Wayne Boich (second from right) with Jimmy Butler, Juan Martin Diaz and other padel pros Omar Vega Recognizing its incredible potential, not just as a sport, but also as a way to bring people together, Boich set out to create a market for padel in the U.S. His house - and court - soon became one of the hottest spots in town.
Boich was building a house in Miami at that time and eventually reworked the backyard plans to include a personal padel court. The former college athlete, who grew up playing tennis, first discovered padel during a trip to France ten years ago and immediately fell in love with the intensity and excitement of the game. The crowd in Miami had assembled at one of the only padel facilities in the U.S., a site named “Reserve Padel” that was founded by businessman Wayne Boich. Though it’s still relatively unknown in the U.S., padel is the fastest-growing sport in rest of the world, with massive courts - and massive tournaments - played throughout South America, Europe and parts of Asia. A racket sport first developed in Mexico in the Sixties, padel uses smaller courts and a playing surface that encompasses four-meter-high walls, for an unpredictable, fast-paced game that brings together the best parts of tennis, pickleball and squash.
