Saturday marked the official launch day of our centre at Garon Park, Southend. Our invited guests were treated to a game of padel, a slice (or two) of pizza and the chance to watch leading GB padel players in an exhibition match.

We welcomed Lord Lieutenant of Essex Jennifer Tolhurst who cut the ribbon, James Duddridge Tory MP for Rochford and Southend East, and councillors Carole Mulroney, Alex Bright, Dan Nelson and deputy mayor Kevin Robinson. We were delighted that they all gave padel a go and have challenged each other to a match in the near future.

Sam Jakes, Centre Manager said: “Saturday was spectacular from start to finish, Dan Compton, head of sports at Cecil Jones Academy and students were superstars and all played the family event with a great attitude and enthusiasm. GB star Sandy Farquharson and whole GB team put on a fantastic exhibition for us and Toby Bawden’s superb commentary made it a real spectacle for all of our guests- a big thank you to everyone that attended the launch event and we hope that this has put padel at the forefront of peoples’ minds when it comes to fun, competitive and social sport in Southend-on-Sea.’

A special thank you to everyone who has worked extremely hard for us to make this centre a reality.

Our programme at Garon Park is up and running and we encourage you to take a look at what session might be appealing to you. We’ve catered to all standards as although we know some of you are new to the game, we recognise that there is an appetite for competition too.

See you on court soon.