from a passion piece, but from playing tennis to playing padel and the challenges of un-tennising and re paddling? What are the challenges you faced and what are the things or tricks you would think about in terms of switching from tennis to real padel

Scott Reddick: Yeah, good question. So I think, you know, anyone that comes to the sport with a little bit of racket, sports history, of course, can help. But similarly, like I mentioned the first time, playing, you know, you think, you know, you think you have all the tools right away, and then you realize you don’t because the game is dynamic. It’s something you haven’t experienced before with the walls, with the angles, learning the rules, obviously. So yeah, I think, you know, it’s one of those things where you have to get the basics down right, and that’s why coaching and clinics and all those things are important. But it doesn’t take much to get out there and start having fun immediately. And that’s what I love about the sport is, you know, we’ve introed hundreds of people now into it, and, you know, if we give people those tools to, like, start having fun immediately, they don’t have to learn everything right off the bat. They can go out there and just knock around with, you know, a little bit of teaching and technique of, okay, this is the way to hold the racket. But like anything else, it’s experience. The more you get out there and play, the more fun you have because you learn positioning where you should stand, how to play off the wall, how to time it. And so I think whether you’re coming from racquetball or squash or tennis or pickleball, you’re starting with a really great base, but it’s not necessary. You don’t have to have those things in order to have fun playing padel We have tons of members now that have probably never touched a racket in their life, and I’ve seen them progress and get better. If you’re willing to learn and you’re willing to be coachable, the sky’s the limit for how much you can improve in this sport.

Minter Dial: That’s such an important piece. The willingness to learn, the willingness to unlearn. And we have, we were talking a little bit just before about how oftentimes when people are grading themselves, they have a tendency to overrate. I play pile. I play tennis. I play squash. I got this. But actually, I feel like we need another dose of humility, which a will level us at the right spot, but also allow us to be more prone to wish to learn.

Scott Reddick: Yeah, for sure. I mean, I think that’s the thing everyone wants to be. You know, sometimes it’s maybe ego driven or whatever for people to be at the level. I mean, a lot of times people want to play with the people that they want to play with, and sometimes you’re below that level, sometimes you’re above it. But one of the great things that I think we’ve done a good job of adopting at the club is just creating this, like, open atmosphere where it’s good to play with both. You know, we have a lot of people that have experience that have been here for years playing, that like to elevate the people that are just coming in, which is fantastic. Because that’s what it needs. I mean, people need to be coached and need to do clinics, but they need to get familiar with playing with all different types of levels. So I think that’s the thing. The more connections, groups and things you get involved in in a club and playing tournaments, even if it’s just for fun, you know, ladders, leagues, all those things that are just going to get you experience and everyone’s different. I mean, it doesn’t have to be that path for everyone. But if you are aiming to improve and you want to increase your level and your rating, especially you do, you need to work on certain things and not just say, oh, that’s my level. And I can’t be told otherwise, you.

Minter Dial: Know, so, yeah, and I mean, frankly, the game is still evolving. And so even if you’re the top, I mean, I’ve had several top 20 players on the show and they’re still looking to learn, still improving, and they’re still looking at each other and saying, whoa, that’s a new type of shot, and that’s a new type of get. And I mean, we’re still being, we’re still, it’s. I mean, despite the fact that the sport was invented in 1969, it feels like we’re at a new era of expansion.

Scott Reddick: Yes. Yeah, absolutely. It’s true. I mean, I’m definitely in that camp where I just want to continually improve and learn things. And, I mean, I need to do the things that I’m preaching to other people to do. I need to take lessons. I need to get out there. I need to play more tournaments. Sometimes I wish there was more hours in the day to be out on court, but I’m blessed to be in an environment where, you know, this is essentially my office, but I see it through other people, too, and that gives me satisfaction as well. So.

Minter Dial: All right, let’s start talking about this P1 padel project. So we’re in Las Vegas. This center had been built by an Englishman. Tell us a little bit the journey to creating P1 here.

Scott Reddick: Yeah, sure. So we started our company about a year and a half ago, and it’s kind of a long story that I’ll try to shorten about how we kind of started the company. But as I mentioned, I lived in the Bahamas and I have a good friend there, or good friends, Simon and Gigi, who were essentially my neighbors in the development that we live. And we talked one day about going to play padel over in Albany. We went and played, and they’re from the UK as well, and they kind of knew the boom that was happening because they had people in their ear talking about it, very well connected. They had built a really successful business called escapology, which is an escape room business. Built it out to over 80 locations. So did very, very well with it, are basically out of it now. Have a small involvement, but, you know, essentially could probably have retired. But especially Simon. His mind keeps working, and he has people telling him that, hey, you really need to look at this sport. It’s really on the rise everywhere else in the world. It’s fairly in infancy stages in North America, and there’s real opportunity there. So we went and played at Albany. They fell in love with it. He has an interesting story where I mentioned he played at the Marbella club. We have a picture of it on our wall. Played there as a kid, so he knew of the sport, but hadn’t played it for many years and kind of got reinvigorated when we went and played over in Albany and we started talking and he built a whole deck, did tons of research. I mean, that is really his niche. He’s great at a lot of different things, but he really does this research, and data is his forte. So he really dug in deep and created this incredible deck. And he sent it to me just as a, hey, just take a look at this. I stayed up all night reading it, and I sent up this big, long text, and I said, hey, if you’re really thinking about pursuing this, I want to be involved. This is something that I’m really interested in. I have another career in finance, like, kind of a self propelled career. That was one of the reasons I moved to the Bahamas. But I always knew that maybe I would get involved in something on the side, something that I was really passionate about. And when I read that deck, it was just light bulbs went off. Yeah. And I just said, I want to be involved. And that’s kind of how we started.

Minter Dial: Well, that’s like you were saying before. You like the adventure piece, and it involves taking risks, so you take over management of this club. The challenge when you’re taking over is, of course, figuring out whether there’s enough of a base, what’s the model, the pricing, affordability, rent, blah, blah, blah, and all these other things which are sort of coming with the existing base. So talk us through how you approach that and what you’ve tried to do to make the club so successful.

Scott Reddick: Yeah. So it’s been a long journey. We just had our one year anniversary. Sometimes it feels like ten years, but June 1 just came around the corner. So we’ve been here a year, we’ve learned a lot. I mean, that’s obviously the best thing. Still a lot of growth and things that we’re trying to improve on and refine. And our goal is to definitely open up more centers, 10, 15, 20, maybe in the next decade or so. There’s obviously so much room for growth in major markets in the US and potentially in Canada as well.

Minter Dial: Canada is a virgin territory.

Scott Reddick: Exactly, exactly. So the opportunity is endless and we’re just so behind the end product. I mean, for sure. Of course, this is a business and we work really hard to get all the little details right. It’s really important to us that our center looks a certain way, that our staff uphold the right kind of demeanor and interaction with people, and all the things that you would need to have to run a successful sports club. But we just absolutely love the end product and we’re thrilled about the hopeful potential rise here in the us. And there’s so much opportunity and we’re looking forward to just continuing to learn, refine our processes. Really get it right here before we look at expanding and opening more centers.

Minter Dial: So what about sort of marketing and attracting new customers? And the other key question always for me is the pro or the pros having good pros who can teach the culture of the game, not just technically, and bring in that sort of social fun part as opposed to. Well, oftentimes we sort of reduce it down to the technique and how to play.

Scott Reddick: Yeah, yeah. So marketing is obviously a really important piece, especially at early stages. I mean, the reality is padel doesn’t have the trendiness that pickleball has in the US, where people are more probably in the stage of seeking that out, whereas we really need to work hard to get people through the door, you know, what are you doing?

Minter Dial: padel board. What does this game? Tennis.

Scott Reddick: Exactly, exactly. And we have people walking through the center that Google searched pickle and they come here because we were creative with our SEO search and we land on pages when people search pickle. But yeah, I mean, we just, we work really hard at our marketing. Our team, TPA, out of the UK and a small island guernsey, they do a fantastic job and so they do their job of getting people through the door and then we equally do, you know, we work hard and do a good job here to facilitate a really great introductory session for people. It’s called Tripaddle. We run it four days a week. Really structured session where we do about 1015 minutes fun presentation, intro the coach to the people. Kind of learn where people are from, why they’re interested in playing. Then we learn some of the basics, go out on the court, teach some of the fundamentals to get them kind of started on the right trajectory, and then just let them play, let them have fun and enjoy it for the last kind of half an hour. So that’s been an important piece of introing people in the right way, because it’s not enough to just have the courts and expect people to walk through and jump on.

Minter Dial: I definitely feel that you need to, the rules, it’s different. You need to give them a few guidelines, but it’s important that they’re immediately playing too. So tell us about some of the lessons you’ve learned. You were saying over the year you’ve learned some lessons of growing, and what would you say would be be useful lessons? I mean, obviously you don’t want to share with competitors, but how can other club owners benefit? And what sort of thoughts should they be thinking about in order to make for a better club?

Scott Reddick: Yeah, I mean, there’s nothing we want more than for the sport to grow. So when we hear about clubs popping up, it’s the best thing that we hear, because that’s what this sport needs to really take off. As far as lessons, I mean, we’ve learned so many, but I would say one of the biggest things is cultivating a culture which it feels very open, where people feel comfortable coming here, not intimidating at all, because sometimes you can get to, whether it’s a posh tennis club or, you know, one of these maybe small pickleball centers or something, where it’s only that group and you feel like if you’re not part of it, you’re not welcome.

Minter Dial: A little bit of attitude.

Scott Reddick: Yeah. Yeah. So we want to create a culture which is very open, and that encompasses a lot of different things. Having programs that are for everyone. Of course, there are specific ones for certain levels, but creating an atmosphere where if you want to come out to courts and coffee, our Sunday program, which is fun and it’s open level, and it’s just as much about the social and relaxing and unwinding on the weekend and getting a good workout as much as it is about anything else. So I think having really facilitating an environment where people feel that they can learn easily, that they’re around people that have the same interests, is helpful. And that takes time to build, obviously, but you gotta work with people. You gotta really. We pride ourselves on having a very high level of customer service. And when someone walks through our door, we really take, I mean, we know our staff for sure know everyone by name. And it’s just really important that they feel welcome at this club. For a lot of people, it’s their second home. I mean, when they’re not at work or maybe not at home, they’re here. Cause they absolutely love it and there’s always room for improvement and things that we’re working on. But when you create an atmosphere where people just want to be here all the time, that’s, I think, a recipe for success.

Minter Dial: I mean, and then from an economic model standpoint, naturally, you know, there’s the playing, but helps to have a good bar and a good restoration. So that from an economic standpoint can also help people feel very comfortable coming here. They can just come in and have a drink without even playing.

Scott Reddick: Exactly. That’s the goal is to have that environment that people just want to be around all the time. And we still have lots of work to do to make it exactly what we want to be and figure out that exact model to kind of replicate and expand and build more clubs. But we’re certainly on our way and we’re noticing it in the past couple months, just learnings that we’ve implemented and. Yeah, no, I think that’s exactly it. It’s just when you’re focused on that level of customer service and experience, that goes a long way. Because I don’t think maybe in the short term it could be a model to just put courts and expect people to go and show up and play almost like a community centered vibe. And it’s not to say that that can’t work for the padel addicts that are looking for variety and playing at different clubs, but if you want to be part of something and part of a club and part of a lot of people, our members, they love inviting their friends here, found this thing and they want to bring their friends or their family. And that’s really rewarding for us.

Minter Dial: I just can’t think of any successful padel club that just, that doesn’t enjoy or promote the social aspect. So from a model you’ve made it a membership. What’s the model for playing?

Scott Reddick: Yeah, so we’ve evolved it over time, but we never wanted to make it a member exclusive only place. We didn’t. You know, it is important for us to intro people to the sport, and sometimes it takes people some time to feel like this is something that they want to really make part of their life and come multiple times a week and get involved in all the things that we have to offer. But non members can play all the time. So we do have memberships, and we’ve recently switched to offer unlimited type memberships, which has had a helpful benefit to the club. Kind of going back to what I was saying earlier about just creating this openness where people don’t feel so rigid to only come out for the exact perfect game that they want. They’re more inclined to just kind of be out, make more connections, which creates organic growth as a result. You know, we had all the programs from the beginning, but it was hard sometimes to get people out. You know, we knew that they wanted to come out, but they almost had to be, like, personally invited, which is nothing wrong. I think we were a bit naive, just kind of having that mentality that, oh, this sport is great and people are just going to come out and play.

Minter Dial: Once you’ve drunk the Kool Aid, do you think everyone naturally just whisks it and gets it?

Scott Reddick: Exactly, and that’s such a good point. So we’ve kind of shifted our mentality, and that’s had a huge benefit. And as a result, the club is definitely starting to trend in the, in the right direction. And, you know, obviously there’s certain things that we can control, like the weather here, which can be challenging, but as far as an atmosphere that we’ve created at the club, it’s definitely starting to happen the way we thought it would.

Minter Dial: And obviously, the club doesn’t have, it’s not indoors, so you are beholden to the weather. And the heat here, I can certainly testify, is warm in the middle of the day, actually, starting at 11:00 it’s already warm, at least in June, so presumably you have to figure out how to manage downtimes. I mean, this is always a problem during the weeks anyway for most clubs with the weather on top of that, for sure.

Scott Reddick: Yeah, I mean, it’s something that we’re, you know, last year when we started in June, we were, we launched right at the peak of that. And I don’t think we really faulted ourselves for not having our, find our feet yet. We had a lot to learn, but now we’re coming into one year and we have to make some refinements and figure out what’s best for business. And so we have changed our summer hours, and even as starting as of next week, we’re adjusting things, you know, sending polls out there for people to kind of vote on. Hey, this is a program that runs, you know, let’s say our men’s night on Monday at 630, which is a really successful program. Now, we fill all the courts have people on the waitlist, which is fantastic. And, you know, we sent out a poll say, hey, we know it’s getting hot. Would you prefer that 630 to now be eight? So we really, it’s important to us to engage with the members and not just say, hey, this is how it’s going to be. We have to listen to them, the club is for them. So we take that feedback in everything that we do and implement it. So, yeah, yeah, so we have adjustments to make for the Vegas heat and, yeah, like you said earlier, I mean, there’s no reason why the cafe can’t still be booming or this be a place to come and work and people pop up their laptop because it’s a nice environment where they feel relaxed. And we’re looking at a pretty nice view of padel courts.

Minter Dial: Any view of padel courts, there’s a nice view. So in terms of the United States, obviously, I’ve had Marcos on, I’ve had Nico, Luisito, and talking about Nallé, my cousin, about the us market. So Las Vegas seems to be another booming part of the padel world. It has a team for the professional padel league and you’ve had. You have the profession, the American padel League or something like this, where you’ve done a tournament here. Tell us a little bit about the sort of the higher levels and what you’re trying to do, what part of it you can participate in.

Scott Reddick: Yeah, so we just recently, two weeks ago, had a USPA major here, which is something we obviously, as a club, petition to be a part of and host at our club. There’s four of those a year and generally they like to split them up between East coast and West coast. So we got accepted to be a host club of one and obviously our first time running a major tournament and we offered the biggest prize pool ever for a USPA tournament, 21,000, which might not seem like a lot, but obviously padel is in infancy city stages and there’s only room for growth from here. So we were really excited to be a part of that. Obviously, we had to get sponsorship and it had to all make sense for us in order to run, but we worked really hard behind the scenes and we have a really great team behind us to put that on and make it happen, and we’ve got really great feedback from it. I mean, we personally think it went really well. We had our club members involved as well, kind of running a fun little side d three tournament. So, I mean, it was, it was amazing. It was just such, so great to see the, the level the caliber of players out here. We got some international players coming and obviously Vegas is an exciting city, so, you know, we have that in our back pocket, which is nice. And we could try to lean into that as well. But, yeah, the level was unbelievable and we can’t wait for the next one next year. And we hope it just, we hope the prize money increases, we hope the sponsorship increases, we hope the attendance increases. We have a lot of learnings, a lot of things that we would improve because we, you know, we do hold a high standard, but it went exceptionally well. And, yeah, it’s just amazing to see where the sport is going. I mean, the players that were out there and the level, it was something, something to behold. It was quite exciting to watch.

Minter Dial: And so speaking of watching exciting players, do you watch much professional padel

Scott Reddick: I don’t really. I think, I think I will, but it’s something that I really, I mean, they’re all in or not at all. And I kind of got to that way with tennis. Like, I took my break, you know, where I just wasn’t interested. And then a couple years ago, I really got into the circuit. And I think it’s about learning the characters because, of course, it’s exciting to just, you know, watch a game or watch highlights, but until, you know, the individuals, that’s when it really becomes something different. So I think when I have time and when I am able to get into that, I certainly will because I love watching it, for sure.

Minter Dial: Well, that is fascinating that you say that, Scott, because there are many sports you can start looking at, you know, golf and lawn tennis and you look at Jocko or Alcaraz. But there is something specifically interesting about this character, as I feel in padel where you, this notion of playing as two is so continuously organic and complex and interesting, as opposed to lawn tennis, where you bad a bing, bada boom, you serve volley, trying to win quickly. It’s three points, three shots sort of thing, whereas the average rally is nine shots in padel or twelve shots. So there’s going to be more happening every point so that there’s something sophisticated. How do you read that? And I mean, looking at that chemistry between players.

Scott Reddick: Yeah, I mean, you’re right. I think that is such an exciting element to the, to the sport and why, I mean, it creates drama too, right? I mean, when players switch partners, that’s a big deal.

Minter Dial: Divorce.

Scott Reddick: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. I mean, we have, we see that at our own club. It’s, oh, that person’s not playing with that person. I don’t like him anymore. But it’s true. It adds an element to drama, which I think is unique and different. I mean, of course, doubles has always been a thing in tennis, but it never, you know, it never took off the way, obviously, singles did. And so that is the really neat thing about padel is that it’ll really forever, I think, be a doubles game. I mean, I know there are singles courts, but, you know, the game is meant to be played as a doubles game. And so, yeah, I mean, I think especially as more countries adopted, and you. You get players from all over the world, really. And I think, you know, hopefully when it lands in the Olympics one day, that’ll change things for sure. And even, you know, we hope to see it as a collegiate, you know, when it lands in colleges. And, I mean, that’ll just, you know, there’s so much. There’s so much for it for. To happen, for the sport to really take off, juniors need to be involved. So.

Minter Dial: Yeah, so interesting. I haven’t actually heard of any universities getting involved. I suppose they’re getting involved in pickleball, you know, not my favorite sport, sorry, but. And let’s just talk about pickleball a second, and a lot of people would be coming here and they’re saying, why isn’t there pickleball court? Is that something. I mean, I know in America it’s such a big sport.

Scott Reddick: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I. We kind of think is. padel is a bit of a. Or, sorry, Pickle is a bit of a smokescreen for padel but we don’t see it as a competitor or something that’s in the way. I mean, to be honest, something that gets people out, gets them active, and the fact that there’s a racket in their hand is amazing. We have a lot of people and a lot of members that play pickle as well as padel They love both, or they still play tennis or they still play squash or racquetball. And I think it’s fantastic. I mean, I’ll never give up playing tennis, although I haven’t played in a year and a half because I’ve been obsessed with this. I mean, tennis is my first love, and there’s nothing wrong with having multiple passions in your life. And so when people are coming here, maybe searching for Pickle, we don’t see it as a barrier. We say, hey, this isn’t pickle, but we have this amazing sport out here called padel and we want to introduce you to it. And we’ve converted a lot of people from that, and that’s okay. You know, I think there’s room for both. And as a business model, there’s probably good room for having, you know, maybe pickleball courts at a padel center just as a, some variety and a way to get people through the door.

Minter Dial: All right. Well, Scott, last question. So P1 congratulations on what you’ve been doing in Vegas. What about the future where you mentioned opening up other clubs? What are you looking for? And talk about the type of markets and or type of clubs you’re trying to do. Is it basically copy and paste what you got here or what do you think?

Scott Reddick: Yeah, so I mean, the reality is there’s so much opportunity in major markets across the US. I mean, it’s crazy to think that there’s these incredible cities that have no courts at all. Yeah, I mean, I went out and did my certification with Marcos out in LA last year and there was coaches there that were part of tennis clubs and they didn’t have padel courts, but they just wanted to get certified because they knew that hopefully it’s coming. And so, you know, you could look at any major market right now and say, I think there’s opportunity there to put some courts. And so we’re still trying to figure out what actually is the best model for us. Obviously, you know, models like what’s happening in Sweden where there was this massive boom and, and, and now it’s kind of reverted a little bit. You know, we just definitely want to be care. There’s, I think there’s just a lot of things to consider when opening a club. And obviously, indoor is probably the best business model, but it comes at a cost. I mean, obviously, and it’s not an easy sell for landlords. I mean, we spent the first five, six months of the inception of our company trying to find the right location and the right. There’s a lot. There’s a lot. There’s a long checklist that we had of things to find, but it’s a tough sport for checking off all those things, the clear height, the space, and it’s not familiar for landlords to get into the spaces that you want to be. So I think that’ll eventually change. And obviously, like real estate and all those things, if those start to turn a corner as well, that will obviously help. But I think we still are trying to figure out what is the right thing. Is it a combination of indoor, outdoor? Is it maybe taking over existing tenant centers that are maybe no longer? But we’re still trying to figure that out. But it’s an exciting part of it because we can’t wait to expand and just continue to share this sport with more people all over and build on our learnings.

Minter Dial: All right, so, Scott, last two questions about you, your padel The first is, how do you describe your game? And the way I like to ask that is, what sort of an animal do you think you are on a padel court?

Scott Reddick: Okay, so my game is definitely still evolving. Like I mentioned when I, you know, the first couple months I was playing, I thought I could just stand at the net and cream the ball. And now, I guess the word to describe my game or where I want my game to go is strategic. I’m fortunate enough to have great players to play with. Alfredo Massey. There’s a handful of really great players here, and when I watch them or I watch the tournament or I watch the pros, I realize a graceful sport. You don’t have to rush. If you just take your time, if you’re in the right position, if you bend your knees, if you think and use your brain and use the angles, then that’s how you can really continue to improve and grow. And so that’s where I want my game to go for sure. I like slamming the ball out of.

Minter Dial: The court, but you did plenty today. Maybe the heat helps, too. But last question then. This is the Joy of Padel and I like to think that padel brings joy. So what do you have, a story or an anecdote of a joyful moment on a padel court?

Scott Reddick: I’ve just been a part and witnessed so many people come through the door for a tripaddle, and at the beginning, it was me hosting those sessions. And there’s nothing more satisfying than, like, people that have never played coming out and just having the time of their life, you know, especially when we get a great. A big group. You know, we’ve done bachelor parties, we’ve done corporate events, we’ve done birthday parties. And there’s nothing more rewarding than just people seeing people getting a great workout. So it’s good for them. They had the social element, and they learned something new. That, to me, is, yeah, I’ll never get tired of seeing that. So we just want more of that here, and hopefully at future clubs that we built.

Minter Dial: That sounds like the great final word. Scott, thank you for coming on the show and sharing your Joy of Padel

Scott Reddick: Thank you so much. Thank you for coming. It’s a pleasure to host you. Yeah, I can’t wait to have you back in the future, and we’ll stay in touch. Thank you for having me.

Minter Dial: Vamos, padel Vamos.