Padel instructor Marcos del Pilar (left) gives some pointers to WHYY reporter Peter Crimmins at the pop-up padel courts on Venice Island in Manayunk. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
Philadelphia gets a taste of padel tennis with the sport’s first public facility in the U.S, located in a public park at the Venice Island Recreation Center in the Manayunk neighborhood.
The racquet sport, a cross between tennis and squash, is popular in South American and Europe, especially in Spain, where there are thousands of padel tennis courts. Although still not well-known in the United States, the number of padel courts in America is at now at 65 and growing, according to Lee Sponaugle, president of All Racquet Courts. Read the full story by Peter Crimmins at WHYY.org.