LONDON: On a recent weekend, Laura Latham eagerly swung her racquet on a padel court celebrating one year playing one of the world's fast-growing sports now taking hold in the UK.
"I hadn't ever picked up a racquet in my entire life ... and I just fell in love," the 42-year-old civil servant, who lives in Stockport in northwest England, told AFP.
"I know that sounds a bit cliche, but I was just welcomed into this amazing community of fabulous people, all ages, all shapes and sizes ... It's just great."
Latham is among a growing number of padel devotees in Britain, where its popularity has exploded after lagging behind European neighbours.
A cross between tennis and squash played by doubles teams on courts enclosed by glass or wire, enthusiasts see it as an accessible and social sport, while critics say it is an expensive fad for trendsetters.
Other complaints range from the noise to private equity firms funding its expansion, especially in the United States.
Tennis legend Rafael Nadal and football icon Cristiano Ronaldo are among players as well as high-profile investors in the fast-paced game, created in Mexico in the late 1960s.
As the sport has grown rapidly in parts of the world, it has attracted finance from a growing array of sources, from real estate firms to specialised institutional investors.
Its recent UK growth has sparked friction in some places, most notably London, where several sites with new or proposed courts have provoked pushback from local communities.
"It's a kind of hedge fund-backed sport, taking over local spaces and sports," complained Agnieszka Wood, 52, who helped spearhead an ultimately unsuccessful campaign to stop a beloved east London skating park becoming padel courts.
"But what happens if there's too many padel courts? What happens if you're taking the spaces from the communities and you're not replacing them?"
- 'Hotspots' -
Padel's growing popularity is unquestioned, with Wood acknowledging even her own children enjoy playing it.
The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), the sport's governing body in Britain, announced in May that national participation had surpassed 1 million, with nearly 2,000 courts now open nationwide.
That compares with just 400,000 players and 870 courts at the end of 2024.
Globally, active player numbers climbed last year to nearly 20 million, according to the 2026 Global Padel Report, making it one of the world's fast-growing sports.
Last month it debuted as a medal sport at the Asian Games and harbours hopes of featuring at the Olympics.
Italy, Spain, Portugal and Argentina – so-called "padel heartlands" – lead the way, while Britain has become one of several "demand-led hotspots", a report by an arm of the consultancy PwC and sport app Playtomic found.
"Padel is tapping into the UK's deep racquet-sport heritage," consultant Ray Algar, who compiled the 2026 UK Padel Report, told AFP.
His report estimates more than half of UK padel courts are in cities with around a quarter in rural places.
- 'Losing places' -
Soul Padel is among the companies behind Britain's boom.
It has opened 16 pay-to-play courts across four sites in central and northern England and Scotland, with seven more surfaces to open imminently.
Host towns include post-industrial places like northwestern St Helen's and Warrington – a long way from the caricature image of where padel is played.
"Our view was that the sport had landed well in the UK but ... within affluent areas and had been pitched to that kind of crowd," explained Soul Padel's founder and CEO Mark Hewlett.
They offer various targeted programmes, including "Soul Timers" for over-50s, "Soul Singles" for singletons and its most popular, "Soul Sisters", for women.
Its court rental costs vary by venue and scheme.
In Stockport, Latham said she pays £11 ($15) for her share of some off-peak games, rising by around £5 at peak times.
But in London, the cost is typically higher and seen as prohibitive by some.
In Bethnal Green, residents are campaigning against council plans to install a temporary court in an area popular with roller?skaters, skateboarders and basketball players.
Meanwhile, displaced skaters remain upset about August's closure of nearby Barking skatepark.
"There was huge, huge opposition from the people who went there," musician and skater Eleanor Dunlop, 29, who co-led the movement against the change, told AFP.
"We're definitely losing places, like third spaces, where you can be and there's not immense pressure to spend money." - AFP
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