Jonny Errington: Padel New Zealand spokesperson on the sport's growing popularity

Padel is the latest up and coming sports craze taking over the world - and more Kiwis are getting into it.

Between celebrities like David Beckham, Serena Williams, and Elle McPherson showcasing their love of padel and sports fans embracing it worldwide, there's clear demand.

Ahead of New Zealand's first-ever National Padel Tournament Series, Padel NZ's Jonny Errington explained what's making this sport so popular.

"It can appeal to people of different ages, fitness or skill levels - so you can come from a racquetball sport such as tennis or squash or having no background at all in sports."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talks EDB.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
It is a game. It's got the celebrities hooked, David
Beckham's Serena Williams el McPherson. I've even heard Wills and
Cape are in on the action. But it's not just
the celebs. Pedal is said to be the fastest growing
sport worldwide and this Friday, New Zealand is going to
host its very first National Paddle Tournament series to talk
us through the sport. Johnny Errington from governing body Paddle

(00:34):
New Zealand is with me this morning.

Speaker 1 (00:35):
Thanks for your time, Johnny Kona, thank you for Tasca.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
Hey what is pedal?

Speaker 3 (00:43):
So paddle, like many great sports, has a bit of
a story behind it. It was started by a Mexican
in late seven late sixties who was a tennis fanatic
and he didn't have space for a tennis court, so
he built He built his own custom made court. It
happens to be near the end of a cliff, as
it happens, and so he didn't want the balls running off.

(01:05):
It created these different sides. So paddle combined the best
elements of other racket sports like tennis and squash in
an enclosed space, so it's slightly smaller than a regular
tennis court. The court is made of three meter high
tempered glass panels and at the back walls there are
steel mesh fencing, so you can use that like you
do in squash. It's really addictive and it is really accessible,

(01:31):
a very sociable sport. But yeah, it's really catching on
really quick Francesco, and seems to have accelerated over the
last few years and we're really excited to help its
growth here in Alceilo and New Zealand.

Speaker 2 (01:45):
What is making the sports so popular.

Speaker 3 (01:48):
Well, I think there are a few things that The
first is that it's easy to learn, hard to master,
but definitely easy to learn, and that means that it
can appeal to people of different ages, fitness, or skill levels.
So you can come from a raquetball sport such as
tennis or squash, or having no background at all in sports,

(02:10):
but want to really get into kind of a social
setting and also look after your well being. So that's
kind of the second part of the social aspect, and
it really is catching on.

Speaker 2 (02:22):
The difference to pickleball, which is also very popular is pickleball.
You don't use the sides of the court, Is that right?

Speaker 3 (02:29):
No, that's right. So with pickleball, yeah, you use something
similar to a tennis court. The ball is harder and
you use you use bats with paddle, the rackets are
substantially different from tennis rackets. They're made from composite materials

(02:50):
with perforated surfaces, so they're ergonomically designed and that allows
for airflow. But because the racket is shorter than the
tennis racket, it's much easier to control. So the balls
are similar but slightly smaller and less pressurized, and that
makes the bounds of the ball slightly less than a
tennis ball, slowing the game down and therefore more accessible
and easier to play.

Speaker 2 (03:11):
How accessible is it? I mean, how many clubs and
courts do we have around the country.

Speaker 3 (03:16):
Yeah, So there's been a real acceleration Francesco over the
last few years, and we are seeing and we're hearing
from other sports actually that twenty twenty five is the
year of paddle here in New Zealand. So there was
a strong start to the year with the showcase at
the ASP Classic up here in Tammacky mccador in Auckland

(03:38):
by Julian who runs the Pacific Paddle Clubs. So New
Zealand had its first two paddle courts open in late
twenty twenty three. We now have six open, with another
seven opening in twenty twenty five, and it's looking like
by the end of the year we're going to have
around twenty five courts across the country.

Speaker 2 (03:57):
So if you've never played tennis, so you've never played squash,
is this the sport for you? Is there something as
you said, it's easy to learn, will be about to
get you here around it and drew it quite quickly.

Speaker 3 (04:09):
Most most definitely, I mean for it's really accessible for anyone,
you know, from youngsters that we see at the tennis
club's I'm a member of a tennis club over here
on the north shore of Auckland, to you know, those
that are playing in their late sixties seventies. So any
person can pick up a racket. It's easy, really easy

(04:29):
to grab on to. You know, even Storms, who the
hip hop artist was saying in his Brick acceptance speech
that he's a paddle player. So as I mentioned, you know,
you don't have to be a you know, a professional
sports player and we're really looking forward to the tournament
and at the end of this week.

Speaker 2 (04:47):
How much interest have you head in that?

Speaker 3 (04:50):
Yeah, a lot. I mean we sold out spaces very
quickly within two weeks. We just have a few more
spots in the women's grade. And so if there's an
opportunity for people to come along, sign up at www.
Dot Paddle in New Zealand, dot org, dot NZ forward
slash Paddle Zealand Tour twenty twenty five and the tournament
is part of the tour, so we will have a

(05:12):
number of tournaments throughout this year and we will have
an annual tour and it counts towards the ranking system,
so will you will be able to get a rank.
But it's not just for those that are A grade players.
It's a grade B grade and we're really welcome people
to come along and just watch. That's that's really key
for us. We're really hoping that this really sparks an

(05:33):
interest across the country. The location of this one is
in Toronga eleventh to the thirteenth, Tony and rachel Or,
the owners of the Paddle Club in Papa Moa in
Towoy far Too Street, and then there'll be a couple
of others during the year. We're hoping later on July,

(05:53):
around July, around November Wellington so paddle House is open,
an indoor facility, fantastic facility down in Wellington and then
back up to Tamacky mccordo welcand in November.

Speaker 2 (06:05):
We're helping stick and look, Johnny, just asking for a
friend if your needs a giving up the ghost of
it running around a tennis court is pedal for you?

Speaker 3 (06:13):
Oh, pedal most definitely is I mean for Yeah, I
was hoped immediately when I started playing a few years ago.
And yeah, it's one of those that is very sociable,
you know, you get along with your friends and work colleagues.
And as I mentioned it is it is accelerating as
far as the number of courts are concerned, and so

(06:35):
we're seeing a lot of social events and social clubs
popping up. Yeah, we're really excited, actually frantastica and really
appreciate your giving us the time to talk about it.

Speaker 2 (06:46):
Well, look, I'm glad that we've worked out exactly what
pedal is and we've distinguished it from pickleball and things. Johnny,
best of luck with the very first national Pedal Tournament Series.

Speaker 1 (06:57):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudken, listen
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