Comedian Jason Manford is on a mission to get a million children playing padel in the next 10 years and unearth Team GB’s potential Olympic padel players of the future.
The Padel Paper met Jason at PurePadel in Manchester on Wednesday (18 December) as he launched a new joint initiative with the LTA and welcomed 40 local secondary school children for a fun coaching session. Afterwards, PE staff from the four schools received free Dunlop rackets and balls and vouchers for all students to come back to Pure Padel for a free session.
Jason – a comedian, actor, presenter and singer – is an unashamed padel addict, fixing up matches via Playtomic several times a week at clubs all over the UK and beyond whilst on tour. A lifelong tennis player, he first discovered the magic of the 20×10 whilst on a family in Portugal three years ago.
Growing up on a council estate in Manchester, Jason admits he used to scale the fence of Whalley Range Cricket and Tennis Club as a youngster in order to have a hit on the courts. Then, one day, a leaflet came through the door inviting local kids in for free lessons. He never forgot being given that opportunity, and is now using status as a star of TV and stage to give other kids similar priceless chances to participate.
He tells us: “If padel makes it into the Olympics, be it in 2032 or 2036, that person who plays in Team GB has not picked up a racket yet. They don’t know the game exists. That is such an exciting thought. I feel like Terminator coming back in time to find John Connor! It could even be one of these kids here!”
On coming back from that first padel experience in Portugal, Jason immediately sought out his local padel club, which turned out to be The Padel Club in Wilmslow. “I quickly became as obsessed as everybody else,” he says.
“But what I did notice as I played more at different venues is that the sport was in danger of becoming a very white, middle class sport in the UK. I’m in a privileged position where I have time to play as often as I want because I work in the evenings doing my comedy shows. But I’m also privileged in that I can afford a racket and court fees.
“In London, it can be up to £120 to book a court for an hour and a half. I get that the commercial sector needs to make money but you can altruistic at the same time. It set me wondering if there was a way to speak to the different padel operators and the LTA and open up the game to kids who might not even know it exists. Rather than talk and worry about it, let’s do something!”
Jason put some posts out on social media and had an astonishing 3,000 responses from schools and PE teachers. Suddenly all that free time between gigs was being used up on admin, phone calls and emails getting the project off the ground. The launch event in Manchester on Wednesday was the start of what he hopes will be a hugely impactful initiative.
“We’ve set a target of getting a million kids to play in the next 10 years. We’ve got 40 here today, but you’ve got to start somewhere!
“It’s such a social sport and it’s brilliant for your mental health so I believe it’s perfect for kids. I’ve got six kids and a full-time job travelling all over the world. I sometimes rock up to play with all sorts of crap going on at home and work, then suddenly all you care about is, ‘Can I get that ball over the net?'”
Jason had all the kids giggling and enjoying themselves on court alongside Steve Yeardley, the LTA’s Padel Manager. Steve said: “It has been brilliant to collaborate alongside Jason to help us reach wider audiences and open padel up. It was amazing to see so many kids participate with smiles on their faces. PurePadel have been very generous and offered each child a return voucher to the centre, which will provide further opportunity for the pupils to participate and the enjoy the sport once again. The LTA looks forward to facilitating more of these community sessions.”
Dunlop’s Steve Heatley added: “It’s such an exciting time for padel in the UK and it’s a fantastic target that Jason has set to get more kids playing this amazing sport. As the official LTA Padel Partner we were delighted to get involved and give the children free Dunlop padel rackets to help start their journey into the game.”
Jason hopes this week’s events will encourage the whole padel scene to be more welcoming of juniors. “When I play padel around the country I rarely see kids playing,” said Jason. “If I can get 80 kids a week to play, it starts putting pressure on clubs but also Sport England and councils to build courts in parks, schools and other public spaces. By increasing demand we can impact things like childhood obesity and mental health problems. This sport could really help a lot of people.”
