Holly Brazier (PadelWithHolly) is a social media star with several thousand followers, who inspires many people to get into the fastest growing sport in the world. We were lucky enough to have the chance to speak to her this week.
Within our recent conversation with Holly, she told us:
“I noticed on Instagram and TikTok there wasn’t any relatable Padel content for me, particularly as a woman. I was either seeing these amazing professionals doing these amazing smashes out of the court, or, I was seeing coaches but [they] were very male orientated, and I thought you know what, I’m going to set up a page that kind of shows the real ‘I’m not amazing at Padel but I love the sport.”
Learning this information took us by surprise as at our local Soul Padel club, the split of players is 60/40 between men and women, respectively. Despite this being a smaller sample size it would lead people to believe that there would still be some female representation on social media, especially in a new and fast growing sport.
Holly’s content differs from many you may see as it brings to light the reality of not being able to hit a kick smash every shot or a bandeja, however gives a real insight into what the sport is actually like for those casual players who just enjoy playing in a new and ever growing activity. This is why her content resonates with so many people and attracts so much attention.
”I saw an article that said ‘Here are the top 10 investors in the sports business (Padel) and not a single one of them was a woman. It was such a shame to see that they hadn’t fully thought of that (in terms of highlighting female investors).”
”One thing that I keep on highlighting at the moment is that this is probably only one of the opportunities we will have in hundreds of years to grow the sport for men and women at equal rates, especially in England. Everyone is taking up this sport for the first time wether you are a man or a woman and I think we need to put extra effort into making sure that there is not a divide in that (the rate of growth). This sport is inclusive and everybody should be able to get the same publicity.”
Holly highlighting the disparity in appreciation for what females have done for the sport is interesting and important because this is probably the only opportunity to raise the profile of the women’s game at the same rate as the men’s.
It’s imperative that as a community we continue to develop and nourish both sides of the game at equal rates, to avoid any future setbacks once the sport has fully developed. Everyone is participating and that is what is most important, but it is key that everyone feels involved and welcome whilst taking part.
When asked about Padel benefits, Holly stated: “I think one of the main things, particularly why I love it so much is being able to meet new people through Padel. You’re always with three other people and always laughing about shots, even if you’re in a really competitive game. I think there’s a shared sense of frustration when somebody smashes the ball into the net or into the back glass!”
The continuous theme of sociability cannot be ignored and will never go away, this is what entices the novices and what keeps people continuously playing. From laughing at a shot to celebrating an amazing drop shot there is non stop communication with both your partner and your opposition. This helps build a strong community from club to club and what makes people strive for more within the sport.
Despite Padel being the fastest growing sport in the world it is essential that it is not simply a trend that lasts for a couple years and dies off. Holly told us ”I think it’s really exciting and flashy right now.” which is why many people are brought to the sport and eventually leads to them staying.
”There will be a day where you walk past the Padel court in the same way that you walk past a Tennis court and don’t go ‘Ooh it’s Padel’, I’d like to think it would be more like ‘Okay, there’s the local Padel courts’.”
There is a hope that the hype surrounding the sport never dies and leads to Padel courts being the normality in the UK, the difficulty of weather could become an issue but it is becoming more common to see covered courts. To be able to walk past Padel courts as a commonality would be refreshing.
Speaking on the recent event Holly attended at PadiumUK, she stated: ”Sky Sports wanted to kick-off the season with their new Tennis channel with a Padel event. A lot of people who have tried Padel have come from a Tennis or Squash background and I think it is mutually beneficial to get a bit more publicity around Padel from a sports streaming service (such as Sky).”
To see a major broadcast company choose to use Padel to kick off their new Sky Sports Tennis channel is fascinating as it hints at what may come with the mainstream media and the sport itself. However, the acknowledgement of people’s such as PadelWithHolly’s influence on the sport is uplifting and nice to see how they may move forward with the use of Padel. This event definitely shows encouraging signs of what it is to come.
”I think we’ll definitely see Padel become part of mainstream channels before it enters the Olympic Games. I’d like to think were only three years away from mainstream, but let’s see, it depends if it gets the same investment that a lot of other sports do”.
Now the question that stumps all, is when do you think Padel will be on mainstream media within the UK? That is because no one knows. However, to highlight it’s potential introduction to the Olympics and that it should come before that helps understand how far off we truly are.
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