Dubai: The UAE Padel Association (UAE PA) has a plan to promote the sport in the UAE.
Mohammad Al Mutaiwe’e, Second Vice President, UAE PA, wants to increase the number of people playing padel in the UAE - and the surrounding region.
“We need to think strategically. The bigger the event we organise here, the better and bigger the exposure for the sport, not just in the UAE, but in the surrounding region as well. We had a lot of people wanting to know about the game after we successfully finished the Dubai Padel Master last year,” Al Mutawie’e told Gulf News.
“The bigger the tournament, the bigger the challenge for us. As part of our plan, we have already laid out an agenda wherein we have been approaching and convincing at least some of the hotels to start off with laying out new padel courts. Jumeirah Beach Hotel already has a padel court, while there’s one at Meydan too. But our push is towards having more courts in different locations to spread out in all emirates,” he added.
The association’s push for the popularity of padel received a boost in Abu Dhabi with the Zayed Sports City and the Country Club laying out two new courts each, while one court at the Emirates Palace Hotel only needs some minor modifications.
“Geographically we want to spread out as much as possible. Next we are also in the process of looking at places and hotels in Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah to see where we can further expand,” Al Mutaiwe’e related.
“We would definitely like to do something in Abu Dhabi, but we are in the process of establishing our connections with a primary responsible body like the Abu Dhabi Sports Council. Once this happens then we are pretty much sorted out,” he insisted.
Among other options for the UAE PA, is the organisation of an invitation-only tournament followed by a series of smaller competitions - that will ultimately lead to the establishment of a Rankings Points System for the UAE.
“Ideally, we are finalising details for our first tournament in the first half of April at the padel courts of Nad Al Sheba (NAS) sports complex. The first tournament will have two categories, the Intermediate/Beginners class and the Advanced category. The deadline for registration for this tournament will be March 22,” Al Mutaiwe’e said.
The sports complex are also leading a campaign by engaging different schools in a bid to promote padel.
“The team from NAS has been visiting and introducing padel to the head of sports in each school and explaining to them how the sport is played. For us this is just the start. There are other plans as well,” Al Mutaiwe’e said.
“All this requires efforts and communication with our partners. There is no easy way out and we are confident we can take padel to the next level,” Al Mutaiwe’e added.
