Millfield School were the first winners of the Jarvis Cup last weekend at the inaugural UK PADEL School Alumni Championships, sponsored by Evelyn Partners.
Father and son Pete and Tim Jarvis had a vision to create the UK’s first ever padel competition for old boys and girls of schools throughout the UK – and they approached UK PADEL with their idea at the County Championships earlier this year. Thereafter, the Jarvis Cup was born.
Eight teams played out the event on Sunday 29 September at Rocket Padel Bristol, with a mix of youth and experience in all (well, almost all…) squads. Competition was strong, but most important was the sense of fun and of being involved in the grassroots of what seems sure to become a very large event in the coming years.
It was clear from the first matches that the Millfield team was the one to watch. They beat a strong Charterhouse team in the semis, leaving Pete’s Stowe side to play Clifton College in the other semi. This turned out to be a nail-biter, with the Clifton pair coming from behind to win the deciding “shootout” tie-break by 10-8. The final was won by Millfield, though the Clifton team battled valiantly.
Pete presented The Jarvis Cup to Millfield captain Stuart Farrar and his team of Tim Jarvis, Albie Gibbs and Joe Talbot.
In parallel the schools themselves were battling it out at the inaugural UK PADEL National Schools Championships, also sponsored by Evelyn Partners. Some 82 juniors in 21 teams across boys, girls and mixed took part in a groundbreaking event – making it the largest ever junior padel tournament in the UK. Clifton College won the Girls’ Championships, Millfield won the Mixed Championships and Whitgift won the Boys’ Championships.
Following the Alumni final Pete Jarvis said: “It was an amazing day of padel and camaraderie, seeing old friends and making many new ones. I really feel that alumni padel is at a pivot point and will grow significantly from now on. I have already had expressions of interest for next year’s event from multiple new schools.
“The most rewarding part of the day, however, was seeing the school children hop onto the courts we were using for the alumni event to play around every time they came free, even for a few minutes between matches. That reinforced my view that padel is the perfect racket sport for schools who wish to provide an inclusive and exciting sport for their pupils.”
UK PADEL thanked sponsors Portico Sports and headline sponsor Evelyn Partners, the wealth management and professional services group.
