Le Grange is the queen of two courts

“We like to keep you moving” was an oil company’s popular advertising slogan in SA back in the 1990s. The initials of that company were B and P and it’s rather coincidental that an SA child of the 90s has slickly used two sports with the very same initials to keep her moving.

And she just happens to be making those latest moves in the oil-rich sands of Bahrain in the Middle East. Meet Sandra le Grange, former multiple SA badminton title winner, now rocking the world of padel, a unique racquet sport that originated in South America.

Born in Welkom but raised in Kimberley in the Northern Cape, Le Grange played just about all ball sports at school before focusing on badminton in her last few high school years.

“My parents were both badminton players, so I first picked up a racket aged about four and won my first national tournament when I was 10… an under-13 tournament,” she said from Bahrain. “That win lit a fire within me and I just wanted to win more, I have such a competitive streak.”

She went on to represent SA on badminton courts around the world, while also graduating with a teaching career from Free State University.

“Apart from the national titles I won, the highlight of my badminton career was reaching the last 16 of the women’s doubles with Jen Fry in the Commonwealth Games in Scotland in 2014.”

Since she was a little girl Le Grange dreamt of living and teaching in a foreign country. In September 2019 that dream came true when she took up a teaching post at the Ibn Khuldoon National School in Isa Town, Bahrain, where she teaches English in the International American system.

“The lifestyle is simply amazing here. Even though I’m Christian in a Muslim country the acceptance and tolerance are just amazing. And the safety aspect is paramount. Never for a second have I felt anything than 100% safe here. I can go and jog late at night with earphones in etc … it’s incredible.

“People have a good lifestyle here, there are lots of traditional SA braais and potjekos events among the SA ex-pats … Bahrain has been called the Las Vegas of the Middle East by some people.”

The 29-year-old Le Grange has dabbled with a few sporting codes in Bahrain, with most sport being played in the evenings due to the scorching daytime desert conditions. But her curiosity was piqued when she saw what she soon discovered to be a padel court erected near her.

“I was driving past and thought ‘this looks interesting’. My boyfriend and I went for a walk that night [here, everyone walks at night] and soon started playing for a few consecutive nights.

“Initially I found it very easy because it’s so much like a mixture of tennis/squash/badminton, all of which I’ve played at a high level… so it was easy to start. It’s such fun and a real sweat session.”

Her skills were noticed by Khalifa Rashdan, a member of the Bahrain Padel Federation, and one thing led to another. “I just can’t stop learning new things from this game,” she said. 

Padel originated in Mexico before spreading to Argentina and then the likes of Spain and Portugal.  Le Grange says Bahrain is going bonkers for the sport.

“We started off with two courts and our first tournament was the end of October, the Lexus Open. I was fortunate enough to be part of that. Then we had another tournament in December, and suddenly courts just started popping up. Now there must be 20 clubs in Bahrain and each club has four to five courts.”

Predominantly a doubles sport, Le Grange says it’s part of a cultural revolution. “Sport is growing so fast here and I really want to be part of it. I can even see it in the children I teach. Sometimes cultural restrictions and circumstances make it more difficult, but the young girls are so very keen to play sport.”

The Bahrain mindset is not as sports-focused as in SA where the temperate weather is conducive to outdoor sporting activity. “For women here, it’s harder, having to have various parts of their body covered. But in terms of gender and sport, Bahrain is more mixed, although media coverage is still quite male-orientated.

“But more and more women are playing sport here and being given much more opportunity.”

Not only is Le Grange now immersed in nurturing her pupils, she is also immersed in the padel culture.  “I played a big tournament in March organised by the Let’s Padel Club where I won the ladies’ doubles and was runner-up in the mixed doubles. And the money is good too, in the one tournament my prize money was 850 dinar [just shy of R50,000], but it’s the competitive environment and learning new skills that also attracts me.”

Le Grange is thriving on the boundless opportunities offered in Bahrain. “We are given so, so many opportunities to improve … we’re always being offered courses to improve our knowledge and as an expat community we’re truly valued here because we bring diverse opinions. The culture here is just so loving, and not at all like portrayed in the media.”

As in most Middle East countries, drugs are an absolute no-go in Bahrain but in Le Grange’s case, she has her own “addiction”.

“Sport and padel are like an absolute obsession to me. I just can’t stop, I need more and more. I’m learning more and am ready to teach other women what I’ve learnt.”