FOR most head coaches the prospect of guiding one international team to a World Championship in a single calendar year would be more than enough.
Yet John Leach has been at the helm of two international set-ups in 2022 after helping guide the GB men’s veterans teams to a Las Vegas age-group World Championship in the spring, then taking the elite men’s team to Dubai in November for the XVI Padel World Championships.
In part two of his exclusive sit down with The Padel Paper (read part one here if you missed it), the man masterminding Team GB’s international challenge at all levels of the men’s game has revealed how he does it and the motivation behind his all-consuming passion for British men’s padel.
Over to you John: “The vets started at the beginning of the year as the teams needed a coach to help with the qualification event in Ireland for the Worlds. Peter Vann approached me to see if I would help try and get them to Vegas and I was delighted to come on board.
“We got a victory in Ireland and that set us off to Vegas. I helped make the selections and took the team out to a seniors World Cup which was pretty cool.
“The interest in vets padel has been growing all the time and what was apparent as the year went on is that making selection for GB Men’s Vets is becoming more and more important to more people.
“There are now a greater number of players at senior level who want to compete for GB and the idea is to step these squads up between now and the next major event, which is yet to be announced.
“We want to do all we can to make sure the team is in the best possible place when the time comes for that and the plan is to put on squad sessions on a monthly basis at all the relevant age groups so that I can learn about the players and, almost more importantly, they can learn about each other.”
John has no doubt that the standard of age-group padel is firmly on an upward trajectory. “There are new players coming into the system all the time and as more is made of the seniors tour and World Championships that only encourages more players to show an interest and train harder.
“The players who went to Vegas earlier this year have now come back with a real understanding of what is needed for them to play at that level the next time they go to a major championship. They now know what they need to do in training and the dedication which is needed. It is much like what the open-age players had to do to make Dubai.
“The age groups were 35 to 55 last time but now things have changed to 40 up to 60 with each age group ending every five years. I think that is a good fit.
“Looking forward to 2023 there should be a European Championships, although we are waiting on confirmation on that, which might be a similar set-up to the Worlds with 16 teams ready to go.”
John is able to contrast his experience of coaching open-age players with those in the vets categories. He says: “We need to take it seriously on both sides and make sure we have the right drills and routines for the team.
“But from a seniors perspective, the calendar structure is very important as they are not playing padel as often as the younger guys. You have to manage the amount that everyone plays and make sure the workload is appropriate.
“Plus you need to make sure there is consistency and continuity in terms of getting them all together, as some members of the team have other commitments that can make that tough.
“Also we have a bigger crowd now as there are more age groups, so you need to make sure you get to know the team and that they get to know each other.”
As if all that isn’t enough along with former LTA No.1 ranked player Javi Serrats, John is the man behind the burgeoning HOP Tour which provides competitive action for amateur and professional alike.
As a brand, John is confident 2023 will provide plenty of ‘hoppy times’: “HOP is developing year on year and we want to be associated with the best clubs and the best brands and I feel like we have made good strides in that over the last couple of years.
“In 2023 we will really push ahead and bring tournaments to the UK which players and spectators alike can enjoy. We are determined to just promote great padel.”
At 43 there is still plenty of competitive match play mileage left in the former GB captain. Leach is pragmatic about the prospect of continuing to do battle on the international veterans stage: “I played in Vegas and that was probably the last time I played in an actual tournament but it is still a consideration for next year.
“Really I still haven’t made the call on whether I want to compete or not, so I still have to make that decision either way. When you go to these tournaments if you are coaching and playing that is a big ask but I still enjoy competing so it’s an option.”
Yet of one thing there is no doubt – the future of GB men’s international padel is in safe hands.
