{"id":501760,"date":"2025-11-03T14:54:32","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T12:54:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/?p=501760"},"modified":"2025-11-03T15:04:59","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T13:04:59","slug":"mario-barcelo-the-man-who-brought-padel-to-greece-and-made-it-thrive-in-the-athens-riviera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/interviews\/mario-barcelo-the-man-who-brought-padel-to-greece-and-made-it-thrive-in-the-athens-riviera\/","title":{"rendered":"Mario Barcelo: The man who brought padel to Greece and made it thrive in the Athens Riviera"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tuesday morning, and our appointment with Mario Barcelo, head coach of Olympico Padel Club<\/a>, is set at Olympico Glyfada, the first of the three clubs in which he is also a shareholder.<\/p>\n

Olympico Club Glyfada was born during the pandemic, but even before that, as early as 2014, padel was already a Glyfada affair, with the first courts in Greece being built here.<\/p>\n

Before you rush to call this sport \u201celitist,\u201d let me tell you that padel was the idea of a Mexican, and later developed as a sport in Latin America, continuing to evolve constantly, as Mario Barcelo explains. \u201cIt\u2019s not the most expensive, but it\u2019s not cheap either,\u201d he comments. Either way, conquering one country after another, with Spain reigning as queen of the sport\u2014where padel is the second most popular sport after football\u2014padel is here to stay.<\/p>\n

Mario, however, has known padel since the 1990s, as he was an active athlete in the youth division of Uruguay\u2019s national team.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But what do we Southerners have in common with Latins? According to Mario, quite a lot. As a professional footballer, he came to Greece in 2001 for PAS Giannina and stayed on, playing in many teams across all divisions. \u201cI left home at 17 for football, and it\u2019s the sport I will never leave behind. In football terms, I didn\u2019t achieve as much as I could have, although I had potential. When offers came, I chose to stay in Greece. The climate, the food, the entertainment, the people\u2014they\u2019re close to the Latin philosophy. For me, Greece is paradise.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

After 20 years in the country, he says he now feels Greek. Still, he returns to Uruguay every January to visit his relatives. \u201cIn Uruguay, January means summer. That\u2019s my vacation. But for me, the whole year feels like a vacation, really. Not just because the weather is good, but because I love what I do.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Padel: A fun and social sport<\/h2>\n

The mother of the racket may be tennis, but this is a sport with several differences\u2014not only in the size and layout of the court, but also in player strategies, the ball, the racket, and of course, the glass walls that are also \u201cin play.\u201d It is often described as a mix of tennis, squash, and ping pong, but in reality, it\u2019s something remarkable on its own.<\/p>\n

Padel requires four players\u2014unlike tennis, which can be played either by two players or doubles with four. \u201cPadel is a sport that will do well wherever it goes. It\u2019s great, it\u2019s easy, kids, men, and women from 5 to 90 years old can play. The fact is, wherever it\u2019s introduced properly, it succeeds. Even if you\u2019ve never done sports before, padel can be your sport. If you\u2019ve played rackets on the beach, in just 2\u20133 lessons you\u2019ll have spatial awareness, racket feel, and then you can get on the court and play\u2014and you\u2019ll definitely have fun!\u201d<\/em> he says enthusiastically.<\/p>\n

He also explains that due to its popularity, it\u2019s very easy to find partners in a club. But it\u2019s not just about the joy of the game\u2014it\u2019s much more. Many got \u201chooked\u201d on padel mainly for what happens after the game! \u201cIt\u2019s a nice process. First, you let off steam. Many people come in angry and play to shake it off. While playing, the tension goes away. It makes you competitive, it makes you want to win at all costs. So you run! You exercise! But it\u2019s also the social aspect that people love. You finish the game, sit down for a beer with your teammates, joke around, talk, and meet new people.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Mario claims that out of 10 people trying padel for the first time, nine want to continue. But there is also the competitive side for those who want to play seriously and learn more.<\/p>\n

\u201cPadel, unlike tennis, has over 70 strokes and countless tactics. Professional players are constantly inventing new moves and developing the game. It\u2019s also a sport that requires psychology and concentration,\u201d<\/em> he adds.<\/p>\n

Competitive teams start with children as young as 8. There are also groups for ages 5\u20138, where kids get their first taste of padel in specially designed classes, familiarizing themselves with the court and racket through play.<\/p>\n

At Olympico Glyfada there are six padel courts, three of which are covered and one a single court for training. Even on the very rare rainy days in the Southern Suburbs of Athens, you can still play. \u201cThe sun doesn\u2019t bother any tennis player, so it doesn\u2019t bother padel players either. If you look at tennis players, you\u2019ll notice they\u2019re all tanned by April!\u201d<\/em> he laughs. Olympico offers lessons for all ages, individual and group, while tournaments are also frequently organized.<\/p>\n

National padel team: Fighting for a place in Europe<\/h2>\n

\u201cWhen we brought the sport to Greece in 2014, our struggle began to establish a federation. We fought hard, brought international tournaments, took steps for padel to emerge as a national sport. But without a federation, we couldn\u2019t achieve it.\u201d<\/em> That\u2019s how the Hellenic Tennis Federation (EFOA) incorporated padel, and it is now a member of the International Padel Federation (FIP). In May 2025, EFOA organized a camp with training sessions, fitness testing, and competitive assessments to select the final 8 men and 8 women who would form the Greek national padel team representing us at the FIP Euro Padel Cup. \u201cWe managed to travel to Spain, compete, and qualify, even though no one expected us to do so well. They thought we\u2019d be back in Greece by day three or four. We went ranked 50th and finished in 13th place! We stayed until the end. It was unique.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Mario Barcelo is still an active padel player, but at the FIP Euro Padel Cup in Madrid in July 2025, he traveled as a coach due to a serious injury. \u201cThe plan was to be both coach and player. In football, I never had a serious injury. But at the tournament we hosted in December 2024, I got badly injured. During the match, I heard a \u2018pop\u2019 in my leg and fell\u2014I couldn\u2019t get up. The feeling was like being shot or struck with an iron rod. I had torn my Achilles tendon, as confirmed by the tournament doctor. The very next day I had surgery, and while everyone thought I would never return competitively, nine months later I was playing in tournaments again. I did physiotherapy twice a day, and I was determined to make it back. I believed I could, and I did.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

As we chat, one of the Olympico coaches shouts out laughing: \u201cHe\u2019s never lost in here!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

On the road to the Olympic Games<\/h2>\n

As Mario Barcelo notes, the sport\u2019s ever-growing audience is also reflected in the demand for padel-related products\u2014from fancy rackets and equipment to clothing. And the more it attracts the attention of brands, the higher its popularity rises, with the possibility that by the 2032 Olympics, padel (officially called \u201cyallosfairisi\u201d in Greek) will be included as an Olympic sport.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cPersonally, I do whatever I can to help padel grow in Greece. Apart from Olympico, I\u2019ve created an academy, with a trainer, psychologist, and nutritionist, hosted by various clubs\u2026 If I trained everyone who wants to participate, there wouldn\u2019t be enough hours in the day. Many times, I stay longer to train more people, because I love it and I care that they learn properly.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

In addition, Mario\u2014the man who brought padel to Greece\u2014has created his own brand \u201cMario Barcelo\u201d and launched the first padel show, Ora gia Padel<\/em>, alongside sports journalist Giannis Ranios.<\/p>\n

If I had to describe him somehow, I\u2019d say he is a man of tremendous determination, tireless, generous, with faith and vision in what he does. A Southern-Latin who rightfully gets credit for making padel our national sport!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tuesday morning, and our appointment with Mario Barcelo, head coach of Olympico Padel Club, is set at Olympico Glyfada, the first of the three clubs in which he is also a shareholder. Olympico Club Glyfada was born during the pandemic, but even before that, as early as 2014, padel was already a Glyfada affair, with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":507354,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7119],"tags":[],"real_estate_agency":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501760"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/118"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=501760"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":507370,"href":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501760\/revisions\/507370"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/507354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=501760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=501760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=501760"},{"taxonomy":"real_estate_agency","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.noupou.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/real_estate_agency?post=501760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}