The Bandeja Magazine Issue 2

feature
Playtomic
juniors rock!
A global initiative to get more kids playing padel kicked off at Rocks
Lane padel centre in London, powered by Playtomic. Jo Buchanan-Smith,
of the court booking app, explains more.
Almost 100 excited youngsters
aged 12-17 years attended
the first-ever Playtomic Junior
Academy at Rocks Lane, Chiswick,
signalling the start of this global
initiative right here in the UK.
The hugely successful event was held
with the support of Rocks Lane’s Chris
Warren, Rafa Vega and their team of
coaches, with many of the youngsters
playing padel for the first time.
The aim of the Playtomic Junior
Academy is two-fold:
Firstly
We want to work with our partner
clubs to encourage children of all
ages and stages of development to
try padel and discover what a fun
sport it is. A lot of these juniors will
progress into coaching squads to
continue developing their skills and,
of course, having fun.
Secondly
We want to identify juniors with the
personal and sporting potential to
develop into more advanced players
within the UK and possibly Europe.
By identifying these juniors early,
Playtomic hopes to work alongside
them and their clubs to provide a
structured pathway for their longterm
development.
We are proud that the UK was
selected as the starting point for
this global programme, which is
rolling out across Europe and will
continue to develop here in the UK.
Although we know that the sport
here is a few years away from
catching up with the continent, we
were delighted with the results of
the day. We had nearly 100 happy,
smiling juniors, Rocks Lane has a
blossoming set of junior squads
and there is a real pathway for
these young players to develop
and progress to the next level in a
structured and fun environment.
The ultimate aim for the Playtomic
Junior Academy? We are working
with some of the best coaches in
Europe for long-term results and
hope to select a few UK juniors
to progress to our dedicated
Spanish Academy to attend
camps alongside juniors from
around Europe and train with the
best coaches to continue their
development. Who knows how far
they can progress?
There are no guarantees in any
sport but having clubs such as Rocks
Lane, which understands long-term
player development, committed
and happy juniors alongside quality
coaches and facilities is a great
start. May be one day some of these
players will grace the World Padel
Tour. That would be amazing but
having so many juniors introduced
to padel and now playing regularly
with coaches, their parents and
friends is a great start.
It truly was a fun, inclusive and
community spirited day. As one
parent put it afterwards: “My son
bounced through the door having
had the most wonderful session with
your team at Rocks Lane and has,
in hand, his Playtomic t-shirt, medal,
notebook and pen! He is thrilled - he
absolutely loved it.” •
32 thebandeja.com