We’re bringing padel to the next generation — and it won’t cost schools a cent.
Padel 100 is installing brand-new padel courts in schools across Ireland, completely free of charge to participating schools. More than 20 schools have already come on board, with 50 new courts set for installation nationwide in the coming months — making this one of Ireland’s largest school sports infrastructure rollouts in recent years.
How it works
The model is simple, and everyone benefits:
- We fund and install the courts — schools receive world-class sports facilities at no capital cost.
- Students use them during the school day — a new sport on the timetable, on their own grounds.
- The community plays evenings, weekends and holidays — the courts open to the public outside school hours, run by Padel 100.
- Schools earn from every public booking — an ongoing royalty creates a new long-term income stream for education and extracurricular development.
Our co-founder and CEO Ben Keohane put it like this:
“This is about giving back to schools and communities. We’re creating facilities that students can use during the school day while also building hubs for local families, clubs, and communities in the evenings, weekends, and school holidays. Many schools simply don’t have the funding available for projects like this, so we wanted to remove that barrier entirely.”
Why schools?
Padel is the world’s fastest-growing sport — a new club opens somewhere in the world every 100 minutes. But in most countries it has grown up in city-centre clubs, priced beyond many families. We think that’s backwards.
Sports that take root in schools don’t just grow — they last. Every student who picks up a racket at fifteen is a player, a parent and an advocate for decades to come. That’s how tennis, swimming and basketball became generational sports around the world: not through the professional game, but through the school game.
Our long-term goal is to install a further 100 padel courts directly into Irish schools as part of our community and youth participation strategy.
Is your school interested?
We’d love to hear from you. Schools receive the courts at no capital cost, earn from public bookings, and give their students and community a sport anyone can play.
Talk to us about your school →
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