European Deaf Padel Championships

Max Thorne, who plays at Chesham 1879, was recently selected to represent Great Britain at the European Deaf Padel Championships. Max (pictured second from the left with teammate Emlyn Burton) has sent the below report:

“Competing for GB at the Deaf European Padel Championship was an amazing experience and one I will always be proud of.

As a team, GB finished 5th overall, which is a fantastic achievement given this was the first time GB had sent a team to the competition. Although we lost some tough matches, there were so many positives to take away, both individually and as a team. It was also clear that GB Deaf Padel has huge potential to grow, especially when compared with other countries who already have dedicated coaches, technical directors and previous experience competing at this level.

This was a self-funded tour, so I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Bucks CountyTennis for their support.

Personally, I was really pleased to win my match against Holland and to push Italy all the way to three sets, narrowly losing the second set 7-6. Those performances have given me a real boost in confidence and shown me that I can compete at the highest level of European Deaf Padel. Competing at this level was eye-opening and has motivated me to take the sport even more seriously by competing at a higher level locally and investing in coaching.

Another highlight was meeting other deaf athletes from across Europe. Communicating through International Sign Language, rather than our native British Sign Language, was a valuable part of the experience and made the event even more special.

GB Deaf Padel is now looking to grow and develop further. Support in any form would be hugely appreciated, whether through financial support or by putting us in touch with clubs/coaches that may be able to help us grow the squad through training opportunities.

If you know any other deaf padel players, please encourage them to get in touch with UK Deaf Padel. Deaf padel tournaments are held four times a year across the UK, providing valuable opportunities for deaf padel players to compete.

Thank you again to Bucks County Tennis for supporting me on this journey. It was a proud moment to represent GB Deaf, and this experience has inspired me to keep working hard, push myself in the sport and help grow deaf padel in the UK.

For anyone interested in seeing the level of European Deaf Padel, matches can be found on YouTube under the @ecdeafpadel26 channel.