ONE of Britain’s fastest-growing sports has arrived at a Barnsley sports club – and has already proved to be a big hit with local people.

Padel, a racquet sport that combines the rules of tennis and squash and is played on small, enclosed courts, has roughly trebled in popularity in the last few years.

Around 400,000 adults in Britain played padel at least once in 2024 according to the Lawn Tennis Association, up from just 129,000 in 2023 – with one of those players being Phil Gibson.

Phil, who lives on Shaw Lane, regularly played padel with a group of friends in Wakefield, but noticed the gap in the market for padel courts in South Yorkshire.

He said: “There were courts in other parts of Yorkshire, but none in South Yorkshire, so me and some of the other people I played with asked Shaw Lane Sports Club if we could lease a plot of land to build some courts.

“As they say, the rest is history really.

“It wasn’t necessarily done as a business venture but more to have it here in Barnsley, but we’re amazed at how it has taken off.

“People have come from all over to play, even in the rain it’s been booked up.”

The club’s two courts are located on the site of the old bowling green, with room to expand and build more to the side.

They have been a great success since they opened at the end of April – and even have a storage box with racquets for people to use, meaning the cost to play isn’t high.

Phil believes that the accessibility and fun aspect of the sport has partly led to the courts being so popular.

He added: “It’s such a versatile sport, we had a comment from a man who came off the court and spoke to the other players, and realised the average age of them was 78.

“It’s a great success if four people in their 70s can come and have fun and exercise.

“We’ve had couples and families playing as well, I think our age range is from ten to 80 years of age.

“Other people who play sports but have been carrying injuries have been playing as well, as they can play and have fun without aggravating any injuries. There’s a good atmosphere, it gets a bit competitive sometimes, and people are making new friends, it ticks a lot of boxes.”

There are currently 893 padel courts in Britain, and there are already plans to build a third – and potentially fourth – court to add the two already at Shaw Lane.

They’ve had to partially suspend new memberships for now though – due to the demand.

Phil added: “We’ve got lots of followers on Facebook now, and we’ve got so many memberships we’ve had to stop giving them out,

“If we had any more they wouldn’t be able to take advantage of the benefits.

“We’ve got a quite a waiting list for now and we’re looking to give out more when we get a third court.”