We were lucky enough to sit down with Co-founder of The Padel Directory on Wednesday, George Modler, to ask him some questions about the directory and some more general questions about the fastest growing sport in the world!

When asked how ThePadelDirectory benefits a day-to-day player, George explained:

“What we focus on is that no matter how many times you’ve played, there’s something for you. For example, if you’ve never played, the court map is probably the most popular page as you can find a club wherever you are. You can use the filters to find specifics too, like a club that serves alcohol, has changing facilities, has parking, has a hotel, has singles courts as examples. As players learn where the clubs are in local areas, I would now say its almost like a pathway, so they transition onto the event calendar, which is one-of-a-kind in the UK. Whether it’s an LTA event, or a club run social, these events are all in one place.”

Co-owners, George Modler and Ben Harris, clearly focus on the Padel industry from the ground upwards and have not left a single stone unturned. Their plan is to make the sport as accessible as possible, even to those who are more familiar with the game. This model is a clear success as this week, The Padel Directory have had back-to-back record days in terms of viewership, accumulating around 3,000 and 2,800 views on two different days. Here at Proper Padel, we have found we have found the directory useful as it allowed us to find new venues that we wouldn’t have found without it.

“With the Padel Clubhouse, if a player wants to ask physio advice, we have a professional physio on the clubhouse who can answer questions, linking to advice on warm-ups or injuries. If a player wants to ask in regards to looking for a partner for an event, or the standard of said event, they can do that. But importantly, if people just want to have a chat about Padel, they can do that too. It’s a space where people can talk all things Padel, whether it’s general chat or a formal question.”

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The clubhouse is a new addition to the website, which has only levelled up the accessibility of the community. It has for people who are obsessed with the sport to speak freely to like-minded people about their own experiences in Padel. You can find us on the clubhouse speaking about our experiences on court, too.

When asked about his initial spark for the sport came from, George answered:

“I found Padel around two years ago now. Before finding it, I had a slight interest in racquet sports in terms of playing casually with friends and family, but, when I first started playing Padel, what got me hooked was that you could find a game on Playtomic or another app instantly, and it would be in a competitive environment. If you play football, for example, you have to wait for that Wednesday evening or Sunday morning to come around, and often in the UK they are cancelled in the winter due to the weather. With Padel, if it’s 8am or 5pm, you are usually able to get a game at a nearby venue.”

Despite hearing people mention regularly that sociability is the driving factor of Padel, George found the flexibility of the sport the determining factor in his love for the game. Although individuals don’t mention the flexibility of Padel all that often, it is probably an underlying reason as to why people love the sport so much as there are always opportunities to play through apps such as Playtomic.

“The flexibility of Padel helps the initial interest, but what really is big is that the more you play it, the more you feel you’re getting better at it. Personally, I haven’t really felt that with another sport, you have to almost have lessons to really learn and get into most sports, whereas with Padel, lessons do help but you can improve by watching videos and playing on a regular basis.”

“I started in Padel by running tournaments, I have my own business called Golden Point Padel, we focus the tournaments on the recreational side of the game. Some tournaments out there focus on the very top, but what were doing is ensuring that there are tournaments that are structured and well-organised with some good prizes for the players that wouldn’t get to compete in the top end tournaments. I noticed that the sport was growing very quickly but nothing really to connect it, so I essentially said ‘How can I make something that acts as a glue?’ and The Directory came to mind from there and the sport has continued to grow.”

“There are some really great tournaments out there for various level abilities so I encourage people to get involved.”

George highlights here how you don’t have to be at the level of the top UK pro’s to take part in a competitive tournament. This could eliminate the daunting factor of playing in an intense environment, in turn making the sport more accessible for your more casual players, as such.

When asked regarding how long it will be until Padel is in mainstream UK media, George stated:

“It’s hard to put a time frame on when Padel will come into mainstream sports media in the UK. When it does come to the UK, it’s important that it’s here to stay and not just a one-off. I’d rather it come in three, four or five years time and be consistent, rather than come in six-months and it just be a one-off event.

“Sometimes you have to look at Tennis, for example. Tennis is a massive sport globally, everyone knows what it is. Apart from hard-core Tennis fans, people really only watch the four Grand Slams annually, with Wimbledon obviously being the main tournament in this country. No one is ever going to sit down and watch every Padel match, so I agree that it needs to be on these channels but I think in some individuals minds, they expect Padel to be on weekly like a Sky Sports like a Super Sunday style event, this may not be the case for a while.”

The work that George Modler and Ben Harris are carrying out as a company is rewarding for not only casuals and professionals, but also for clubs themselves to build their local communities. It is refreshing to see a positive outlet such as The Padel Directory in the space.

To find out more information on The Padel Directory, you can do so by searching ‘thepadeldirectory’ on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. Furthermore, search http://www.thepadeldirectory.co.uk into your search bar to check out the website as a whole.

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