Padel is one of the fastest-growing games in the UK and Team Maccabi GB will have three sides competing in the sport at this summer’s Maccabiah Games.
GB is sending players to compete in the Open, 35+ and 50+ categories.
Sonny, Harry, Steve and Jon Posener[Missing Credit]
All will be managed by Jon Posener and chaired by Paul Gladstone.
Posener explains the squad sizes could still expand. He says: “It’s not been easy assembling the squads.
“We’ve have had a lot of interest from some high-level players, in both the open and ladies teams.
“But for different reasons – Padel Euros taking place at the same time, financial commitments, concerns about Israel, pregnancy, not finding a suitable partner – people have not been able to commit.
“We still have spaces available.”
For those already on board, experience will not be an issue as all have competed in domestic tournaments and/or padel leagues, playing three or more matches a week, while most are training regularly with coaches based in the UK and Spain. Furthermore, Paul Gladstone, Andrew Chaytow and Mark Norden all competed at the previous Maccabiah Games in 2022, Gladstone and Chaytow participated at the 2019 PanAm Games in Mexico City, while Dani Lazard competed alongside Gladstone and Norden at the Padel World Cup in Miami last year.
Team Maccabi GB's Padel squad from the last Maccabiah Games in 2022[Missing Credit]
As to how the squads will prepare for the Maccabiah, Gladstone says: “We have a couple of team training sessions planned and are also encouraging the team to enter domestic competitions.
“Unfortunately, with limited availability of courts and the increasing costs of hiring them, team sessions will be relatively limited, especially compared to some other sports.
“We are also hoping to have some training sessions with a few players in the UK top ten, which should considerably help with matchplay.”
Posener says there is a downside to padel’s rapid growth in the UK.
“New courts/centres (especially indoor ones) can’t keep opening to accommodate the level of demand there is for them,” he says.
He puts the sport’s popularity down to its being “an extremely social activity, due to the small court and it being a doubles game only.
“It’s also played at all age levels with older players into their sixties able to compete with players in their twenties.”
Posener’s parents and other family members live in Israel and he’s “proud to be both showcasing padel as well as playing in Israel and supporting the country in a time of much need”.
GB Padel squads heading to Israel:
Open – Sonny Leviton & Harry Cohen, George Bier & Eddie Lisberg, Dani Lazard & Daniel Bean, Oliver Buck & Adam Perry
35+ Jon Posener & Steve Cohen, Barrie Taube
50+ Paul Gladstone & Andrew Chaytow, Ashley Bean & Mark Norden