🇬🇧 UK Growth: New schools tournament the latest sign of padel explosion

The first-ever nationwide schools tournament for padel is the latest sign of the accelerating growth of the sport in the UK.

Twenty-one teams across boys, girls and mixed took part in the inaugural UK Padel Schools Championships, held on 29 September at Rocket Padel Bristol.

The tournament was sponsored by the wealth management and professional services group Evelyn Partners, enabling free entry to be open to all secondary schools in the UK.

The competitions were played in timed matches in the group stages, leading to one set to eight games in the knockout stages. UK Padel coaches also hosted clinics to help players prepare for their next round of competition throughout the day.

Whitgift won the boys event, while Clifton College won the girls competition and Millfield won the mixed event.

UK Padel said it anticipates the championships will be held annually, adding: “We hope this event could be a catalyst for the beginning of a major school’s movement to get behind padel.”

It follows the launch last month of a new five-year strategy for padel in the UK by the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), the national governing body for the sport in the country.

The strategy, which covers the period from 2024 to 2029, is designed to build on the rapid development of padel in Britain over the past five years.

According to the LTA, since 2019 the number of padel courts in the UK has grown from 50 to 350, with annual participation rising from 6,000 to 129,000. The LTA has also launched new coaching courses, as well as a performance pathway to support Britain’s best players.

The commitments for the first phase of the new strategy, from 2024 to the end of 2026, include growing the number of courts to 1,000; increasing awareness of the sport from 20% to 40% of the population; and growing the number of annual padel players from 129,000 to 400,000, and monthly players from 65,000 to 200,000.

The body also aims to increase the UK’s padel coach and activator workforce from 40 to 700 and enable 10 players to break into the top 200 and two players into the top 100 by the end of 2026.

Meanwhile, in a further sign of the growing importance of the UK market to leading players in the padel industry, Barcelona-based WsbSport – which provides courts sales and club consultancy globally – last month announced a strategic partnership with UK consultancy service Padel Ventures. WsbSport said the collaboration marks its “official entry into the UK market”.

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