Power Couple Striving for Inclusivity

Karen (left) and Lucie playing for England at the Four Nations event in Leeds in March.

Meet Karen Hazzard and Lucie Wade – a couple brought together by their love for padel.

Many of our readers will recognise Karen Hazzard as Game4Padel's Director of Padel at Hove Beach Park. (She will also manage our three new padel courts at Withdean Sports Complex in Brighton when they open this autumn.) Karen has been coaching Padel since 2017. She has represented Great Britain in both the World and European Padel Championships from 2016 to 2019, with Great Britain placing 3rd in Europe in 2019, and was in the British team for 2023.

Karen joined Game4Padel in 2021. She also coaches at prestigious venues including The Hurlingham Club and The National Tennis Centre.

Having left school at 16 to become a full-time tennis player, Karen got into coaching tennis first and later padel when the club she was playing at got a court. It was down to her boss that she became a coach: “My boss said we would like you to teach padel and they got me to do a coaching course. I pretty much caught the padel bug from there.”

What about Lucie?

Lucie Wade went to the States on a sports scholarship but stopped all sports at the age of 23. After 20+ years of no sport she discovered padel and that all changed: “I discovered the game a couple of years ago when I was in Spain with a friend. I fell back in love with sport and most importantly the game of padel. Now I try to play as much as humanly possible.”

The couple met in September 2022 at Game4Padel Withdean. Karen was running a coaching session and her newest student Lucie had just taken up the sport. They have been together since the Spring of 2023. As June is Pride Month, Karen’s and Lucie’s ambitions and passion for making the game more inclusive is the perfect story to feature this month.

The pair have a padel business called ‘Padel Peeps’ which is all about making the sport for everyone: “Padel Peeps – peeps is people. Padel peeps are padel people and it doesn’t matter who you are, if you have a disability, who you look like or what you wear. It doesn’t matter. You be you, you love who you want for the LGBTQ+ – that’s what we want to bring. Just get on court and let’s all play together.”

The initial idea is helped by Lucie’s business background. She explains:

“When we started Padel Peeps we did all the mainstream stuff – ladies, men, intermediate – but we wanted to tailor it for the underrepresented and diverse communities. As well as doing Padel Peeps, we are trying to get a CIC (community interest company) and get funding for groups such as: LGBTQ+, underrepresented and diverse communities such as those with learning and physical disabilities, mental health issues, older people, minority groups and women. We are passionate about helping all groups and raising awareness of them.

“With us being members of the LGBTQ+ community it makes it easier to get the word out. We have already applied for a CIC and are now looking for funding and sponsorship!

We had several LGBTQ+ people come to us in the beginning and ask if [padel] is a safe place. We are shocked that this is still the kind of environment we are in. We are underrepresented and it saddens us that you still need a safe space but unfortunately that’s how it is.”

Karen and Lucie have started doing events at Hove Beach Park and they’ve sold out every time.

They are also passionate about making the sport accessible for those that find it harder to pick up a racket. Lucie says, “My daughter is autistic and she started coaching lessons with Karen and it’s the only sport she does. There’s something about contacting the ball and the sound of it. There’s an instant gratification and we wanted to replicate that for the neurodiverse community. It’s a big area we want to get into and is another reason for starting Padel Peeps as well as getting to work together!”

Karen and Lucie complement each other – their different strengths making the business a winning combo. I was pleased to find out the pair haven’t had any arguments so far.

“No arguments, not yet!” say Karen. “We work well together. I’m a one job at a time person but Lucie can do lots at once. She’s like let's do this and this but I’m still on task one.”

The next big event for the Padel Peeps is in August: “August 3rd is Brighton Pride and we are running a big tournament. We are mixing with a big LGBTQ+ group from London. We also have an event on the 24th of June at Hove Beach Park. There's lots going on!”

It’s not just events the Padel Peeps do, they also design clothing and the next piece on the horizon is a Brighton Pride top! So watch out for that.

Any last comments?

“The aim of Padel Peeps is pretty much to run a business together, make some money for the communities and get them all on court. We welcome everyone so please come along and join us on court!”

If you want to get involved and become a Padel Peep, check out their website: padelpeeps.co.uk