After developing a love for padel over the past two years and being inspired by the formation of the Leeds University Padel Society, we feel it’s time to open up this game to medical and dentistry students!
With the heavy workload and long clinical hours across medicine and dentistry, we believe that this society can positively impact both physical and mental wellbeing in times where it is needed most. After a long week, we want to provide an opportunity for outdoors team sports which can greatly benefits students’ mental health, especially in the winter months.
Having spoken to Chapel Allerton Lawn Tennis & Squash Club, they have offered us a weekly time slot of 7-9pm on Sundays if the society application with the University were to be successful. Playing on Sunday evenings enables everyone to participate without overwhelming their academic commitments.
If successful, our society will aim to organise socials throughout the year to encourage interaction between students. These will involve a range of activities from pub quizzes to non-drinking events. This may be invaluable for first year students who are new to the University by offering a friendly and welcoming space to meet other medical and dentistry students across a range of year groups. Whilst starting University is a daunting process for everybody, medical students are often split into smaller cohorts in each year for teaching sessions and placement. This may limit opportunities to meet other students; a challenge this society aims to overcome. And even better, no previous padel experience is required!
Once established, we would aim to organise matches and tournaments both within the University (e.g. against the University of Leeds Padel Society) as well as between wider medical schools.
