Sam McKibbin, manager at We Are Padel Derby, has announced a series of junior competitions and says clubs in the UK “aren’t doing enough” to foster the next generation of players.
A tournament staged in partnership with Padel Tournaments UK in Derby on 24-25 August will include LTA Grade 3 men’s and women’s draws and an LTA Grade 6 mixed draw – plus an Under-16s draw for boys and girls, who can enter for just £1.
The top four juniors pairs will get access to a dedicated coaching clinic to further improve their performance.
“The idea is to remove all barriers for kids,” said Sam. “Offering a platform to compete is so important for the development of the next generation of padel players. It gets them inspired for greater things!”
We Are Padel Derby hosts six weekly fun sessions for kids plus ‘Future Pros’ academy training for juniors aspiring to a competitive level. Additionally, they hold summer camps which by the end of this summer will have seen 1,200 children take part. “Last year, we had 700 kids so it’s amazing to see the growth. We’re also planning to run one in autumn,” said Sam.
He added: “Being brutally honest, clubs aren’t doing enough and the national governing body aren’t doing enough. Kids have to be the focus. If we don’t start to look towards creating opportunities for them, then at a certain point the sport isn’t going to progress as fast as it should.
“It’s very easy for an adult to jump on court, have fun and get lessons, but a lot of coaches don’t want to be on court with kids. There is very little opportunity for kids. It’s very clear there is a big gap there that we need to fill.”
We Are Padel have a philosophy of offering free padel for children. “In our clubs, we believe kids should never pay,” explained Sam. “We don’t charge them for coaching or matches.”
We Are Padel Derby have partnered with the Derbyshire Institute of Sport to offer junior players off-court support from physios, nutritionists and sports psychologists.
“It’s entirely up to them [the children] how much they want to take out of that,” said Sam. “We want to ensure we’ve left no stone unturned in terms of developing them as padel players.”
More information about We Are Padel’s upcoming junior tournaments:
Grade 3, Juniors & Mixed – 24-25 August in Derby
Grade 2, Juniors & Mixed – 28-29 September in Bristol
Grade 3, Juniors & Mixed – 30 November – 1 December in Derby
