Social padel sessions for mums - meet Padel & Prams

Emma and Victoria held a Padel & Prams session for 13 mums and their babies during the Pro Am Padel Tour's first event of 2025 at Rocket Padel Beckton in east London, delivered in partnership with the LTA. The day saw children and adults from under-served communities invited from local schools, community organisations and charities to get their first taste of the sport.

We spoke to Padel & Prams co-founders Emma and Victoria (who is herself expecting her first child this summer) about their new venture.

What inspired you to start Padel & Prams?

A lot of my friends have recently had kids, and I've seen them struggle to consistently get back into exercise and sport afterwards. New mums are also vulnerable to things like social isolation so there's a lot of value in getting together with people who are in the same boat! A padel venue provides a safe environment for kids while their mums are playing padel at the same time, and they can go and tend to them if they need attention.

How have sessions gone so far?

We've done three sessions, a pilot at The Padel Hub in Reading, our official launch at Rocket Padel Battersea and the Pro Am Padel Tour event and we have a fourth back at Battersea (6 June) where we're adding pilates.

The idea is to gain momentum in London to start with, so we're open to speaking with venues who are family-oriented and would like to get involved. We think the idea has real potential for scale which is really exciting.

We've now got sponsorship from iCandy pushchairs and for our first official event we also partnered with the PANDAS Foundation, Babolat UK and Monty.

How did the partnership with Victoria come about?

I met Vic at a women's padel session a year ago and we kept in contact on social media. When she announced her pregnancy I already had the idea for Padel & Prams in my head (although I didn't have the name at that point!). I messaged her about it and she said, 'That sounds really cool!' It's really nice to do it with someone who is also passionate about getting more women involved in sport. Our values are very much aligned.

So what do the sessions involve?

Sessions are an hour and a half, starting with a 45-minute intro to padel session. It's mostly for people who are new or fairly new to padel, but if there are more advanced players we can tailor the drills to them. After the intro, we'll play 'king of the court' or some matches, which allows the mums to feed the babies if needed, so they can dip in and out. The children are looked after in the 'Baby Zone' on an adjacent court.

I want people to come away having learnt something, gained confidence and having met new people, then they can go and play with three of the other mums. It can be quite daunting going into a padel club when you don't play or don't come from a sporting background, so we can really help with that.

It's a community open to anyone of any standard, doesn't matter if you've never picked up a racket or don't like a sport at all — everyone's welcome. What's amazing for me is to see women learning and building their confidence up to go out and play on their own. Inspiring more and more people to to learn and play padel is what it's all about.

In a year’s time, where would you like to be?

We'd like to be holding as many events as we can, hopefully scaling across London and the UK. If I could get hundreds of women enjoying it, playing more consistently and getting back into sport as a result of Padel & Prams, that would be amazing. It's a journey, we just starting, so it's really exciting.

LTA Padel Manager Steve Yeardley supported Emma and Victoria in setting up Padel & Prams' initial sessions. He commented: "With Victoria being an integral member of our GB women’s squad and Emma currently undertaking the L2 Padel Instructor qualification, I want to shine a spotlight on the fantastic work they are both doing to help bridge the current gender gap that does exist in padel.

"I am very much looking forward to seeing this scaled, bringing new mums (and dads!) on to the padel courts, and clubs supporting by making sure their venues are easily accessible. This really is padel for all!"

Find out about upcoming Padel & Prams events here and foIlow Padel & Prams on Instagram and LinkedIn.