City hosts first hearing loss padel tournament

Bristol is hosting the first LTA-sanctioned deaf and hard of hearing Padel tournament

Bristol is hosting the first Lawn & Tennis Association approved tournament for deaf and hard of hearing people.

The tournament kicks off at 11:00 at Rocket Padel in St Anne's - the largest indoor centre in England - with around 52 participants from around the country.

Padel - a blend of tennis and squash - is rapidly increasing in popularity in the UK with new padel courts being built and proposed across the country.

"Padel is one of the fastest-growing activities that I have ever seen in my life," said Mark Gill, community development officer at the Centre for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People (CfD).

"It's provided an opportunity for deaf people in the deaf community to be role models and to demonstrate [that] there is a thriving world here, there's a thriving community."

Growing up, Mr Gill said he had always loved sport, but it was not always easy to get involved.

"There was a lot of barriers to communicating with hearing people and that led to a lot of frustrations at school," he said.

He said he would like for coaches to have mandatory deaf awareness training, so that they can adapt their activities to be more inclusive for deaf people.

Bristol Deaf Padel was set up earlier this year following a government grant

The tournament will be the first-ever LTA-sanctioned deaf padel tournament in which players can get ranking points.

It was organised after CfD was awarded the government's Small Communities Grant.

The grant money led to the establishment of the Bristol Deaf Padel, which launched earlier this year.

Sebastian Cunliffe, organiser of Bristol Deaf Padel, said he said he feels "proud" of the collective that they have built and that their numbers are ever-growing.

"We've brought in people that necessarily would not have played sport, but also a diverse mix and all genders," he said.

Mr Cunliffe said that padel has a "great benefit on mental health and fitness."

"There's something about padel. When you play it, you're just in the moment, engrossed," he said.

"I've also noticed some people that weren't necessarily involved in the deaf community now regularly come to padel and I can see how much that benefits them."