Advantage Cinderford as Padel club gears up

THE latest development at Cinderford Rugby Club was laid out for the public at a presentation last week.

Padel is the world’s fastest-growing sport and two courts for the racquet-based game are being developed at the Bell Sports and Rugby ground.

As well as hearing plans for the Cinderford Padel Club, people attending the presentation at the rugby club last Wednesday (October 21) were also introduced to coach Pablo Moreno.

The development of the Padel club follows on from the installation of the artificial rugby pitch at Dockham Road.

Rugby club treasurer Rob Beavis said: “From there, we wanted to move things on and become more of a community club and more of a sports facility.

“We looked at various options: indoor area for netball, football, and we used to have tennis at the top.

“It seemed natural to go to Padel – we got the understanding that Padel had got very big.

“So we started this journey with some of the people that helped us with the artificial pitch.

“Rugby is our primary thing and we want to be successful on the rugby field.

“But we also want to be a community-based club and the Padel's the next step.

“We really hope this isn't the last step.

“We have got ambitious plans, small steps at a time, and hopefully, hopefully, we'll continue to grow one community, one badge.”

Jason Douglass of Elevate Sports said discussions about the ongoing development of the club started around the time the pitch was coming into use last year.

He said: “Across the country at the moment, all sorts of Padel facilities are being developed.

“Some have been around for five, six years, some have been around for five or six minutes.

“You'll have courts that are outdoors, you'll have courts that are under canopies, and you'll see courts that are inside old retail units.

“What we decided to do here was not build the cheapest solution possible

“That would have been just to build Padel courts and leave them uncovered.

“What we didn't want to do was create a facility which was going to be compromised by some of the weather that is prevalent in this neck of the woods.

“So we decided, as a minimum, we needed to put a roof on the facility.

“What we decided to do with this facility is not just put a roof over the top, but put sidewalls on the building as well.

“Those side walls will also open completely, when the weather is good.

“So we're going to get the benefit of an outdoor playing experience when the weather allows, but we can also close off and stay warm and dry if the weather isn't so smart.”

Next to the courts will be a cabin where players can livestream matches taking place on the courts, playback their own games or watch the pros on Padel channels.

He added that thanks to the generosity of club president Pete Bell and the Bell Group, the car park would be resurfaced.

Coach Mr Mareno is originally from northern Spain and came to the UK in 2016.

He was a county-level tennis player and became a Padel coach two years ago.

He said: “Padel is defined normally like a mix between tennis and squash.

“It is the fastest growing sport in the world at the moment and also here in the UK.

It's an enclosed court with glass walls of 20 metres by 10 metres.

“The scoring system is very similar to tennis.

“The only difference is that we’ve got underarm serve that make the sport much more inclusive than tennis.

“It’s very easy to pick up but difficult to perfect

“If you put people on the court, even if they haven't played, they haven't touched a racquet in their life, they're going to have fun.

“There is a stingless racquet, its carbon fibre with foam.

“It's more like a bat than a racquet because it doesn't have strings.”

The courts will be open from 8am and the last bookings will be 10pm.

The club will also have vending machines for players to hire equipment.

Among those at the presentation was Padel player Matthew Chinn.

He lives and works in the Forest but travels to Gloucester to play.

“I’ve been playing for about a year and a half but never played any racket sports – I never had a tennis background, nothing really.

“They opened one in Gloucester and a few friends got together and the rest is history really.

“It’ss accessible for someone who's never done a racquet sport.

“If you went straight into tennis, that’s differnt whereas with this you can pick it up relatively quickly and you don’t come away after two or three games thinking ‘I can’t do this’.”

“There’s 12 of us and we normally play once a week and we go away to Spain to play.

“I think its really positive and I think they’re going to be really busy.

“It means we can play more if we are not travelling to Gloucester.”

For more information visit the Cinderford Padel Club page on Facebook.