The Bandeja Magazine Issue 1

The interview
The girl with
good hands
...and her gap year goal
Taking a gap year usually means travelling, volunteering, or
simply taking time out between ‘A’ levels and university to firm up
on a career path. Exam pressure is off and there’s a more relaxed
time stretching out ahead.
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“I never get fed up, I love it so
much. I enjoy training, I enjoy
playing, I enjoy competing,
I enjoy every aspect of it.”
Image courtesy the LTA
That is, of course, unless you are
Tia Norton, the first British woman
to compete on the World Padel
Tour and a regular in the GB Women’s
team, assuming captaincy for the World
Championships in Doha last November.
And all, brilliantly, achieved before and
just after she turned 18.
With a university place safely secured
(interior architecture at Nottingham
Trent) Tia has taken a gap year, setting
herself a clear goal – to break into the
world top 100. It’s an aim that remains
despite unforeseen interventions
from Brexit and FIP’s break from the
WPT, more of which later.
The Leamington Spa teenager’s ever
growing list of padel achievements
have been well documented in the
press, where she has been described
as ‘trailblazing’, ‘a bright future star’,
‘shining star’ and ‘leading-light’. And
all with good cause. In her six years on
the international circuit she has racked
up a raft of notable firsts, her career
highlight being a match win on her first
appearance in the World Padel Tour
in Malaga last summer with Swedish
partner and fellow teen Amanda Girdo.
“Amanda & I went in to the tournament
with completely no expectations, it was
the first WPT event for both of us. We
got a wildcard and were like yeah, let’s
just go in, enjoy it and see how it goes.
I think, because we put no pressure on
ourselves, we came out with such a
good achievement. I remember going
back to the hotel room after we won
the first match and I was like this is it,
this is what I want to do for the rest
of my life!” said Tia.
the UK padel magazine - May 2022
The newcomers defeated Romanian/
Spanish duo Raluca Sandu and Noemi
Aguilar to make it through to the second
round of pre-qualifiers, where they beat
Italian/Spanish pairing Carlotta Casali
Vannicelli and Raquel Segura Aguilar to
secure their spot in the qualifiers, where
they went head-to-head with Spaniards
Nuria Rodriguez and Marina Guinart
España, losing 6-2 & 6-2.
Having tasted WPT success, Tia is now
focussed on getting matches and
ranking points under her belt to achieve
her goal of joining the world’s top 100
players. But forces beyond her control
have thrown spanners in the works,
notably Brexit and WPT’s break with FIP.
“Amanda and I played tournaments
last year but I had to come home
because of the 90 day restriction in
Europe due to Brexit. Because I wasn’t
able to travel and do tournaments my
ranking dropped. This year I managed
to secure a Swedish permit visa which
meant I could travel in Europe freely
for six months.”
The second issue is the division of WPT
and FIP following the International Padel
Federation’s decision to launch its own
world tour in opposition to WPT, as Tia
explained: “By playing FIP tournaments
you could earn WPT points to make
Tia has recently
renewed her
collaboration
with Nox
it easier to get into tournaments.
But now FIP has created its own
professional league it is quite hard
to play the WPT because there is no
other way of getting points. If you
are a new player there is, essentially,
no way on to the professional circuit
at the moment. There is a rumour
that they are going to create smaller
tournaments for these points but they
haven’t announced anything yet.”
Coaching
Tia is now partnered with Spanish
player Carla Fitó and the pair are
playing FIP tournaments and hoping
to gain wild card entries into WPT
tournaments. Her current schedule
sees her travelling between home and
Tia has taken a gap year, setting
herself a clear goal - to break into
the world top 100.
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Photo courtesy Nox