- November 22, 2024
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When Ellie Berdusco is not playing padel, she is talking about padel or thinking about padel.
Now the enthusiastic former college athlete-turned-entrepreneur has channeled her love of the sport into a business. Berdusco, 28, is a partner in and general manager of a brand-new padel facility in southern Manatee County.
Dubbed The Pad Sarasota, it opened near the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport in late July. Spanning 19,000 square feet, the facility on Bio Tech Way contains four padel courts plus areas with tables and chairs for socializing. While Berdusco declined to disclose specifics, she says the investment of turning an empty warehouse space into a padel playground is significant. (The entity Pad Sarasota LLC, according to a public SEC filing dated March 8 and signed by Berdusco, seeks to raise up to $1 million, with $10,000 the minimum investment.)
Somewhere between squash and tennis, padel (pronounced “paddle”) requires courts with nets, mesh cages and walls that balls can bounce off of during play.
In recent years, the sport has caught on in parts of the United States, and its popularity is growing. There are now padel facilities in Miami, Texas, New York and southern California. Palm Aire Country Club, a few miles away off University Parkway, has one outdoor court. In Pasco County, Zephyrhills has courts outside, too.
Padel requires doubles to play. “It’s a fun way to meet people,” says Berdusco, who pairs people up if they want to play but do not have a partner.
"In a new market, it is all about awareness and having people try it," Berdusco says. "We need to be providing tools and services that facilitate people being able to meet and play with other people of their level."
Scoring is the same as tennis, and balls are slightly smaller than a tennis ball. Paddles are tinier than tennis racquets and thicker than pickleball paddles. “The paddle is like an extension of your hand,” Berdusco says. Courts are 33 by 66 feet.
At The Pad Sarasota, the ceilings are part of what sold Berdusco on the space. “I came here, I saw the high ceilings, and I thought, this needs to be padel,” she recalls. “I could see it in my mind.”
The building’s ceilings are 28 feet high, allowing players to lob the ball over the people at the net. “In padel, a big element of the game is the lob,” Berdusco says. “It’s a lot of rushing to the net and then getting lobbed and having to defend and try to win the point at the net.”
While play can be quicker and more dynamic than other racket sports, it is also “easier on the body than a tennis court or pickle,” Berdusco says, thanks to the turf underfoot. “I’m hoping to convert some pickleball people,” she adds. “It’s a lot more fun.”
Since the sport has such broad appeal, her outlook is optimistic it will catch on locally. “Not many people here yet know exactly what it is,” she says of the sport, which she expects will surpass pickleball in popularity.
“It’s easy to learn and it’s good for all ages. You can pick it up right away,” Berdusco says. “It’s a game where you can start having good points and fun rallies the first time you step onto the court.”
It can also provide endless opportunities to advance. “On the flip side, there’s so much to learn, with the walls and the timing,” Berdusco says. “Each time you play, you can improve and learn more. You can play right away and get hooked, but you can really improve after that.”
Says Berdusco: “I’m excited to let people know that it’s here."
It was not that long ago that Berdusco herself discovered padel. Most of her life, she lived and breathed swimming.
She was a four-year college athlete on the University of Notre Dame swim team. Before that, she was a Florida state champion swimmer for St. Stephen's High School in Bradenton. In 2016, she participated in the Olympic trials in Canada in freestyle.
“There was a void,” she says of her athletic life after graduating from Notre Dame in 2019. “Once it ended, I needed a sport to work on.”
Her brothers, who played competitive tennis in college, introduced her to padel a year and a half ago. She wanted to get involved in any way she could, she says, so she got a job working as the director of content and social media for Red Padel, a Canadian company that markets and hosts events around the sport.
Berdusco, whose degree is in marketing, had started her own freelance videography business after college, and in her new role, she used her production skills to educate people about padel. Working at Red Padel helped open the doors to her latest venture at The Pad Sarasota.
Three people from Red Padel, including its CEO, are now partners in The Pad Sarasota, according to Berdusco. They are lifelong tennis players who live in Canada and spend time here as well, she says. The partners include Charles Messow, Coulter Wright and Chris Ritchie.
Together the partners signed a long-term lease for the space near the airport. While she declines to disclose the investment required, Berdusco says in an email: "The startup costs are not insignificant. Unlike a pickle court, a padel court is more of an endeavor to install. And we also strive to make The Pad a very comfortable place where people can not only come to play, but also hang out for hours and socialize and watch."
The Pad has another location in Toronto, and one is coming soon to Arizona.
"We have a focused strategy on a couple markets for the next 24 months," Berdusco says, adding there are no plans for franchising The Pad but the partners are leaving it open as an option.
“I kind of always did want to be an entrepreneur,” says Berdusco in an interview at The Pad Sarasota. “With marketing and videography and now starting this business, I feel like it’s just a mix of everything I enjoy. I can take photos and videos and show people what it is. It’s the perfect blend of everything I like.”
The first time the courts at The Pad Sarasota welcomed people for open play on July 19, Berdusco says, they attracted people who had never played racket sports in addition to athletes and those who were just curious.
“They leave having a great time,” she says. “That’s been the most fun for me — seeing the padel happiness of everyone who steps off the court; everyone is just smiling and having a good time.”
Booking sessions at The Pad are 90 minutes long, which Berdusco notes is pretty standard in the industry. “With an hour, you want more,” she says.
“We plan on doing a lot of fun events and tournaments and having businesses come in for corporate events,” Berdusco says. The Pad will also offer lessons in the future.
People can book courts on the app or website. Drop-in rates as well as memberships are available.
A grand opening is in the works for The Pad Sarasota, but a date has not yet been set.
The Pad Sarasota is at 1660 Bio Tech Way.
