Padel A Sport for the 21st Century The Padel Federation (United Kingdom)

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Padel News New President Mr Tony Lee has taken over UKPF with the blessing of Mr Brian Thompson who is resigning forthwith along with his daughter. Mr Thompson sincerely wishes Tony every success with his plans to Promote Padel in the United Kingdom. Press release: UKPF Congratulate the Huddersfield Tennis Club on their initiative to install up to 3-Padel Courts by the Summer of 2010 An article in the Huddersfield Daily Examiner By Barry Gibson on 28th October 2009 stated that ‘A New Sport is coming to Huddersfield’ following a grant for the first padel courts in the North to be built, when yesterday the Councillors approved £20,000 towards the building of three padel courts at Huddersfield Lawn Tennis and Squash Club in Edgerton. Club member Eva Lambert led the effort to build the padel courts and she welcomed the funding from the Kirklees Council. The club needs to raise £60,000 to build the three courts on the site of two redundant grass tennis courts. The club was inspired to take up the sport after the success in October 2009 of members Michael and Kelly-Jayne Tolman. The brother and sister duo are part of the United Kingdom Padel Team which competed in the European Padel Championships in Estoril, Portugal. They both had wins in team matches and Mike and his partner Phil Whalley won the Open Championship Plate, which was a fantastic achievement. Eva said: "They started playing padel at La Manga where their parents own a property but in the UK, they had to go down to London to train for these championships. Eva says that their courts will also be available to the public on a Pay & Play basis. UKPF hope that because of their young age, Kelly-Jane & Mike Tolman will be involved in International matches for some time to come, including the Padel World Championships in Cancun, Mexico in November 2010 and Houston, Texas in 2012. The UKPF have been offered the opportunity of hosting the 2011 European Padel Championships but we have to confirm by the 31st January 2010 that we can, otherwise they will go to Madeira. Requirements are 4 and preferably 6 padel courts in one location plus having around £150,000.00 of sponsorship money in place to cover hotel costs, airport transfers and other costs for all the teams. Brian Thompson, the UKPF President is currently working ‘all hours’ to try to meet the International Padel Federations requirements. If UKPF can do a good job hosting the European Padel Championships in 2011, there would be a chance of hosting the World Padel Championships in 2014. Peter Vann, who was chairman of the Huddersfield Tennis Club until his term of office ended recently, has played padel in Spain for 10 years. He said: "Compared to tennis and squash padel is easy to learn and within an hour, beginners can be enjoying themselves, having rallies. In Spain, padel is the second most popular participatory sport to football. As many of you know, padel was invented by Enrique Corcuera of Mexico and in the late 1960s Manuel Santana, the Wimbledon Singles Champion and some other top tennis players introduced it to a tennis club in Marbella from where it spread, ‘like a forest fire’. Padel is currently played in over 20-countries by around 7-million youngsters and adults. 2009 European Padel Championship in Portugal The UKPF sent men’s and women’s teams to compete in the 2009 European Padel Championships in Cascais, Portugal from 19 to 25 October 2009. Although Padel is new to the UK we improved on our performance in Calgary and both teams had wins and Mike Tolman and Phil Whalley won the Open Championship Plate, which was a fantastic achievement. For more on the 2009 European Championship click [here]. World Padel Championship in Cancun, Mexico, November 2010 We will be sending men’s and women’s teams to compete in the 2010 World Padel Championship. We are looking for sponsorship to meet our costs for the event and if anyone is interested they should contact Brian Thompson at info@padelfederation.co.uk Tel:(0044) (0)114 247 6222. UKPF Plays Padel at the Tennis Masters in Rome The Italian Padel federation has recently been incorporated into the Italian Tennis Federation and to mark the event a glass wall padel court was set up at the Italian Masters Tennis Tournament, from 25th April until 9th May.  International teams including UKPF have been playing to help to demonstrate padel and Roger Federer did a tennis and padel presentation.  Andy Murray told our party that he enjoyed playing padel. All this took place at the Foro Italico, the large sporting complex in Rome.  This includes the Olympic Stadium and the Roma/Lazio Football Stadium and there was also a Tennis/Padel 'Village' where equipment and clothing suppliers were marketing their products. The Italian Padel President asked us to support the event by providing Men's & a Women's Teams to play matches against teams from other federations. Naturally we accepted the invitation and we had a great time. Preparing for a Children's Padel Presentation Emily Heppell, Andy Murray, Mari Heppell & Alex Corretja Alex is currently Andy's Spanish Trainer for Clay Courts. Andy said that he plays Padel in Barcelona with Alex Roger Federer with Daniel Patti the President of the Italian Padel Federation at a Children's Tennis Presentation, prior to a Children's Padel Presentation The 2008 World Paddle Championships Calgary, Canada Just a few hours after UKPF’s membership of the FIP had been announced Bill Stamile, the President of the Canadian Paddle Federation, congratulated us on attaining membership status and then he kindly invited us to send Men's & Women's Teams to compete in the 2008 World Paddle Championships in Calgary, Canada, which we did. Reflection on Calgary 2008 For a reflection on the 2008 World Padel Championships in the Calgary, Canada click [here] Padel Interest Grows Coinciding with our acceptance in the FIP and entry into the 2008 World Paddle Championship in Calgary, Canada, we have seen the interest in Padel grow. We have seen more enquiries about padel court construction and rules. This includes interest from a major leisure/holiday company with UK and Europe based sites. Whilst these projects are in the early stages we are sure that the raised profile of Padel in the UK will bring further interest. Reflection on Murcia 2006 For a reflection on the 2006 World Padel Championships in the city of Murcia, Spain click [here].