The Proper Padel team were lucky enough to pop down to Pure Padel in Manchester on Thursday 13th February to speak with Alberto Cubero, the Head Coach at the club. Here is what the Spaniard had to say:

When asked about his initial interest for Padel, he responded: “I started playing because my Dad introduced me to the sport in 1997. He was one of the first people to start playing in Malaga, where I’m from, and from that moment I was growing up with Padel. I was always playing, I have been playing almost all my life, being 33 now! I became to get more addicted, I trained with some coaches in Malaga, I started competing myself, so I’ve never really stopped playing.”

”I did some coaching courses in Malaga at the time where I was at university. When I moved to the UK, I saw the sport growing a lot so I did the coaching courses through the LTA, the British Federation. I started coaching in Manchester and it carried on from there. I run private lessons here, group sessions as well. My main duty, I would say, is to help people to learn the sport, including the technique. I help people build up their confidence and level. I help people to understand the game and encourage them to play more and more.”

After being asked about the news of being current Liverpool FC manager Arne Slot’s new coach, Alberto said: “When I moved to Manchester in 2019, I was the only Padel player really. Nobody knew about Padel, but I never stopped playing. I tried to always train.”

“As soon as the popularity went up, I was the first established coach in the city, meaning I met a lot of people, a lot of contacts. One of the contacts spoke to Arne Slot, who has played Padel before. They have Padel courts at the training facility in Liverpool. The sport in Liverpool is still developing, Manchester is a step ahead in Padel terms.”

Arne Slot asking for a coach really highlights the extent of the growth of the sport within the UK and shows that many big celebrities are as invested into the sport as it seems on the surface.

“He (Arne) was asking for a coach, someone spoke to him about me, his agent contacted me and said “would you like to come here and see their level?”. So yeah, I accepted, I went there, met him and he was really good (at Padel). I go to Liverpool once a week to coach him and his coaching staff, and I spend two or three hours with them!”

When asked about the Padel participation levels in the UK, Alberto answered: “From experience, I will compare with Spain. In Spain, Padel never has stopped growing. Now, it is the most played sport in the country, over football! Padel is number one, football has more followers but Padel has more people playing, so I think it’ll still keep growing around the world. I think in the next few months, more clubs will be opening in the Greater Manchester area, I believe Liverpool will have some more clubs opening as well. So, I think the growth, it’s unstoppable. The sky is the limit!”

The interesting comparison to Spain really shows the levels that he believes Padel in the UK will achieve, in Spain it is typical to casually walk past Padel courts all over the country and if that were to happen in the UK, it would be a massive shift from how the market is today.

Finally, when questioned on the positive impacts of the sport, he exclaimed: “One of the main things with Padel is the social aspect. I mean, to start playing is super easy, it’s not like, for example Tennis, where the starting phase is a little more complicated, the ball goes anywhere (as a Tennis beginner).”

“So here, anyone can grab a racquet and jump on the court. The social aspect is really interesting as it gives you an opportunity to meet a lot of people from different backgrounds, maybe you would never meet them (without the sport).”

“From my coaching, I am meeting people from anywhere, even Arne Slot! As soon as you’re in the community, even playing in open games, you speak with people and make a lot of friends, it makes a healthy community, everyone is here for the sport. Everyone is in the same situation at the start with the social side, so it opens a lot of doors.”

With every conversation we have with people in the Padel world the topic of sociability comes up so frequently it is hard to ignore. The power that the social aspect has on engagement is overpowering and is something which has not been seen before.

“I encourage everyone to come here, grab a racquet and start playing with their friends, open matches, or have a group session with me.”

To find out more information about Alberto Cubero and his services, search: Cuberothepadelcoach on Instagram and drop him a message.

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