After two decades in squash, it took only a few months for Roxanna Keshavarz’s heart to be stolen by padel – and the children of Bristol are benefitting massively.
Roxanna – known to all as Roxy – started squash at the age of eight and within a year she was the only girl in the Staffordshire U9s junior team. She represented the county and the West Midlands at all age groups thereafter. She was captaining adult teams by 15 and then received a scholarship to go to university while also competing on the pro circuit.
Roxy – the daughter of an Iranian father and Chinese mother, but born in Stoke on Trent – started coaching squash aged 16 and later took charge of the Warwickshire county junior set-up. She based herself at the famous Edgbaston Priory in Birmingham and even worked for a squash clothing company.
Her padel pivot began last year when Edgbaston needed some more ladies to make up the numbers for their club padel championships. “I loved it straight away,” she says. “It didn’t give me that feeling of physical exhaustion that I always enjoy with squash, but it was much more sociable, easy to pick up and fun.”
A vacancy for Centre Manager at the newly-built PadelaAll Lockleaze came up in June 2022 and Roxy went for it. She’s gregarious and a great organiser – and Padel4all’s Director of Operations, Dax Mellor (himself a former county junior head squash coach) knew he’d met a kindred spirit.
Padel4all Director Charles Whelpton said: “Roxy is an absolute gem – it was obvious right from the start that she would be a massive asset for us.”
Roxy, 30, said: “It was the perfect time to get into this industry. I now live and breathe padel!
“I’ve been in the squash industry for 22 years and it’s been my entire life. I’ve played all over Europe and run academies. Now I’ve brought all that knowledge here. It might not be a classic Spanish padel model, but I’ve done it my own way.”
Her impact on Padel4all Lockleaze since it opened in August last year has been massive. Unlike the high-end clientele focus of many other new padel facilities, she has targeted the local community to great effect.
The centre has already introduced padel to six schools and three Cub Scout groups, held nine weeks of junior camps, one birthday party and five family fun sessions (where families can book a court for 90 minutes which includes 30 minutes of an ‘intro’ with a coach and then 60 minutes of playing time).
Fifty-nine juniors have signed up for their junior clubs, held on Saturdays and Tuesdays – many of them recruited through Roxy’s appearances at local community sports festivals. There, she sets up a stall and offers free ‘come and try’ sessions for juniors and adults using mini tennis nets. For those who want to try again, she promotes intro sessions at Lockleaze for just £5.
The club shares a site with a community football, rugby and hockey club and has gained many players who have simply crossed the car park out of curiosity.
Roxy says: “At half term, some kids were just hanging around outside, so we invited them in to play for free. I gave them a leaflet for our Saturday junior camps. To my amazement, they turned up and now they come every single week. Their mums now play as well!
“Last term, a lot of the parents got to know each other and they’d book a court whilst the junior camp was going on. They’d all go home together talking about padel. It’s just brilliant to see.”
Bristol, of course, has quickly become a hotbed for padel in the UK, with four major centres including the UK’s largest, the 14-court Rocket Padel.
When Lockleaze first opened, members were staying up until one minute past midnight to book courts online for two weeks later. The rise to 33 courts across the city has now seen demand level out, but Roxy’s ideas and enthusiasm keep the punters coming back to Lockleaze – especially the kids.
“The main thing is that they have fun,” she states. “I’ve seen a lot of coaches just talk at children. My philosophy is let them try it, don’t get too technical too early, just let them play. Padel is so much fun, it virtually sells itself.”
