"Padel feels open in every sense" - British No.3 Tia Norton on the inclusivity of padel
• 3 minutes read
Padel is the sport that anyone can play. There's no better time to celebrate this inclusivity than Pride Month, and no better advocate than British No.3 Tia Norton.
Tia was only 12 when she started playing in 2015, when there were only a handful of courts in Britain. Not long afterwards, she reached the quarter-finals of the World Junior Championships in Mexico.
At 17, she became the first British woman to compete in (and win) a match on the World Padel Tour, and aged 21 she was the first Brit to play in a Premier Padel event (the elite tier of the world tour).
Since October 2024, Tia has been in a relationship with Dutch world No.135 Stephanie (Steffi) Weterings and she relocated to the Netherlands last year so they could live together and train at the Hello Padel Holland Academy.
Tia regularly celebrates their relationship and support for each other on her Instagram account and feels grateful to be part of a sport which embraces them and all LGBTQ players.
"Padel feels open in every sense," says Tia. "It's inclusive of any sex, race, age, ability... literally anyone is welcome on the court!
"I think it's because it's so new. Although I don't have huge experience of other sports, I feel like there's more acceptance in padel than in traditional sporting environments where there are perhaps more people from older generations."
Tia's view on padel's inclusivity is backed up at grassroots level by the likes of All Out Padel, one of Britain's first LGBTQ padel clubs based at Rocks Lane in west London, and Bristol-based Pride Padel, who organise events for LGBTQ+ players and allies of all abilities.
We're in a day and age where things are so much more open than they were. Being the person you want to be is much more accepted.
"I've never come across someone who says I don't fit in, or questioned why I'm dating a woman. I'm quite fortunate because I know other people have definitely had different experiences. But for me there's never been an issue.
"A lot of the top female padel players are in open relationships with women. I think there's still pressure or judgement about men being open about it, but you can definitely see that more women are openly speaking about it in all sports."
With one million people in Britain having now played padel, over 10 million others expressing their curiosity, the mainstream media taking a growing interest and Premier Padel visiting the UK for the first time in August, the profile of the country's best players is set to skyrocket.
With this in mind, Tia is more mindful than ever about her personal life. "I share as much as I can on social media about me as a person," she states. "I want people to know more about who I am, what I stand for, and my values.
"I happily show my relationship because the most important thing to me is Steffie. I don't necessarily label myself; I just happened to fall in love with a woman and those are my feelings.
"It's not something I ever want to hide and I don't want other people to have to hide their important relationships either. Some people might feel like they will be judged, but I'm staying true to myself in whatever I do.
"Maybe seeing me post something about being in a same-sex relationship inspires a younger British girl or boy to think it's okay for them too."
When they first got together, Tia and Steffie partnered up on court as well as off it for a year. They had initial success, winning a FIP Tour title together in Houten, Netherlands, and reaching two further finals, but have since separated business from pleasure.
"It was going really well initially but once we got deeper into things, you know exactly what they're feeling, so you're focusing on them too much and not on yourself. It's really hard to separate the two.
"You're playing together with someone you love. You want the best for them so you push yourself more, but you end up putting more pressure on yourself. It's like a circle you're trapped in."
The couple first met across the net in 2023 when they played against each other in a tournament. "She had a fierce aura - I was scared playing against her, I'm not going to lie!" laughs Tia, now 22. "But I was young at that time. Later I grew in confidence, and it sparked a few years later."
As she continues her quest to break into the top 100 of the FIP world rankings, Tia remains a role model for all young British players and an embodiment of padel's inclusive spirit at all levels of the game.
