New Chicago-area club bets on padel boom
A new club in Glenview is catering to the growing popularity of the Mexican-born sport of padel.
Why it matters: Padel is one of the fastest-growing sports internationally, and enthusiasts say its doubles-only structure makes it great for socializing. Additionally, businesspeople hail it as "the new golf" and consider it great for deal-making.
Driving the news: Alma Padel opened in the northwest suburb in April, one of only a few padel courts and clubs in Chicago.
Flashback: Mexican businessman Enrique Corcuera set up the first-ever padel court in Acapulco in 1969.
Zoom in: Alma Padel owner Abigail McCulloch fell in love with padel [pronounced PAH-del] a few years ago as a grad student in Philadelphia.
After working with a start-up incubator, she left the East Coast to bring the sport closer to the North Shore, where she grew up.
Context: McCulloch tells Axios that Alma caters to current padel players who are looking for a place to play in the Chicago area, but the club is also introducing the sport to athletes and casual players looking for a more athletic and social sport than some other racquet sports.
At least two other padel facilities exist in the Chicago area, one in Bridgeport and one in Mundelein.
State of play: Padel naturally draws comparisons to pickleball, the racquet sport that has dominated in recent years, but there are plenty of differences.
The courts are smaller, and there are no out-of-bounds lines.
Players can play the ball off the four walls and it's a game of doubles.
The ball is more like a deflated tennis ball rather than pickleball's lightweight ping pong style ball.
What they're saying: " People say it's as easy to learn as pickleball, but as hard to truly master as tennis," McCulloch told Axios during a tour of Alma.
If you go: Alma Padel has four courts, a juice and cocktail bar, cafe, and other gym amenities like a sauna and yoga classes.
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