The UK’s first university padel society has quickly grown to 70 players having been started late last year by four friends returning from a year in Madrid.
Lily Freeman, Iona Mason, Charlotte Cassidy and Emily Brinsden created the Leeds Padel Society for students at the city’s three universities.
They meet twice a week at Leeds’ only current padel facility, Rawdon Golf and Tennis Club, where they have coaching from club chairman Simon Bickerton and play round-robin tournaments.
Before Christmas, the society held a tournament with eight pairs each representing a nation in the FIFA World Cup quarter-finals. As shown in the video below, the event was a great success.
Freeman, the society’s chair, told The Padel Paper: “It was created out of passion for the sport and belief that many other students would enjoy and engage with the easy-to-learn and rapidly growing game. It has been made even more exciting knowing that it is the first UK university padel society!
“Many members had never heard of the sport before, with a few even thinking it was paddleboarding! One of the greatest joys of forming the society has been seeing new people turn up every week to discover and fall in love with the sport. The society has been lucky enough to attract several talented tennis players, which has significantly increased the level of play and challenges the Spaniards in the team.”
Freeman says the support of club coach Bickerton has been instrumental in the club’s flying start. “He has supported us from the first day,” says the 23-year-old, who is studying psychology.
“We often start each session with ball and racquet skills, aimed at improving to play off the wall, volleying and playing effectively as a pair.
“It has been a brilliant way to meet new students and grow new friendships within the university. Further, it has been an excellent way to engage with some of the local community, which can often be overlooked as important in university life.
“We are always on the look-out to engage with other local teams or clubs for a chance to practice match play. It has been a very rewarding and fulfilling project setting up our society and hope that it will leave a powerful impact for the sport in Leeds. We can’t wait to watch the sport grow and continue helping spread the message about padel!”
(Main pic: Leeds Padel Society committee (l-r) Iona Mason, coach Simon Bickerton, Lily Freeman, Emily Brinsden and Charlotte Cassidy)
