Paralympic champion Richard Whitehead hails padel's inclusivity
• 2 minutes read
Double Paralympic champion Richard Whitehead MBE believes padel is "an amazing sport for breaking down barriers" after revelling in his first experience on court.
Whitehead, who was born with a double through-knee congenital amputation and wears prosthetic running blades, has run over 100 marathons and set several world records in addition to his multiple Paralympic, IPC World and IPC European medals in 100m and 200m T42.
Recently, the passionate disability and inclusion ambassador was invited to the Pro Am Padel Tour event in Manchester where he partnered with LTA padel No.2 Jasmine Dedakia.
His first taste of padel proved to be inspiring. "It was obvious straight away that it's a sport which gives someone with a disability a real opportunity to participate," he reflected.
"The entry level is quite unique. You jump on the court, and adapting the rules is so simple - giving the disabled player two bounces - that you feel comfortable straight away. As I showed, anybody can play. It's so inclusive.
"Now it's about giving as many disabled people as possible this experience and showing them that playing is a possibility for them in a sport they may never have thought about."
Since promoting his padel court debut at the Pro Am Padel Tour on his social media channels, Whitehead has received many invitations to play again in his native Nottingham and beyond.
But with his training intensifying ahead of the Chicago Marathon in October, he will have to delay it by a few more weeks. He remains "laser-focused" on beating his own marathon world record time.
"Padel is definitely not a 'one and done' for me," he states. "I'm already really enjoying being part of the padel community and glad it's embracing people like myself. Let's see where it takes me!"
Opportunities for disabled people to get involved in padel are increasing across Britain.
The LTA's Open Court programme promotes and delivers opportunities for disabled people to play. Several British competitors take part in the global Inclusive Padel Tour - and a British disability padel circuit currently getting ready to launch.
It's about giving as many disabled people as possible this experience and showing them that playing is a possibility for them in a sport they may never have thought about.
As an inclusion champion who is patron of many charities and has his own Foundation, Whitehead's hope is that padel continues to use its innate accessibility to attract players from all demographics and backgrounds.
"You've got to think about inclusion as a spectrum," he advises. "It's not just about disabled people, it's about being able to bridge some of those social, economic, gender, sexuality and language barriers. They're all important.
"Sometimes we get too het up with our own particular circumstance to understand that inclusion isn't just staying in your own lane. An inclusion framework is all about ensuring that every customer who comes through the door has an opportunity to participate, move and be part of the evolution of the game.
"I'm a great advocate for not only inspiring, liberating and supporting the people who comes through the door, but also hard-to-reach individuals who may think sport is not for them."
He concludes, "Myself and my team have looked into the evolution of padel and how it's revolutionising racket sports. For me, it's fantastic. It's helping more and more people build a positive relationship with sport, which can only be a good thing."
Find out more about inclusive padel
Read more about why padel is so accessible and how you can get involved in disability padel.
