Britain’s padel boom shows no sign of cooling. With more than a million players now picking up a bat across the UK and the court count past 1,800, the sport’s grassroots and performance ends are both moving quickly. The week of 22–28 June was a busy one for British padel: GB’s juniors made their debut on a European stage, the LTA and UK PADEL struck a partnership over one of the country’s biggest amateur competitions, and Shropshire got ready to welcome its first indoor club. Here’s everything worth knowing.
British Players on Tour
The headline belongs to Great Britain’s next generation. For the first time ever, GB entered teams in the FIP Junior Euro Padel Cup, the continental championship for Europe’s best under-18 talent, which runs in Porto from 27 June to 4 July. Having sat out the previous editions in Valencia (2022) and Budapest (2024), both the boys’ and girls’ squads began their campaign in the three-day qualification stage on Saturday 27 June.
As debutants, the GB sides were drawn in the bottom group of seeds, but the rosters are full of fast-rising names. The boys’ team — coached by former GB player Frankie Langan alongside national junior coach Libby Fletcher — features Ben Phillips, Stan Hunt, Spain-based Oliver Grantham and Smash Padel Bicester’s Andrew Dunn among others. The girls’ squad includes Chloe de la Mare, Rosie Quirk, Lucy Bertram, Elizabeth Vellacott and Rosie Allen. Each group tie is decided across U14, U16 and U18 pairings, so depth across the age groups matters as much as a single star partnership. It is a meaningful step for the British junior pathway and a useful benchmark of where the country’s young players stand against the established padel nations. If your own junior is gearing up to compete, our best padel rackets guide for 2026 is a sensible place to start.
LTA & Governance
Off the court, the week’s biggest governance story was the announcement that UK PADEL and the LTA have joined forces to develop and grow the Padel County Cup, one of the largest and longest-running amateur padel competitions in the country. Under the partnership, the LTA will bring competition-management expertise, stronger governance, clearer player pathways and wider promotion, while the event takes on a refreshed identity.
The first events under the new Padel County Cup banner are already scheduled: an Over-60s competition on 4–6 September, the Open on 13–15 November, and — significantly — the inaugural Junior Padel County Cup on 21–22 November. All three will be held at Rocket Padel Bristol, the competition’s established home. The junior addition is the standout, giving young players an early taste of county representation and team padel, a format that has long helped tennis nurture its next generation.
Clubs & Courts
The court-building spree rolled on. In Shropshire, Henley Padel is opening this month at Battlefield Enterprise Park in Shrewsbury, giving the town its first dedicated indoor padel centre. The venture, led by local couple Luke Henley and Shey Recalde, features two indoor courts plus changing rooms and a coffee-and-social area. It runs on a pay-and-play model with no membership required — players simply book a court, and find partners, through the Playtomic app.
It is a familiar story repeating across the country. The LTA’s latest figures put Britain past 1,800 courts at more than 550 venues, and new indoor centres like this are exactly what convert curious first-timers into regulars. If you are one of them, sorting proper footwear early makes a real difference — our best padel shoes guide covers the grippy, supportive options that suit the UK’s mostly indoor courts.
The Week Ahead
There was plenty on around the UK too. Saturday 27 June saw the BPA Cupra Cup, the official tournament of the British Padel Awards, staged in Manchester and powered by Fast4Padel — a sign of how quickly the community-event side of the sport has matured. Looking forward, the FIP Junior Euro Padel Cup continues in Porto until 4 July, so there is more for GB fans to follow into next week. And the date everyone is still circling falls in August, when London hosts Britain’s first-ever Premier Padel P1, the biggest professional padel event the country has staged.
Sources
- Padel FIP — FIP Junior Euro Padel Cup, Porto (27 June–4 July 2026)
- The Padel Paper — GB enter FIP Junior Euro Padel Cup for first time
- UK PADEL — UK PADEL and LTA announce Padel County Cup partnership
- LTA Padel — LTA and UK PADEL partner to elevate the County Championships
- Shropshire Live — New indoor padel centre to open in Shrewsbury
- British Padel Awards — BPA Cupra Cup, Saturday 27 June 2026
- LTA Padel — 1,000,000 padel players in Britain
