Scarborough Rugby Union Football Club (SRUFC) served up an ace when it celebrated the official opening of the Yorkshire Coast’s first community Padel Tennis facility at its Squash and Rackets Academy on Thursday 18 May 2023.
After a soft launch for members following the completion of the facility in late February 2023, more than 100 Padel enthusiasts attended the grand opening, including SRUFC representatives, Padel players and coaches, sponsors, councillors and politicians, as well as members of the public.
Representing the principal sponsors, Scarborough Group International and Broadlands Properties, Sandra McCabe and Faith Guthrie declared the two state-of-the-art courts officially open in a ribbon cutting ceremony.
The ceremony was preceded by speeches from SRUFC President, Mr Tim Elliott and our Chairman Kevin McCabe, who said he was ‘extremely proud to have been instrumental in bringing the first Padel Tennis courts to the Yorkshire Coast’.
As part of the celebrations, professional Padel player and coach, Javi Serrats and his colleague Alberto Crespo, played a doubles exhibition match against the recent World, British and Commonwealth Games Squash champion, Nick Matthew and other local players. Members of the community were also invited to ‘have a hit’ against the professionals to experience the new facility first-hand.
Padel was invented in Mexico in the 1960’s and is recognised as the fastest growing sport across Europe, with over 20 million players worldwide.
A hybrid of tennis and squash, the game is played in doubles on an enclosed court that is roughly a third of the size of a tennis court using tennis-like rackets. Scoring is the same as tennis but players are able to play the ball off the walls making it much faster paced, like squash.
Graeme Young, CEO at Scarborough RUFC, said:
“The idea of providing Padel courts at Scarborough Squash and Rackets Academy stemmed from several conversations with Kevin McCabe, who is somewhat of an advocate for the sport. We’re incredibly grateful to him for his steely determination, as we are for the generosity of all of our sponsors for helping to make this a reality.
“The opening celebration was one of a number of activities we have planned for the coming months and we were delighted to welcome so many people to the Academy to enable them to experience our fantastic new facility first-hand.”
Kevin McCabe, Chairman of Scarborough Group International, said:
“As a keen Padel enthusiast, I’m extremely proud to have played a role in helping to bring the first community padel tennis courts to the Yorkshire Coast.
“As well as enhancing the range of sporting facilities across the region and the associated health and wellbeing benefits that brings, we’re hopeful that our sponsorship will, in some small part, help to produce a host of future Padel tennis stars right here in Scarborough.
“Corporately, we’re looking to introduce Padel Tennis courts across all of our mixed-use projects to help extend the reach of this fantastic sport into much wider communities while supporting the active wellbeing of our occupiers and residents.”
Richard Guthrie, Director of Broadlands Properties, commented:
“Padel is an exciting sport that is accessible for all ages and abilities, and we firmly believe there will be a growing appetite for it from both Scarborough residents and visitors alike.”
Anyone wishing to book a Padel court at the Scarborough Squash and Racquets Academy can do so by contacting Barons Fitness.
