New business raising a racket as padel arrives in Borders
A sport billed as the fastest-growing in the world has arrived in the Borders at last after building up a millions-strong following worldwide over the last half-century.
Said sport is padel, a combination of tennis and squash believed to have been invented in Mexico in 1968, and it can now be played in a barn near Kelso.
Former tennis coach Archie Stewart decided to get the sport in the act in the region after returning from Spain to his family’s farm business at Ednam.
Stewart and wife Alex were surprised to find upon their return from overseas that padel hadn’t yet taken off in Scotland despite now being played regularly by millions of enthusiasts in more than 100 countries around the world and decided to try to fill that gap in the market.
They’ve converted a barn at his parents’ Cliftonhill Farm and it’s now home to Border Padel Company, a new business they report is already proving popular despite having only just got up and running.
“As a small organic farm, we’ve always had to diversify, from B&B to self-catering lodges, and we do our own porridge oats,” said Stewart, 39.
“This kind of thing fits quite nicely with the tourism business we’re creating, while also bringing a new sport to people in the Borders.
“I first came across padel about 18 years ago when I was coaching tennis in Spain and all my friends were playing.
“It was a great social game, but when I came back to live in the UK, there were hardly any courts.
“In the last three to five years, it has started to grow across the UK, with a lot now in Yorkshire and in the big cities like London, Birmingham and Manchester, but there’s been nothing in the Borders, so we thought it would be great to bring it to local people but also for tourism and people visiting the region.
“At the weekend, we had Kelso’s rugby club playing as they didn’t have a game and their players had a blast.
“We’ve had football clubs and a tennis club using it and we’ve also had lots of non-sports people coming and giving it a go.
“The beauty of it is that it’s a far more accessible sport than some others.
“We had kids aged four to eight in the other day and we've had people in their 60s and 70s.
“It’s not as difficult as tennis or as exhausting as squash, but it’s got the best of both and you have fun.”
Border Padel Company is open seven days a week, from 9am to 10pm on weekdays and shutting an hour earlier at weekends.
For details, go to https://www.borderpadelco.com/