"From the tech world to the padel courts, three friends - Jessica Talbert, Katie Lampert and Neil Chainani - left their careers in tech and fintech to pursue a new dream: building a local sports community around one of the world's fastest-growing games, padel. (Talbert and Chainani, now married, are expecting their first child.) Think of padel as tennis meets squash. It's played in doubles on a smaller, enclosed court where players can hit the ball off the glass walls for fast, continuous rallies."
"With courts rare in the region, they launched Park Padel in November 2023 with public courts at San Francisco's Embarcadero, followed by their flagship club in South San Francisco in November 2024. With ambitious plans to expand across the West, the trio reflected on their lessons in entrepreneurship, community, and why Silicon Valley wasn't the end-all, be-all for them. Q: You all came from established tech and fintech careers. How did that turn into starting a business around a niche sport like padel?"
Three friends left careers in tech and fintech to build a local sports community around padel. Padel combines tennis and squash, played in doubles on a smaller enclosed court with glass walls for fast rallies. Park Padel launched public courts at San Francisco's Embarcadero in November 2023 and opened a flagship club in South San Francisco in November 2024. The founders discovered padel while traveling in Europe and saw wide grassroots enthusiasm across skill levels. The Bay Area's climate, demographics, and appetite for new activities supported the choice. The company plans West Coast expansion and emphasizes entrepreneurship, community-building, and diversifying beyond Silicon Valley.
Read at The Mercury News
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