The shape of things to come
Summer has brought so much to celebrate, not least the achievements and performance of our county cup teams, in both tennis and padel.
September saw the 12U boys’ and girls’ teams in action over three successive weekends, with the girls narrowly missing out on qualifying for finals weekend, while the boys were runners up to Middlesex in the national finals. In between, members of both squads had the honour of being selected to represent Team England in the 2026 Junior Four Nations tournament.
Congratulations also go to the women’s and men’s teams on their County Week performances, with the women winning promotion to the top flight of women’s county tennis after chalking up five wins out of five during the week in Roehampton. The men’s team finished the week runners up and were promoted back into Group 3 for next year
As we head into the autumn season, there is still a tremendous amount to look forward to. The revamped Padel County Cup got underway at Rocket Padel in Bristol in September and saw a first title win for Yorkshire’s O60 women, while the men’s and mixed teams won their bronze medal matches to finish in third place.
It puts Yorkshire in a strong position as we look ahead to the Open and Junior Padel County Cup competitions, also being hosted by Rocket Padel Bristol in November. We are keen to field teams for the inaugural Junior County Cup weekend so I’d like to put a call out to players, coaches and volunteers interested in getting involved and ask them to contact our county padel lead Peter Vann and his team at: enquiries@yorkshiretennisandpadel.org.uk
The date and the venue for the 2026 NIC County Padel Championships has also been confirmed, with Padel Bonito in Sheffield hosting the championships over the weekend of 28th and 29th November.
Entries are now open via the LTA competitions portal, with the event featuring men’s and women’s open tournaments, seniors, junior and mixed events, so time to start putting in the practice sessions and getting ready for what will be a great tournament.
Finals day of the NIC Yorkshire County Tennis Championships at John Charles Centre for Sport was a personal highlight for me, with some top quality tennis on display and some real talent coming through the junior age groups.
So, I’d like to thank our sponsor NIC Services Group in particular for their continued support and commitment to Yorkshire’s county tennis and county padel championships as well as the ground-breaking Yorkshire’s visually impaired tennis league, which reached its finale last weekend with South Yorkshire carrying off the honours.
Congratulations to all the players who took part and a big shout out to league organiser David Wallace for his commitment and professionalism in pulling together a second highly successful season for the league.
This week is National Disability Inclusion Week (Mon 28/9 – Fri 2/10) and I’d like to give another shout out to Ben Howarth and the team at Yorkshire Open Court for the work they are doing to bring the benefits and pleasures of our sports to all sections of the community.
On a practical note, clubs should already be aware that the LTA venue registration process has changed for the coming year. Please contact our Club Engagement team if you need any help with this.
My genuine thanks go to the delivery team at Yorkshire Tennis & Padel and to our volunteers across the county who do such an amazing job in raising standards of performance and extending participation in our sports.
We have so many unsung heroes – coaches, players, clubs and volunteers – doing amazing things in their every day lives and roles, and our annual awards are an opportunity to give them the recognition they richly deserve.
Three of this year’s regional winners made it through to LTA national awards and the 2027 Yorkshire Tennis & Padel and LTA Regional Awards are now open for nominations.
So, I’d encourage you to please put the names of your unsung heroes forward and I look forward to congratulating all the winners and nominees at the awards presentation evening taking place at the ACCU Stadium in Huddersfield on Thursday 11/3/27.
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