St Hugh’s in Oxfordshire is set to be one of the first UK prep schools to install padel courts — and Headmaster David Griffiths calls the move “a bit of a no-brainer” for private schools.
The Government’s introduction of VAT on private school fees in January has added financial pressure across the sector. Not only does padel add a unique selling point to attract potential pupils and their parents, it also gives schools a new source of income when courts are opened up to the public outside of school hours.
This is precisely the model that St Hugh’s intends to adopt by partnering with Padel People, whose co-founder George Sandbach is a former pupil at the school.
The plan is to build three covered courts which will be close to an existing pavilion with changing rooms and catering facilities. In time, these could be used by the public, with specific hours of the day designated for school pupils (during the school day) and members of the public (at traditional ‘peak’ hours of early mornings, evenings and weekends).
Although planning permission has not yet been secured, the school’s rural location is likely to mean that the process will be smooth. The school, for pupils aged 3-13, is set in 45 acres of countryside just off the A420 near Faringdon, equidistant between Oxford and Swindon.
St Hugh’s Headmaster, David Griffiths, told The Padel Paper: “Padel People will build the courts, we’ll have an allocated amount of free hours per day, but the courts will also be let out to the public at specific times, with the school taking a share of the turnover. It gives our children a new facility they can use and it brings in income for the school.
“For all of those reasons, it was a bit of a no-brainer. We believe we’re the first independent school in the country to do it for this age group. It’s a really positive news story for independent schools during what is quite a difficult time for the sector.”
The big challenge that faces schools who introduce public facilities on-site is safeguarding. However, St Hugh’s already has a swimming pool, tennis courts and sports hall that are open for public use. The school site also has a bridal path running through it, which divides some of the sports facilities from the main school buildings.
“Safeguarding is a challenge which applies to any school in this situation,” said Griffiths. “We must ensure that public access to the courts doesn’t compromise the safety of the children.
“However, as a school we are used to taking on these projects and overcoming obstacles in quite a progressive way. We will have very clearly designated public and school use time allocations, and the public won’t be able to access the courts without an access code to unlock the gate. We’re vigilant and experienced in safeguarding matters.”
Padel will build on a strong tennis tradition at St Hugh’s. The school has it own tennis programme, has produced county standard juniors in the past and takes part in Independent Association of Prep Schools (IAPS) competitions in tennis, swimming, hockey, cross-country and more.
Bolton School ,which has partnered with Lancashire-based operator Soul Padel, is another independent school to have cottoned on to the potential that padel offers. Indeed, Padel People co-founder George Sandbach revealed he has already had five phone calls from other prep schools since St Hugh’s Headmaster Griffiths posted on his LinkedIn account about their project.
Sandbach said: “As the padel world has grown, schools have taken note. It works for public and private sector schools. The public sector want more facilities on their sites but don’t have the capital to build it themselves and the independent schools want to add a USP and boost their income, especially following the introduction of VAT.
“We’ve discovered this little gap [in the market]. It works so well because our ‘peak’ times are a school’s ‘off-peak’ hours and vice-versa. We’ll be giving discounts to staff and parents. In time, we’re looking at perhaps having a full-time pro on-site to run a pupils’ programme and some public coaching too. Padel is a fantastic sport to have in schools and we can’t wait to get going once planning is approved.”
