The Euro Padel League begins this month – and Chris Warren from London’s Rocks Lane club is the brainchild behind the innovative new competition.
Billed as ‘the Champions League of Padel’ – the first season of the Euro Padel League (EPL) will see members from five clubs from across Europe (including Rocks Lane) do battle, with each club taking it in turns to play host.
The competition will initially cater for men over-40 with three pairs per team (each must have a combined age of 100+, 105+ and 110+). As the league grows, the intention is to introduce ladies, open-age, juniors and adaptive (i.e. wheelchair) categories.
Each of the initial five teams has its own IPL cricket-style team nickname which reflects the culture of their home cities. The initial monikers are: London Rocks, The Vikings of Jarfalla (Stockholm), Marbella Sun (the El Mirador Club), Riviera Icons (Grasse, south of France) and Vilamoura Friends (Algarve).
The season kicks off in Marbella at the end of January at the El Mirador Padel Club, moves over to the Algarve, before sipping a pastis in the French Riviera in Grasse, then popping up to see the aurora borealis in Stockholm and finally settling down for a Pimm’s in Rocks Lane, London, in July (coinciding with Wimbledon).
EPL founder Chris told The Padel Paper: “We’re already looking to increase the number of teams to 16 across Europe’s major cities and move towards a Champions League-style group stage format.
“There’s lots of interest from other clubs and players in different age groups before we’ve even hit a ball. We have had to create a waiting list and team entry criteria for clubs. The sky’s the limit!”
The EPL format will feature a few twists:
- An innovative ‘silver point’ format at deuce – so it will be sudden death the second time the score goes to deuce (if the first advantage is not won)
- Each pair gets three points for their team with a win, but losing teams get one point if they win a set (so every set matters!)
- Each club will have an additional team from its own sponsors playing social matches against each other
- Each team will have kit sponsors, in addition to the overall competition sponsors
- Sponsorship talks are ongoing with a major airline
- Two darts boards will be set up at each venue and both teams will play a darts competition as well as padel!
The idea of the EPL first came to Chris (pictured below, centre) whilst in conversation with Sweden’s Mikael Gavelin at the FIP Senior European Championships in Alicante last summer, where both men competed in the Over-55s (Mikael won the title).
After it begins later this month with its five initial teams, the EPL is looking to identify more clubs who are ambitious and have experience in organising team events. Each club will become an integral part of the EPL with shares and voting rights to determine future decisions.
Each club must commit to hosting a home event for a minimum of four teams and ensure that they underwrite their own event to provide playing opportunities and hospitality for all of the players over three days of competition and social interaction.
Chris added: “Most international padel tournaments and events do not provide opportunities for loyal club members to actually play in the events. Padel is all about inclusivity, fun and networking so we wanted to create an international league for clubs and their members.
“It’s very exciting to be able to play padel, meet like-minded motivated people and have lots of fun at the same time!”
