Padel is a sport that is exploding in Europe, especially in the north of the continent. As a result, many brands and clubs have started to expand in the area thanks to the incredible growth that is taking place.
It is no longer just Spain or South America, but a global growth. Moreover, it is not only in men, but there are many women who see in padel an excellent practice to start doing sport.
With all these factors, We Are Padel has launched a project called She Plays which encourages women to play padel with fun events that combine the game with other social activities of great interest. Because let’s not fool ourselves, padel is often an excuse to see friends, go out for a drink or have a good time and We Are Padel has understood this perfectly.
She Plays, the initiative that is revolutionising women’s padel
What is She Plays?
She Plays is a community of players that aims to get more woman into the sport. They organise padel events that mix learning, playing and social moments where fun is the main objective.
More than 1,300 women have already been able to enjoy She Plays.
This movement combines competition, workshops and events to deliver an immersive padel experience to its members. Moreover, you don’t need to be an expert either, but its activities are adapted to any level, thus integrating as many women as possible.
This initiative was born in 2022 in Sweden from the mind of professional padel player Emmie Ekdahl, and on its website you can find all the information about this project.
Where is this movement?
At the moment it is spreading in Northern Europe. It was born in Sweden, but it is already in Denmark, Finland, Norway and even the UK.
The concept is spreading through all the We Are Padel clubs of the LeDap group, of which there are 150 in 9 countries.
This group organises events, has a sports equipment shop and is even going to launch a Playtomic-style app for the users of its clubs. All of this with the aim of making padel an Olympic sport.
If this project continues with its current growth, it won’t be long before it expands to other areas where LeDap Group has clubs such as Germany, Poland and the United Arab Emirates, and sooner or later it will reach Spain and the Americas.
What is We Are Padel and LeDap Group?
We Are Padel is part of the LeDap Group, a company that seeks to expand padel and establish itself as the reference clubs worldwide. These two names are behind the She Plays initiative.
The LeDap Group was born in October 2021 with the aim to make padel available to all through digitalisation and padel clubs management. It is a very ambitious business project that has experienced leaders in the organisation of professional events and even Hernán Auguste, who was director of international expansion within the World Padel Tour.
It also has a very powerful investment fund behind it. Triton, a business giant with many years of experience and more than 100,000 employees, is the one investing in a sport with as much potential as padel. It currently has 52 companies in its portfolio, including LeDap.
With all this, we can say that She Plays has the security of having something much bigger behind it that is supporting it with a lot of strength. Moreover, with the number of clubs they are placing in multiple cities, She Plays’ chances of expanding will be much greater over time.
Emmie Ekdahl, the driving force behind She Plays
Emmie Ekdahl is a Swedish professional player who created this concept and is leading it to such growth.
Q: When did you start this project and why?
A: It was in April 2022, because I wanted to make padel a more open sport for everyone, especially women. So I decided to start a community of female players where I could meet people, learn, play sport and have fun.
Q: Did you expect the success that She Plays is having?
A: It’s only been a year and we have already had 1,300 female players join the project. I am very happy with the incredible reception She Plays is getting and very excited about what’s to come.
Q: How far can She Plays go?
A: Well, at the moment we are on to the next step, which will be the creation of She Plays on Tour, which will be able to connect women internationally. We want the project to continue to grow and unite female players around a passion for the sport.
Where will your next event be?
The next destination for She Plays will be Austria. Emmie Ekdahl is organising the She Plays on Tour I mentioned earlier, and the venue will be the Austrian capital of Vienna on 25 May 2023.
It will last 4 days and participants will be able to play padel, learn with more than 10 hours of lessons and enjoy a nice visit to the city. In addition, it will coincide with a World Padel Tour tournament also held in Vienna, so the players will also be able to see the best live show.
However, it doesn’t look like this is going to stop there, so we will have to keep a close eye on the evolution of this initiative and see how far it can go.
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