The Bandeja summer 2024 issue

ireland
the most inclusive
Padel club in the
world?
When Padel Tennis Ireland threw open its doors in November
it was less an ‘opening’ and more a crashing onto the padel
scene, with it quickly scooping up scores of new players and
a raft of awards. Lee McLaughlan reports.
It’s fair to say that Padel Tennis
Ireland founder Mark White is
a man on a mission - and that
mission is very clear.“Our ethos is
all about inclusivity and we want to
do everything possible - and give
back as much as we can - to the
amazing Cork organisations that are
doing so much for so many,” he said.
That the club is a shining beacon of
inclusivity is driven by Mark’s personal
experience: “I was bullied the whole
way through secondary school. From
the age of 13 to 18 I went to school
every day with a knot in my stomach,
not wanting to talk about it – so I
know what it’s like to be different.
At several times in my life I’ve been
excluded from things - so for me it
feels very rewarding to have a facility
where everyone feels welcome and
nobody is excluded,” he added.
It’s therefore no surprise that the
latest award making its way into the
already groaning Padel Tennis Ireland
trophy cabinet is for inclusivity and
diversity, with the judges of The Pride
of Cork Awards 2024 recognising
the impact the facility has had
in making padel accessible to the
whole community. The award joins
the trophy for Cork’s New Business
of the Year 2023, scooped just three
weeks after opening.
This was further cemented in
March when Mark and his partner
Jeremy Coyle announced a new
Sports Partnership Programme
working with 300 businesses to
deliver tangible impacts for 300
voluntary, social, civic, charitable
and non-profit organisations in the
county.Mark, an experienced tennis
coach, has been working in inclusive
sports for a decade, leading
programmes for blind and visually
impaired children, summer camps
for children with neurological and
physical disabilities and those with
dyspraxia and autism.
He said: “I used to get dozens of
heartfelt messages from people
saying you really don’t appreciate
how that one hour is the highlight
of the week for those children and
their families. I don’t do it for the
money, it’s not for a moral
compass either, I do that because
I enjoy it.”
Bougie
The idea of opening a padel facility
began on a tennis trip to La Manga
in May 2022. Mark and Jeremy, a
wine maker from Sydney, had taken
a group of Mark’s tennis playing
clients on a tennis and wine trip
to Spain. After the tennis sessions
everyone would indulge in game
of padel and feedback from the trip
was nothing short of a holiday of a
lifetime – with padel being the star of
the show, which set Mark and Jeremy
off on their padel adventure.Having
competed in provincial and national
level tennis tournaments in Cork for
most of his childhood, Mark knew it
had all the right ingredients for their
foray into padel, particularly given
the Cork population’s love of sport.
They drafted a business plan, found
a location and their passion for
the project, mixed with inclusivity
at the core, secured them silent
investors.Mark said: “We got the
funding on a Monday, purchased the
courts on a Tuesday and the
fit-out started in the middle of August.
We opened the doors on November
4th - so it all came together very
quickly! We have created is an
incredible sports facility for everyone.
The word bougie is only in my
vocabulary since we opened, but
people say the facility is very bougie
with a slick and eye-catching blue,
black and grey colour scheme.”The
inclusivity theme continues in how the
facility operates, with no joining fee
or membership structure, so reduced
economic barriers to participation.
Rebels
Padel Tennis Ireland founder Mark White (fifth from left).
“It was amazing that the
narrative of what we’re trying
to get across has been so read,
so received, even at the highest
level of Irish government.”
To generate interest in their new
business Mark contacted more than
100 schools and put on a range of
activities for clubs and associations
across Cork. Users have included
the Rebel Wheelers, a group of
youngsters using wheelchairs who
tried padel for the first time, the
Sundays Well Rebels, a mixed
ability rugby team, and the Bloom
Youth Group, for children aged
eight to 16 years who have
neurological disabilities.
While the club’s inclusivity
programmes have been a smash
hit, the centre has proved hugely
popular with the wider Cork sportsloving
community, with more than
11,000 players passing through its
Mark White, founder, Padel Tennis Ireland
doors in under five months.It
also welcomed Irish government
Minister Simon Coveney to officially
open the courts.
A second community opening
was broadcast on local TV and
attended by Speaker of the Irish
Senate, Senator Jerry Buttimer,
David Stanton TD (equivalent of
a UK MP) and Coun Anthony Barry.
Blind padel player Anna Nora took
a starring role at the event,
stepping up to cut the ribbon.
All VIPs were forthcoming in their
praise of Mark and Jeremy. “There
was such flattery, and I don’t know
how many times the word inclusion
was used,” Mark said. “It was
amazing to hear that the narrative
of what we’re trying to get across
has been so read, so received,
even at the highest level of
Irish government.” •
Tennis Ireland
Factfile
Courts
4 indoors with plans for 4 more
Head Coach
Laia Raigal
Booking
via TPC-Matchpoint on
the website
Opening hours
9am-10pm
Cost
From €43.60/hr/court
Address
Fota Junction Retail Park,
Carrigtwohill, Co Cork
48
SUMMER 2024 | thebandeja.com
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