Angel Espadas interview: Padel in Orlando general manager on establishing a new padel capital

Angel Espadas, general manager of Padel in Orlando and coach of the US women’s national padel team, has a bold vision to expand the sport in central Florida. In this interview with Padel Business Magazine, he outlines the future plans for his club and explains how, through his passion and dedication to strong community values, he wants to help make Orlando the next padel capital of the US. 

Angel Espadas arrived in the US from Barcelona in 2015 with a dream he had since he was a teenager. After becoming inspired by the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, he dreamt of representing the US on a global stage. Later on, he added the goal of raising the level of its padel to compete internationally.  

It was a difficult journey, arriving in Miami at a time when there were fewer than ten padel clubs nationwide. Now, as the women’s national team coach and general manager of Padel in Orlando, his vision of empowering padel in the US is gaining traction. 

Espadas established Padel in Orlando in February 2024 through a partnership with Caribe Royale, a renowned luxury resort. He saw an opportunity to improve utilisation of extra space at the resort. 

“So I came here one day, they had a tennis court and a basketball court on the other side of the hotel”, says Espadas. “They told me there weren’t too many people coming. So I prepared something to show them to build padel courts there. And they did, and they built a convention centre in the area as well”. 

The initial meeting between Espadas and Caribe Royale was in 2022, as the resort was preparing a $127 million renovation to revamp the guest experience. Padel was beginning to buzz around the country and the resort decided to include padel and pickleball courts in its rebranding. 

Why Caribe Royale was an ideal partner 

Padel in Orlando opened last February with two padel courts, two pickleball courts, and a basketball court. The padel courts have been packed daily, says Espadas, and people routinely play until closing at 10:30pm six days a week and until 8pm on Sundays. 

He credits its prime location in Orlando and a mutually beneficial partnership with Caribe Royale for igniting its success so far. 

Caribe Royale is a 4-star, all-suite resort located close to several Disney attractions. As a popular choice for tourists, it generates around $167.3 million in annual revenue. It sits 8km from Disney World and Universal Studios, attracting collectively 68.52 million visitors annually. 

Orlando is the fourth most popular city in the US for tourism and the fourth most popular for business travel. Espadas knew Orlando lacked a vibrant padel scene. He saw the potential for a successful padel facility, citing the advantages Orlando and the resort’s location offer. 

Padel in Orlando is the only padel club in the city connected to a resort. It allows the club to build momentum in gaining guests and consistent turnout without building a club from the ground up or converting a warehouse. 

Espadas’ original vision was to have six padel courts alongside pickleball courts and a full basketball court, but the resort only built two padel courts. “In one year”, he says, “we will need more”. 

“‘Maybe,’ they said. They also asked me if I wanted to run the facility for the next few years, which of course I do. But I advised that after one year, we'll need more courts. And that is what we are working on right now.” 

The rapid growth puts Padel in Orlando in a prime position to add at least two additional padel courts within the next few months and hire more employees to handle the increasing demand. 

Juggling the national team while managing Padel in Orlando 

Espadas somehow balances his responsibilities in charge of the padel facility with his duties as the women’s national team coach. He took on the coaching position in October 2023 and led the team to a historic victory at the Pan American Amateur Padel Championships in Cancun, Mexico a month later. 

Espadas trains his players at Padel in Orlando, splitting time between training sessions and overseeing open matches for guests looking to play. 

“I train here in the morning usually, and today I was training from 4:00pm to 6:00pm. After 6:00pm until 10:30pm is for matches because people want to play with no lessons interrupting”, he explains. 

He describes the balancing act as difficult and says he spends most of his time at the club. His passion for coaching and driving padel further in the Orlando area is what keeps him going. 

“I'm doing almost everything”, Espadas says. “I am organising the games, validating the levels of the players, giving the lessons. I am studying another thing and then building this and looking for sponsors for the tournaments”. 

Espadas admits his current schedule is demanding, but is optimistic his role will evolve once the new courts are built. His goal is to add courts with either a canopy or completely covered to allow play during rainy conditions. 

Orlando as the new padel capital 

Espadas believes Orlando has the potential to overtake Miami as the padel capital of the US. He knows first-hand how much things can change over time. Espadas spent his first eight years in the US in Miami. He was one of the pioneers that helped introduce padel to the city. 

“Arriving in Miami, my idea was so crazy,” Espadas admits. “I was in the downtown area, in the street, waving at people, pushing them to look inside. I would say, ‘Go try, with my racquets through the door past the gate there. Come on, play a few games over the weekend for free.’” 

He believes Orlando is in a similar position as Miami was when he started, which he thinks is now second only to Buenos Aires as a padel hub in the Americas. But Miami, he says, runs the risk of oversaturation. 

New clubs are constantly opening and competing with each other to attract guests. He fears Miami could face the same fate Sweden did following the Covid-19 pandemic. After too many courts were built and demand was outpaced, many courts were later dismantled. 

On the other hand, Orlando has just four dedicated padel clubs, spread throughout a metro Orlando population of 320,000. The city is also home to the United States Tennis Association (USTA) campus. It features four padel courts, has US padel trailblazer Marcos del Pilar as its padel consultant, and hosts a padel league and NOX USPA Circuit tournaments. 

Espadas knows the journey to building up Padel in Orlando will be a long one, but he is confident in his understanding of building a community over decades of coaching padel and other sports. 

The importance of strong values in building a community 

Espadas believes building a community starts with instilling the right values. Once you establish foundational values, he says, you can create the best community possible. 

Respect is one of his most cherished values. To demonstrate this, he instructs all players he coaches to play with beginners occasionally. If they refuse, he doesn’t allow them to continue training with him. With a common set of strong values, Espadas says, the community can grow and flourish. 

While in Miami, Espadas helped establish community events that he plans to also implement at Padel in Orlando. “Every year we were organising maybe some Valentine's Day event or a tournament, all levels together”, he explains. 

“And then sometimes a barbecue. Two to three times a year. People who knew my club knew it was working because we moved differently from the other clubs, we were a family”. 

He believes in giving back to the padel community because it has given him so much. Padel in Orlando has started working with military families in the area and families of children with Down syndrome to provide them with opportunities to learn padel through elite coaching. 

Why colleges are key to future growth 

Espadas sees colleges as the next avenue to accelerate padel’s growth in the US. Last February, the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California became the first American college to install a padel and pickleball complex. Since then, others have followed such as the University of Texas in Austin and the University of Miami. 

The only opportunity Espadas would consider leaving Florida to pursue, he says, is if a college reaches out for him to coach. 

“I will work with a college if possible. In California, there are two colleges with padel facilities right now who are calling for me, but it isn't the moment because I’m working here right now”. 

Espadas believes passion and unwavering belief will help Padel in Orlando expand throughout the area and continue padel’s adoption across the US. 

“If you don't have passion, you're earning money, but really you don't like it, and then you don't give to your customers. Then you hit a wall. The passion, the architecture, this is the big difference”.

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