Focus on…Valladolid: The home of Arturito Coello, the world number 1

For the 17th stage of the season, the Premier Padel circuit comes back to Spain. The Oysho Valladolid Premier Padel P2 will be played at the Polideportivo Pisuerga, in a city located in northwestern Spain, capital of the province of the same name and the Autonomous Community of Castilla and León. Castilla and León is the fifth largest community in Spain in terms of number of clubs after Catalunya, Andalusia, Madrid and the Comunidad Valenciana with 280 facilities (clubs + accommodation) and 870 padel courts. Valladolid in particular has 210 courts, according to estimates by the FIP Research & Data Analysis Department.

Padel began to become popular in Castilla y León in the 1980s, with the foundation of the first clubs dedicated exclusively to the sport. Clubs such as the Valladolid Padel Club were pioneers, providing facilities and organising the first local tournaments that attracted many amateur. Over the years, lots of events have contributed to the popularity of padel in Castilla y León. Tournaments such as the Valladolid Padel Open and the Regional Padel League have been crucial, attracting high-level players and promoting the sport among the community. The padel movement in this region is driven by the Federación de Padel Castilla Y Leon in concert with the Federación Española de Padel (FEP). The Federación de Padel Castilla Y Leon, presided over by Victoria Barcina Hidalgo, has a licensed number of 2,879 players of which 34.6% are women (in the whole of Spain, licences exceeded the record number of 102,000), 55 federated clubs, 77 national coaches and 17 national referees (Data source: FEP – updated September 2024).

The future of padel in Castilla y León looks promising, with several projects under development: it is estimated that licences will exceed the almost 3,000 of the previous year. Another extremely positive aspect is that under-19s hold 15.4% of the current licences and that start-up programmes for young people are being planned, with the aim of promoting local talent from an early age. The Oysho Valladolid Premier Padel P2 is the second tournament of the FIP circuits to be played in this province: the first was the FIP Gold Valladolid played in June with the victories of Javi Rico and Juanlu Esbri among the men and Lorena Rufo and Bea Caldera (the latter a home idol) among the women.

In the FIP ranking there is a player from Valladolid who is writing padel history: the current world number 1 Arturo Coello, already winner of eight Premier Padel tournaments in 2024. Also in the world’s top 100 among men is Javier Martinez, number 74. In the women’s FIP ranking there are four players from Valladolid in the top 40: the very young Ale Alonso (born in 2006, number 19), currently out due to injury, and again Bea Caldera (2001, number 26), Esther Carnicero (1999, number 34) and Melania Merino (1999, number 40).