She had never had a padel training when she suddenly qualified for a World Youth Championship. It was the shiny start of a career in padel sport for Maaike Betz (20) from Den Bosch. That career is now only three years old, but Maaike is now a full-time top athlete in Spain, the ‘padel Valhalla’. “Whoever had said this to me three years ago, I would have thought crazy.”
Maaike comes from a tennis family and was already on the court at a young age. She was a good tennis player, but had no ambition to break through to the top.
She knew padel from her tennis club in Den Bosch, where she occasionally ‘fucked around’ with friends. It’s kind of like tennis in a cage. “I read an advertisement about a youth World Cup and signed up. I had never had a real training or played a match, but after that tournament I qualified. It was fantastic to experience.”
That’s how she ‘accidentally’ rolled into the padel world. Because when the women’s team was short of a player in the seniors, Maaike was allowed to join as a youngster. She never lost that place. “I then had the idea that there was something for me to gain in the sport.”
It was time to get serious about it. “I started padel training in March 2020. I also played tennis, because I didn’t want to make a choice. Over time I started to focus completely on padel. It’s a fantastic game, very dynamic. face challenges.”
“I have to work hard.”
She’s talented, but she doesn’t call herself a super talent. “I need more hard work. Hard work beats talent“On the advice of the trainer, she went to Spain to continue that hard work. “In that country they are twenty years ahead of the Netherlands in the field of padel. The level is much higher there. At the beginning of 2022 I left for Madrid for half a year. Once back in my own country, I decided to go to Barcelona at the end of the year.”
Maaike focuses entirely on padel in Spain. “Earning a living with my sport is not yet possible, but I see this period as an investment. My parents support me and I get help from the association and sponsors. If I develop further, hopefully there will come a time when it will start to pay off.”
“I want to get to the top 50 in the world.”
Maaike is ranked 107th on the world ranking of the International Padel Federation. “In terms of objective, it is difficult to put a figure on it. In top sport there are so many factors that can influence. Ultimately, I want to be at least in the top 50 in the world. Every higher place is a bonus.”
Padel is not yet an Olympic sport, although 2032 is already cautiously in the agenda. “We recently participated in the European Games, which is the first step towards the Olympic Games. It was cool to experience and especially because we represented our own country. In the best case, padel will be at the Games in nine years. I will be ‘only’ 30 years old then, so who knows.”
