A racket in the workplace: Padel, power plays, and post-match banter
March 19, 2025
Last night, the team headed to the very popular Padel courts after work for a “friendly” competition amongst colleagues. We love nothing better than an ego test and Padel was not at all disappointing. Probably just as much fun as the event itself, is talking to staff before and after about how they think it will go.
Some interesting forecasts. For “best performer”:
“I think maybe Justin, just due to past experience. He’s played before… but Hayley also has a bit of a tennis history, so she might do quite well.”
Bill was frequently mentioned as the top contender for “Best Performer.” Known as a bit of a dark horse in the sports department, he consistently delivers solid performances so it was no surprise he was a team favourite.
When asked this morning how the event went, and who the top performers were, there was a fair bit of chatter.
“Fraud watch” is always a fun topic – someone who is willing to cheat in order to beat an opponent. Apparently there was none of this filthy behaviour at Padel (at least on one side of the court).
“What would you classify as cheating? I don’t think many of us were good enough to cheat. It was hard enough getting the ball over the net.”
The team’s perceptions of “Most Competitive” was an even tie between Claudia, Justin and Brent, which was no surprise to those of us who didn’t attend, but quite funny considering they were playing against each other. What a pairing!
“Brent was competitive…but it’s just a different level between Claudia and Justin. They loved a good argument over the score.”
The label of “Most competitive” was hotly disputed. Mostly by those mentioned as the crown winners. Claudia wished to inform the team that being married to Justin, “a high performing athlete who does well at any sport he focuses on”, that losing was not an option if she ever wanted peace post-padel.
“Guys, if he’d won, I’d have never heard the end of it.”
“You did cheat, though.”
This muttered accusation sparked a heated discussion between Claudia and Brent with Bill suspiciously silent in the middle.
With Justin (and others) absent for comment, we think we can all agree that “Most Competitive Player” can stay evenly tied between Claudia, Justin and Brent. It’s ok guys, you all played well. Just not as well as Claudia and Bill. Who apparently cheated. But enough of that, please enjoy some shots of the team having a ball below:
