The Bandeja summer 2024 issue

Jack’s
blockbuster
year of
padel
By Robert Mitchell
By any account Jack Binstead has
packed a lot into his 27 years.
But before we even roll the
highlights reel it’s important to
note that everything Jack has
achieved must be prefixed by the fact
that he suffers from Osteogenesis
Imperfecta or Brittle Bone disease,
which has seen him suffer more
100 broken bones as a result of this
debilitating and potentially lifethreatening
condition.
Yet Jack is a special character and
despite this ‘challenging condition’
by the age of nine he was already
wheelchair racing before going on
to represent the disabled England
pool team in his early 20s. Then of
course there was his starring role as
Rem Dog in BBC 3’s Bad Education
which spawned a part in the Disney
production of 101 Dalmatians.
Jack & Alessandro
But now Jack’s love of padel is looking
to make 2024 his blockbuster year.
He’s already represented the newly
founded GB Adaptive Padel Team in
international competition in Dubai,
Milan and Barcelona, at the behest
of the legendary Alessandro Ossola,
founder of the Inclusive Padel Tour
(padel played by a disabled player
partnering a non-disabled partner).
Then there is the small matter of
Jack lobbying for padel to become a
paralympic sport!
“Alessandro is one of the loveliest
guys I’ve met and he is so passionate
about what he does. He made
contact with me back in October
about coming out to Dubai and
being part of the IPT association. So
I’ve now played alongside him and I
know he has big plans to expand over
the next couple of years and there is
a chance I will play a part in that and
that is very exciting,” said Jack, who
is supported by, Rocks Lane padel
centre in Chiswick, West London.
“I’m in Rome in June under the IPT
with Alessandro, it will be slightly
different as I won’t have Luke
(Dolphin) as my doubles partner
there due to an injury he suffered,
so another coach from Rocks Lane
will hopefully fill in. There will also be
a few more tournaments over the
year with the biggest one in Nigeria
in December. I will be attending that
one and that is exciting. I am also in
conversation with a few international
padel clubs about hosting with us
from an England Adaptive Padel
Team perspective – so a lot going
on really!”
GB aspirations
Jack’s horizons are, however, far
from limited by the calendar year:
“Because padel is not a paralympic
sport there isn’t a paralympic
GB team. I am looking to have
conversations with the right people
so we can officially have a GB
padel team for wheelchairs and
disabilities as there is, of course, a
Team GB for able-bodied people.
“There is great potential for
collaboration with them at some
point but when I came into padel
I was made aware that I was one
of the only people in a wheelchair
playing padel, so we were already
late to the game compared with
Europe. What I don’t want to find
is that they approve padel for the
Olympics and we don’t have a
team until it’s too late.”
LTA support
With Jack now a ‘veteran’ of three
international padel tournaments
at which his form has steadily
Jack is now Padel Site Supervisor for
the Social Sports Society’s new padel
centre in Wembley, North London.
improved, his prospects have been
given a huge boost by the donation
of a ‘quickie’ wheelchair from the
LTA, which helped propel him to his
best padel yet at an international
tournament in Barcelona.
When it comes to the benefits of
a new set of wheels, Jack admits
it has been a game-changer:
“Although I don’t actually have the
upgraded chair I’d like at this point
(weighing 6kg and costing around
£5,000) through training with the
LTA I was given an upgraded tennis
chair to use and this is pretty
significant compared to what I
used out in Dubai.
“I have made contact with RGK
wheelchairs, which provides chairs
for all the top disability player in
tennis like Alfie Hewitt and Gordon
Reid, so I’ve been sized up for
a chair and I have a quote but
at this point I can’t afford it all
myself and I’m looking to get
sponsorship to cover it. There is a
fair amount I can provide in return
for sponsorship,” added Jack.
His determination to make a
difference by making padel
accessible to people like him is
impressive: “I am looking to find
as many people with disabilities
as possible and get them onto
a court and give them a racket
and I am sure they will fall in love
with padel just like I did the first
time I played it. So far it’s me and
Rob Teague, who was originally a
wheelchair tennis player and who
Jack
with Luke
Dolphin.
made the final 16 in Milan and he
is very strong and powerful and
just a good player.
“I have managed to get two
others along with wheelchairs to
Rocks Lane and they will come
back whenever they can and I
am in conversations with a few
different padel companies and
clubs about them helping me in
growing the team and getting
more people to join us.”
If you are interested in
supporting Jack’s ambitions for
adaptive padel, helping sponsor
his new wheelchair or want to
know more about joining Jack’s
adaptive padel squad email:
luke@rockslane.co.uk. •
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