Accessible and active: Get to know padel, Durham’s fastest growing and hottest society

Hal Hornby and James Bonnor-Moris outline why padel is so popular in Durham and their vision for the future

2 months ago

Ben Green | Guides

Padel is one of the fastest growing sports in the UK, and Durham is no exception to this. Padel is one of the newest active societies at Durham and was set up earlier this year by Hal Hornby and James Bonnor-Moris, who are both now in their final year at Durham. Colleges have also started to set up their own social padel tennis teams, while other Team Durham sports, such as football and hockey, regularly play padel for team bonding activities on days off from training.

Padel is a really simple sport to play at beginner level – it is a sort of combination of regular tennis and squash, with a touch of pickleball mixed in. Played in a small rectangular court, the field of play is smaller than a normal tennis court, meaning that fitness is not quite as important, allowing for a more accessible game where people of all fitness levels can give it a good go. Intelligent players with sound tactical awareness can be just as dangerous as fitness freaks or power smashers, meaning that beginners and less athletic players can sometimes reach a reasonable level of ability in a short timeframe.

Buying equipment outright can be expensive, but most padel tennis clubs will allow you to rent balls and racquets for a small price, usually around the £5 mark. Court hire can be slightly pricey but is reasonably accessible when divided between all four players, with an hour for four tending to cost around £25-30 in the north-east, coming out to around £6-7 per person.

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Padel is played locally at True Padel in north-east Durham, located just a couple of miles and a bus ride away from the city centre. True Padel was founded with fantastic facilities earlier this year, and the physically active student body of Durham have made the most of its existence since.

The Tab spoke to Hal Hornby and James Bonnor-Moris from Durham University Padel Society to learn about their journey in setting the club up, why it has become so popular and their vision for the future.

What was the process of setting up the club like?

Hal Hornby and James Bonnor-Moris

“We heard about the opening during Christmas 2023 and thought what a great opportunity to get ahead of the game and start the society.

“I think we just beat someone else there so it was quite a nervous wait to see if we had been approved by the SU.

“From a more practical level, we were sort of just working it out as we went along! Neither of us had any experience running a society and with the padel offering being so new as well there was a lot of uncertainty about what we could do.

“We had loads of interest from students and brands/companies in the padel world wanting to support us which made it quite exciting.”

Why do you think padel is so popular with Durham students?

“The sport has been growing massively, across the world and UK in particular over the last couple of years.

“Everyone was quite curious about it when the site opened in Durham. A lot of initial interest and its accessibility to all made it particularly popular.

“You don’t need to have played lots before to be able to enjoy it, it has very low barriers to entry.

“We are very lucky with True Padel which is a nine court indoor venue, the largest in the north-east and one of the top 5 largest in the country.

“The weather in Durham also helps… its cold and rains quite a lot so an indoor sport is beneficial and without their being loads of things to do in the city it makes it into quite a nice outing.”

What is your vision for the future?

“We have big plans for the upcoming year. We have lined up some sponsors to allow us to subside training and tournaments.

“We have entered the National Universities Padel League which has just started and will be hoping to put on show some strong padel.

“We will have a host of social tournaments and events for everyone to get involved in, and are going to try and run some free taster sessions for freshers and anyone else at the start of the year.

“We want to grow it into a massive operation with a great community around it and as many participating members as is possible.”

Why should Durham students pick up padel as a new sport?

“It’s fun and it’s easy to start playing. The society is super inclusive and very open to new members regardless of experience.

“The sport itself is growing rapidly – it is the fastest growing sport in the world – and so it is not going to go anywhere and what a better time to start than now.

“It is a great way to meet new people and have a run around without the pressures of high level DU sport or college sport.”

Featured images via Hal Hornby