Flight Lieutenant Ben Hanley is on a mission to create an Armed Forces padel team after falling in love with the sport (and playing with the former world No.1!) whilst stationed in Madrid.
Flt Lt Hanley (pictured above, right) and colleague Flt Lt James Davey are part of the RAF squadron working alongside NATO in air policing, covering the whole of southern Europe.
Neither has a racket sports background, but they became hooked on padel after discovering the game on courts near their office in the Spanish capital. After several months, they joined a match with some locals via Playtomic. “They absolutely wiped the floor with us!” laughs Ben. The experience fuelled their curiosity to learn the nuances and tactics of the game, so they signed up for lessons and went to watch local tournaments.
Ben won a competition run by adidas in the build-up to the Hexagon Cup – the celebrity-backed team padel tournament which took place at the Madrid Arena in January. As part of his prize, he and James got to play padel with five-time world champion Seba Nerone, as well as getting VIP tickets to the event itself.
Ben said: “It was a great opportunity to train with someone of that calibre. Going from not knowing the sport to playing with ex-world No.1 in a year was an eye opener!”
Although a recent ACL injury has delayed his progress on court for now, Ben is determined to introduce padel into the Armed Forces’ sporting programme. He has been appointed the UK Armed Forces lead for padel and the RAF’s Padel Development Manager. However, there are a few barriers to overcome before it is officially recognised and funded like more established sports in the Armed Forces system.
Ben is seeking to organise an Armed Forces Padel Open day, possibly in Bristol. He is hoping The Padel School will help introduce Forces personnel to the game, having met co-founders Sandy and Tom Farquharson in Madrid (pictured below).
Although padel has been played during some inter-forces tennis fixtures, Ben would like to see stand-alone padel activity, potentially leading to matches against other nations’ army and air force teams.
Ben told The Padel Paper: “We’re now going through the legalities of getting padel officially recognised within the Armed Forces so it can get funding. There are a few financial and legal barriers we’re trying to break down.”
Ben reveals that the Army is considering putting nine padel courts into a disused hangar, while RAF Halton Tennis Club is considering adding two padel courts. The infrastructure seems to be in the pipeline, so now Ben wants to “get as many people playing as possible to force the hand of the gatekeepers.”
He added: “The inter-services sports competitions are always massive. For me the ideal scenario would be a year’s worth of localised events and competitions leading to a UK Armed Forces team playing against different nations.”
If you’d like to help Ben’s quest to embed padel within the UK Armed Forces sporting programme, contact him on benjamin.hanley101@mod.gov.uk
