My Community Series: Half of Alderney's population sign up to play Padel

  • As part of the My Community Series, ITV Channel's Roisin Gauson meets the man behind the Padel tennis craze that's swept over Alderney

Less than two years ago, the Alderney Tennis Club was struggling to survive, but now it is thriving.

The man credited for the turn-around is Edward Hill.

Edward is no stranger to creating a buzz around sports. He is a former player in the Spanish tennis leagues and also ran the Tour of Champions all over the Mediterranean.

Now, he’s working his magic in Alderney and pulling people together through Padel.

He says: "When we first started here about a year and a half ago, the tennis club had eight members and now we’re at 240."

Annie Burgess is a recent convert, who explains: "It’s got a lovely social feel to it. I’d never been to the tennis club before, so I’m just learning padel and I’m loving it – it’s really good fun!"

Joining Annie at one of Edward’s coaching sessions was the former Chairman of the Alderney Tennis Club, Joan Jolly.

Joan says: "It’s made an immense difference, we were in tricky times before this all happened.

"We didn’t have many members and we couldn’t encourage people.

"Then all of a sudden someone came up to me and said ‘what do you think about having a padel court?’ and I said absolutely and from then on this is what’s happened."

Participants cite the chance to be social and get active as their main reasons for joining the Padel club. Credit: ITV Channel

The Club now boasts two courts funded jointly by several anonymous donations, together with support from the Alderney Sports Foundation.

It’s an initiative bringing Alderney’s community together more than anyone could have anticipated.

Charlotte Newton has been playing for just under a year and says it’s brought a lot of people together that wouldn’t have otherwise met.

Charlotte explains: "All age groups from 17 to 80 can play, and they are playing. You meet a load of different people.

"I’ve made so many new friends and you feel part of something which is just brilliant. The Padel court is my happy place."

The club estimates that around 50% of the island’s active population have now signed up - Sarah Simpkins said that for many it’s as much about the mingling as the matches.

Sarah concludes: "There are members who are social members as well as playing members – so on a Friday night when the sun’s going down, you’ve got the sunset right behind you and people are playing padel, people are having a drink and a natter."

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