Pedro Bautista opened SLC Padel Club in Salt Lake City last September with his father, no outside investors, and a city where almost nobody had heard of the sport. Nine months later, he’s visiting local schools with a portable net in the back of his car, giving padel balls to every child in the building, and watching parents show up at the club because their children wouldn’t stop talking about what they learned at recess.
It didn’t start that way.
“We sent emails to one school offering free classes, free court time, free everything,” Pedro said. “Nobody showed up. Without going there first, there’s no traction at all.”
That lesson that padel needs to be experienced before it can be marketed became the foundation of everything SLC Padel Club has done since. Pedro now visits schools in person, running demos during lunch and recess with a portable net, a bag of rackets, and enough energy to fill a gymnasium. He goes back at least two days in a row, sometimes three.
“One day is not enough,” he said. “By the third day, they’re excited about it. They’re waiting for us.”
His first breakthrough came through a connection he hadn’t expected. A few of his club members were Spanish teachers who had grown up playing padel in Spain and were working in Salt Lake City on cultural exchange visas. Pedro asked them to make an introduction to the administration at their schools. It opened doors that cold emails never could. He’s now visited both private and public schools, adapting his approach as he goes.
At the end of each school session, he gives every child a ball. The balls say “padel” on them. The balls get taken home, they come out at dinner, and suddenly, parents are hearing about padel from their children instead of from a marketing email.
“We give one to every single one of them,” Pedro said.
The summer camp flyer goes home in the same folder. The phone starts ringing.
Beyond the schools, Pedro has woven his club into the community in ways that cost almost nothing. He joined the county Chamber of Commerce and goes twice a month. He hosted a Chamber networking group at the club, and now counts those 20 entrepreneurs as local ambassadors.
Several schools in Salt Lake City have programs that regularly bring in community speakers, and Pedro took the opportunity to speak at a school assembly about stepping outside your comfort zone. At the end, he showed a padel video. “I didn’t even play that day,” he said. “I just gave a five-minute speech, showed a video, and introduced the sport. And that’s it.”
Pedro says any club owner who isn’t actively participating in community events and proactively creating local networks is leaving opportunities on the table.
His advice to other clubs trying to grow a junior program isn’t complicated. Get in front of children in person. Let them hit a ball. Send them home with something they’ll show their parents. Follow up.
“It’s things that really don’t cost anything,” he said. “If you have the willingness to put a little bit of time in and go do it, I think the reward is worth it, for everyone.”
The USPA is working to compile and share resources like Pedro’s approach so clubs across the country can learn from what’s working. If your club is building a junior program and has a story worth sharing, reach out to us at info@padelusa.org
If you’re interested in learning more about Pedro Bautista and SLC Padel Club, you can reach him at info@slcpadelclub.com or visit https://slcpadelclub.com/