When padel was launched at East Glos Club two-and-a-half years ago, little did three of the club’s older female members realise they would end up competing in national events and beating Great Britain players.
The Cheltenham-based club launched padel in April 2021 with three outdoor courts to capitalise on the sport’s growing popularity and to complement its tennis, squash and racketball offerings. The club’s padel launch was a runaway success, with many tennis, squash and padel members now playing weekly. Three of those members are Sally Pendry (59), Heather Sheridan (60) and Louise Dalglish (70).
All three women are long-standing tennis members at East Glos and between them, they have played county, senior county and national-level tennis. Heather played senior international tennis for Ireland.
However, on starting to play padel, they found they had a natural affinity for the game and, in a relatively short time, have quickly progressed from beginners to advanced-level players.
Sally and Heather are ranked in the top 10 in the LTA Padel Senior Rankings 50+ category. Heather was selected to play for Ireland in October in the FEPA (Federation of European Padel) Veterans Championships in Belgium. Over the last two years, they have played in club, county and national competitions on the LTA and HOP (Home of Padel) circuits.
This year, Sally and Heather reached seven finals as a pair, winning two of them. Heather won five further competitions with different partners, including the All-Ireland Padel Mixed Pairs Open and the Welsh Padel Open Pairs.
Their already-successful season culminated on 4 November at a super seniors padel competition delivered by GB Seniors Padel and held at the Padel Hub in Slough. Heather and Sally won the inaugural Legends Cup (women’s 59+ category). They overcame the Irish senior padel team pair in the semis, then the number one seeds, the GB senior team pair, in the final, both in straight sets.
With just three outdoor courts and not a major club on the national scene, competing on a national stage and winning against GB players is a tremendous achievement for this East Glos pair.
At the same time, Louise won the inaugural Phoenix Cup (women’s 69+ category). Louise, partnered by GB team player Rosie Connell, won their matches convincingly to finish as the overall winners.
Heather said: “I think our recent achievements greatly encourage older women to continue or start playing sport socially and competitively. We are proving that older women are more than capable of enjoying the challenge of building on existing racket skills to take on and learn a new sport that is fun and healthy.
“It really is never too late! And importantly, it is perfectly acceptable and desirable for older women to play, and to be seen to be playing competitive sport.”
Main pic (l-r): Louise Dalglish, Sally Pendry and Heather Sheridan
Article kindly contributed by Julian Wellings from Expertise on Tap
