1,500 People Take Up Padel In Wexford Town With Court Upgrades On The Way

The newly opened padel courts at the Whitford House Hotel in Wexford Town will be getting roofs by the end of the year.

The facility just opened during the summer but has already welcomed nearly 1,500 players in just 3 months.

The game, which is a mixture of tennis and squash, is the fastest growing sport in the world with over 60 thousand people playing in Ireland.

Marketing Manager at the Whitford Eileen Comerford says they're working to make sure the facility can stay open this winter:

"We're going to be putting a roof on our two double courts, and hopefully we'll have it for Christmas so that'll give us year round padel.

"That would be truly amazing for Wexford Town, we'll be the first court around here to have it and that'll keep us playing right throughout the year."

Planning permission was granted by Wexford County Council for the courts back in March and they were opened for public use by the end of July.

Ms Comerford says even they've been surprised by the level of buy in from the players here:

"We're grateful to the staff that helped us to open it up because we really had to hit the ground running and we surely did that.

"We've had nearly 1,500 players already in this short space of time and we're so so grateful to every single one of them."

Being accessible to all ages and skill levels has made padel the fastest growing sport in the world.

That's according to a new coach of the game at the Club Whitford Padel Courts.

Facilities have also opened in Courtown and Rosslare in previous years while plans are underway for courts in Gorey, Kilmuckridge and New Ross.

Coach Lee Biddulph says it's easier to get into than other racket sports like tennis:

"It's much more relaxed, more social because you're closer to your partner and your opponent for a nice bit of banter across the net.

"Purists will say that tennis is more of an art and padel is more of a game but I think the ease at which you can take it up is drawing people to it."

That report was funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.