Padel Nation NEWS

Sport Wales’ £3.3m investment to include funding for padel

Sport Wales is investing £3.3m of Welsh Government funding into 37 projects to improve sports facilities across Wales.

£2.8m of the funding will support grassroots sport, while around half a million pounds has been allocated to high performance sport.

The grants have been made possible thanks to a total of £10m in capital funding from the Welsh Government for 2025–26. Details will soon be announced about how the remaining £6.7m will be invested.

A large chunk of the investment will be used to making local authority-owned leisure centres more energy efficient and sustainable.

One of the largest single grants will see £288,000 being invested in order to support the growing popularity of padel.

Tennis Wales will use the funding towards the conversion of an outdoor court to three covered,LED-floodlit padel courts at the Swansea Tennis Centre. This is part of a bigger development involving the resurfacing of four indoor courts and the upgrade of three other outdoor courts to clay.

Sport Wales CEO Brian Davies said: “We want every person in Wales to be able to access the sport and physical activity they desire. Regular investment in better facilities is an important step towards achieving that.

“We’re particularly pleased to have been able to help safeguard the future of numerous leisure centres.”

Surge Padel looks to inspire next generation of players

Surge Padel has made a commitment to developing young players and inspiring the next generation of players. Its junior coaching programme is designed to nurture skills, confidence and a genuine love for the game – from the very first session through to competitive play.

“We’ve already seen incredible success stories, including Travis Barber from our Harrogate club, who proudly represented Team GB at the Junior FIP World Championships in Spain this year,” a spokesperson for Surge said.

“Watching his journey from local coaching sessions to the world stage has been a huge inspiration for our community and a reminder of what structured, supportive coaching can achieve.”

Padel Nation NEWS

Padel 100 unveils funding round to drive rollout plans

Padel 100, Ireland’s fastest-growing padel operator, has recently announced the launch of a €5 million raise under the Employment Investment Incentive Scheme (EIIS) to fund a rollout that will see 300 courts installed nationwide by December 2027.

Early participation of investors is being rewarded with investments completed before 15 November 2025 qualifying for 50% EIIS income tax relief, and investments from 16 November 2025 (the date Padel 100 begins trading) qualifying for 35% tax relief. Installations are planned at a rate of 10-12 courts per month, with 100 new courts estimated by April 2026, with more than 40 venues already confirmed. Padel 100’s rollout is underpinned by strategic partnerships with Acenta Group, Playtomic, and NXPadel, bringing world-class construction, booking technology and materials to Ireland’s booming padel scene.

Padel 100 CEO, Ben Keohane commented: “We’re not talking about ideas on paper, we’re delivering with a groundbreaking initiative that signals a transformative moment in Ireland’s padel journey.”

Lucra Sports enters padel with rewards platform

Lucra Sports is teaming up with No Strings – a new padel-club concept co-founded by British entertainment entrepreneurs, Dov Penzik and Charlie Myers – to launch its tech-driven rewards platform into the sport.

Lucra’s platform at No Strings will enable players to compete in head-to-head matches, tournaments or group play – and win cash, prizes or sponsored goods instantly.

“Padel is exploding worldwide, yet technology is only just beginning to amplify the on-court fun,” said Michael Madding, chief operating officer at Lucra Sports.

“By partnering with No Strings’ computer-vision scoring, we turn every rally into a trackable datapoint and every friendly wager into a friction-free settlement – no spreadsheets, no IOUs. It’s the perfect launchpad for Lucra’s expansion into racket sports, where we can plug directly into existing infrastructure to unlock new revenue streams while adding to the play experience.”

Inaugural Padel National Championships launched

LTA has announced the inaugural LTA Padel National Championships. The launch of the event is seen as a landmark in the growth of padel into a major sport in the UK.

The tournament will be held at Rocket Padel in Bristol from 4-7 December 2025, bringing together the top British junior, open and senior padel players to compete for the title of national champions.

LTA’s Head of Padel, Tom Murray, said: “The event will bring together top talent across four age categories for both men and women, with the chance to compete for national titles, ranking points, and prize money, all on home soil.”