Hi, my name is Federico Sarti, I’m an Italian student and I first started playing Padel at the start of the pandemic and fell in love with it since. By “love”, I obviously mean the toxic kind, where you cannot stop thinking about it, to the point that it’s stuck into your head all the time and it becomes an addictive presence in your life. The kind of love that you think about at work and dream at night, even when you’re out with your friends and see a cute girl (or boy) and wanna go talk to her but the only words that come out of your mouth are “Hi, my name is… Padel” because that’s all that you can say about yourself, it’s your personality, it’s your best friend, your lover and the only reason to live for, basically it’s you! Well, that has been my life for the past couple of years.
I know this paragraph looked like I was introducing myself at an AA meeting for Padel Addicts, but at least you understand that it’s safe to say I love this sport. Naturally, as soon as I started my Internship I had no doubts about where I was going to apply, a Padel Company. The concept of a Padel Company was something new to me, that I had never seen back home in Italy, in fact, I hadn’t seen it in any other sport that I can think of, apart from world-famous football teams. The concept that sport has become an industry is fascinating, and it’s so evident now that I’ve worked in a company. In Italy, padel & tennis (its better-known ‘cousin’) are so-called ‘family affairs’ where a single property dedicates its blood, sweat, and tears to one club only. Yes it’s true that these clubs could be owned by people with also similar activities but the concept of Peakz Padel is different, it’s more similar to a franchisee (much like McDonalds) where all locations follow a set style, rules, and services.
To my surprise, as I started learning more about Peakz, I realized that however impersonal the concept might be the employees actually managed to make every location feel unique. It was interesting to see that despite it’s the pursuit for revenue in companies that often tends to impersonalize experiences, the people are and will always be the true difference makers in every product or service you may offer. I loved to see Hans at the bar in Peakz Padel Sittard knowing every person coming in and offering them a warm welcome as if they knew each other since middle school, also because most times he actually did. Sometimes I felt like I was in the TV show The Office, each place had its own, in a good way, Michael, Jim, Stanley… people who offer you great service from day one and slowly learn to appreciate as you knew more about them.
My experience at Peakz wasn’t bad at all, and it was mostly thanks to the people, thanks to my boss Jaime, and colleague Facundo inspiring me to be as passionate about the Padel as you are and teaching me that people always make a difference. Although I must say ‘old-style’ family-run sports clubs will always have a special place in my heart.