The Jar Is Growing. Meet Padel.

Pickleball was the beginning. Now, The Jar Maidstone is opening its doors to a new game, six new courts and another chapter for The Jar - Maidstone. 

The Jar - Maidstone is entering its next phase.

Six new indoor padel courts are officially open, bringing another sport into the mix and giving Melbourne’s west a new way to play. Padel expands what the club can offer: another game to learn, another reason to get together and another community to build.

One club. Two sports. More ways to play.

First came pickleball. Now comes padel.

Padel is one of the world's most popular emerging racquet sports, and it's finding its feet in Australia.

Played in doubles on an enclosed court, padel combines elements of tennis and squash. The walls are part of the game, rallies can take unexpected turns, and positioning and teamwork matter as much as power.

It's familiar enough to pick up quickly if you've played another racquet sport, but different enough to keep you learning. And if you're completely new to it, that's part of the appeal. Join a beginner program at The Jar. 

At The Jar, padel isn't replacing what came before. It's building on it.

The same belief that shaped our pickleball community carries into this next chapter: sport is better when there's a place for everyone to get involved. Whether you're discovering racquet sports for the first time, looking for a new challenge or simply organising a hit with friends, there's room to find your game.

Meet the people bringing padel to The Jar

Behind the new courts are Chris and Tom, the founders of Padel Australia Group (PAG), who are working to establish the sport and help shape its future in Australia.

Their story began on the tennis court.

The pair grew up just 10 kilometres apart in South Africa, eventually meeting in Sydney and becoming regular tennis hitting partners. Within months, they had played their first game of padel. What started as a shared sporting interest quickly became a business idea.

With backgrounds in finance, Chris and Tom began looking more closely at why Australia had relatively few padel courts compared with markets they knew overseas. PAG was born from this- two friends, expanding a sport they loved. 

They had seen what could happen when the sport gained momentum in South Africa, where a strong outdoor sporting culture helped padel spread rapidly. They were also watching its growth in the UK and began to see an opportunity to help bring that same energy to Australia.

The Jar Maidstone is an important part of that journey.

For The Jar, bringing padel into the club is another step in creating a destination for racquet sports and the people who love them. For PAG, it's an opportunity to introduce more people to padel and help build the community around it.

The partnership is grounded in a shared understanding of what makes a venue work: the people, the experience and the relationships that bring it all together.

The Jar is the container

A sport needs somewhere to play. A community needs somewhere to meet.

That's what The Jar is building.

Pickleball gave us the starting point. It brought first-timers, regulars, competitive players and people who simply wanted something social to do. Over time, the club became about more than what happened during a game.

Padel gives that same idea another dimension.

Two sports can now sit under one roof at Maidstone, each with its own character and its own community, within a shared club environment. You can come to play pickleball, try padel, discover a new group of people or make a regular game part of your week.

The sport might change. The reason to come together doesn't.

And this isn't the end of the build. The Jar Maidstone is continuing to take shape, with more of the venue experience still to come.

Your next game starts here

Padel is now open at The Jar Maidstone, with six indoor glass courts available to book.

Bring three friends, book a court and see what the game is all about. New to padel? You can hire equipment and start with the basics before finding your rhythm.

Introductory court-hire pricing is available during the launch period, so there's no better time to give it a go.

Pickleball was the beginning. Padel is the next chapter. There's more to come at The Jar.

Explore padel and book your court at thejar.club/padel.