It seems like everyone’s playing a racquet sport these days. Pickleball. Tennis. Padel?
The sport started in Mexico in the 1960s and then went on to become hugely popular in Spain and Argentina. These days there are padel clubs in more than 90 countries, including right here in Edmonton.
Padel Zone opened in 2024, founded by Daniel Portilla, Diana Cevallos and Luciano Luz. For the three friends, padel had been an important part of their social lives before moving to Canada, and they wanted to recreate the community aspect of the game here. “We saw that there weren’t any courts,” Portilla says. “We knew we needed something like that, and now that we’ve opened a lot of people find exactly the same thing. They come to the club, and it’s a second home for them.”
The club has maxed out its space, filling a large warehouse-like building with tempered glass-enclosed courts. It’s this glass that sets padel apart from other two-on-two racquet sports. It allows players to bank shots, opening a wider variety of angles for attack on an opponent.
Padel Zone is currently the only such club in Edmonton, but the sport is gaining popularity across Canada. Calgary has two clubs with a third planned, and it’s also taken off in Vancouver, Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal. The Padel Association of Canada organizes tournaments throughout the year.
“It’s kind of like a circuit where you compete in different tournaments and collect points based on your results, and that’s going to determine who were the top ranked players in each category,” Portilla explains. He also says these tournaments help build the same community he was seeking when he started Padel Zone; now he has friends all across the country.
To qualify for consideration as an Olympic sport, the sport needs at least 75 national federations. Portilla says that padel currently has around 90 countries with such federations, and players could compete at the Olympic level soon. “There is a slight chance that it’s going to be one of the wildcard sports in the 2028 Olympics,” he says. The odds go from slight to probable by 2032. “There’s a bunch of sports that are trying to get into the Olympics, but padel seems to be in the best position for it, mainly because it’s the most widely played.”
Portilla wants Padel Zone to be a big part of the Canadian padel training program whether the sport makes it into the Olympics or not. Lately he and his co-founders have been developing a junior training program for the padel athletes of tomorrow. “We’re starting our program to shape the future athletes of Canada and the Olympics,” Portilla says.
The plan includes starting their own junior team and providing them with coaching, physical training and possibly a sports psychologist. In addition to Olympic aspirations, Portilla talks about how sports in general are great to prepare kids for life. “We’re super excited. The community is totally on board with this,” he says. “There are already some kids that show a lot of promise.”
Elite athleticism aside, Portilla emphasizes the health and social benefits padel and other racquet sports provide. The club has members all the way from teens to seniors. They all play the same game, and they’re all part of the same community.
Padel Zone offers drop-in spots as well as group bookings, lessons and tiered memberships which give booking discounts and priorities.
Padel Zone
Nisku | 3260 16 Street, Unit 200 | thepadelzone.ca
