Spring 1991: Argentina landed the padel Italy

Le padel its rarely worn so well in Italy. Its development took off almost 30 years ago, in the early 1990s and is closely linked to Argentina which contributed to its expansion in the Boot.

Martin Calvelo: one of the pioneers

Martin Calvelo was the coach of the Italian selection and he is considered one of the pioneers of padel on the other side of the Alps. The Argentinian recounted the beginnings of the practice in Italy in the columns of the Corriere dello Sport : “During the second half of the 80s, the padel était le second national sport in Argentina and many big sponsors have arrived to finance the sector, starting with Coca-Cola ”.

Obviously, the number of players has increased, as has the level. Enough to make you want to cross the Atlantic to participate in major tournaments in Europe. It was during a trip to the Old Continent, in March 1991, that Calvelo met Edoardo Caoduro, Italo-Argentinian: “He told me about his idea of building the first padel in Italy". The two men set off in Costabissara, in the province of Vicenza, in the north-east of the country.

A federation before the pitches!

The Argentina-Italy connection also contributed to the creation of the transalpine federation of padel, still during the spring of 1991. “Daniel Piatti was an Italian engineer who lived in Bologna,” recounts Calvelo. In a few days he created the Federazione Italiana Gioco Padel, February 18, 1991 to be exact. He became its president ”.

Incredible thing: Italy has a federation before having land! The presence of a strong albiceleste diaspora in Emilia-Romagna has contributed to the success of the padel.

The first exhibition of padel in Italy took place in May 1991, at the Sport Show of the Bologna Fair. “There were matches between Spaniards, Argentines and Italians, recalls Calvelo. It was the start of a great new adventure for me. We started from this small reality in northern Italy to achieve the goal of making this wonderful sport known throughout the country".