The 2026 Pro Am Padel Tour kicked off in style at Pure Padel Stockport, where Team Goode secured their place in the upcoming Grand Final after a hard-fought victory over Team Simpson. Led by rugby star Alex Goode, the winning side will now compete for the Captain’s Fund in October to support The Matt Hampson Foundation, while the event simultaneously served as a major platform for community engagement and grassroots development.
Event Highlights and Community Impact
Beyond the professional competition, the tour emphasized accessibility and social inclusion through a series of dedicated sessions supported by the LTA. These initiatives were designed to introduce padel to diverse groups, including the Manchester United Foundation, Sale Sharks Foundation, and the Jason Manford Academy. A core component of the day’s success was the focus on adaptive sports, which featured the following key contributors and initiatives:
- Adaptive Padel Sessions: These sessions demonstrated that padel can be fully inclusive and competitive for athletes of all physical abilities.
- Andrew Simister: An Inclusive Padel Tour player who provided inspiration by sharing his journey of returning to elite sport following a 2022 above-the-knee amputation.
- Louis Telford: Great Britain’s top-ranked wheelchair padel player, who co-led the sessions to showcase how the game can be adapted for wheelchair users without compromising the intensity of play.
The event also recognized individual excellence, with Izzy Christiansen and Matty Lee earning MVP honours for their standout performances, each receiving a Certina DS-7 timepiece. The day’s programming was rounded out by corporate experiences and interactive activations, such as the Certina Precision Challenge and the Skechers Touch Challenge, before concluding with an exclusive Pro Masterclass for Pure Padel members.
The Manchester event is the first of four stops in the 2026 series, which will culminate in the Grand Final at Padium, London, on Wednesday, 21st October. Throughout the tour, celebrity captains will continue to raise money for their chosen charities via the Captain’s Fund, which is bolstered by proceeds from VIP experiences and masterclass ticket sales. Founder Oliver Morgan praised the event for its unique ability to bridge the gap between high-level professional competition and broad community engagement, noting that the depth of participation across the entire day remains the tour's defining strength.
