Padel Finally Arrives in Hilton Head Island, SC
The U.S. padel map adds yet another legendary U.S. racquet-sports mecca...
Earlier this year, I penned an article about the sudden explosion of padel courts and clubs across South Carolina, including in places in or around Charleston, Columbia, Greenville, and even more off-the-beaten path locales like Marietta (at The Cliffs at Mountain Park).
But there was one very well-known, highly trafficked part of The Palmetto State that was conspicuously absent from this list. Namely, Hilton Head Island — which, if you’re not familiar, is an extremely popular beach and golf destination about an hour northeast of Savannah, GA and two hours southwest of Charleston, SC.
However, thanks to the efforts of the team at Wakit Padel, including U.S. padel OG Tito Moreno — whose parents owned and operated one of the very first padel clubs in the U.S. outside Houston and competed on the original Junior Team USA clear back in 2013 — that’s all about to change (which will no doubt be music to the ears of at least a dozen padel addicts I know who spend a significant amount of time in the area!).
Small Island, Huge Potential
Despite covering only about 45 square miles (which is roughly equivalent in size to the Bronx, Nantucket, or San Francisco), Hilton Head Island is world renowned not only as a major East Coast tourist destination — with well over 2.5 million visitors each year — but also a fabled U.S. racquet-sports hotbed.
In fact, this small barrier island boasts over 300 total tennis courts (with surfaces including hard, Rubico/Har-Tru clay, and even grass) and has one of the highest concentrations of tennis courts per square mile in the entire country.
What’s more, Hilton Head is also home to:
Massive multi-racquet-sport clubs like Palmetto Dunes, which offers up 24 pickleball courts in addition to a world-class tennis facility…
Tennis legend Stan Smith, a former U.S. Open and Wimbledon champion, who signed on as the touring pro for Sea Pines Resort back in 1971 and established his famous academy there, cementing the island's racquet-sports reputation, and…
The prestigious Van Der Meer Tennis Academy — which just turned out a Girls’ 14-and-under junior Wimbledon singles champion earlier this month.
So, it’s been a bit surprising that is has taken “the world’s fastest growing sport” of padel this long to arrive on the island, to say the least.
The First of Many?
While a single padel court popping up on a small island with over 300 tennis courts might seem like a drop in the bucket — especially considering South Beach Racquet Club is already home to eight tennis courts and 12 pickleball courts — Wakit Padel founder Tito Moreno tells me:
Honestly, even just a year ago, I didn’t realize how important it was to put a padel court in Hilton Head. But then I visited for the first time and saw firsthand what seems like the mecca of country clubs in the U.S. It was really breathtaking and astonishing.
There is so much racquet-sports history there and its a sports-driven community — and to not have one single padel court in an hour-and-a-half radius or more was completely mind-boggling to me, so it just seemed like the biggest opportunity ever.
At the end of the day, it’s a true American market. As someone who didn’t grow up in that country club world, I know it’s not an easy process, but just to get the opportunity to bring padel to a market that’s so predominantly American and traditional is super unique and cool.
I can only hope that amongst the 20 or so golf, tennis, and country clubs that are there someone else is going catch the padel fever and want to grow the sport — and that we at Wakit and AMET can be part of that leading force to provide the courts and services and coaching and everything else that is needed to make it happen.
If You Build It…
Meanwhile, Wakit Padel’s National Sales Manager Paul DiPaolo — who actually worked as a ball boy at Hilton Head’s tennis courts back in the 1980s — recently told local media outlet The Island Packet that he sees the addition of this court as truly “historic” and believes other local clubs will adopt padel in the near future.
While it remains if padel will truly catch on in Hilton Head and how quickly, according to DiPaolo, for now the plan is to keep this temporary court from Off the Glass (which was installed on top of an existing Har-Tru tennis court) up and running for at least the next six months or so.
Plans are also being fleshed out for a multi-day, padel-focused event at some point this fall which will feature industry-related programming, professional exhibitions, plenty of opportunities for newbies to hop on court for the first time, and possibly even a celebrity/VIP component — so please be sure to stay tuned for further updates!
In the meantime, you can visit Hilton Head’s first-ever publicly accessible padel court beginning this Saturday, August 1, at 230 South Sea Pines Drive (directly across from the legendary Salty Dog Cafe — which reportedly gets over a million visitors per year!) or call the director of padel operations, Lee VanValkenburg at +1 (734) 674-9266 for more information.
(And given that this court is just down the road from me, chances are you may well see me there — so feel free to drop me a line if you’re planning a visit and maybe we can get a game together!).
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Oh, and one other thing… my brand-new 352-page padel book was just released earlier this month. So, if you enjoy the work I’m doing in the U.S. padel space, you can support me by ordering a copy (or two!) online at Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
Or if you’re a club owner and you’d want to carry a handful of copies in your pro shop for “padel curious” people who are interested in trying the sport out but don’t know quite where to start, let me know and I can connect you with my publisher’s wholesale department.
Many thanks in advance!