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History in the making: our first National University Padel League day

thomaslascelles
Oct 25, 2025
2 min read

Today Oxford University Padel Club played its first fixtures in the UK PADEL National Universities Padel League. Twelve players, in four men's pairs and two women's pairs, went to Padel Hub Reading for the opening day of the South East Conference. There they met Cambridge, the London School of Economics, Reading and Oxford Brookes. The club summed up the occasion in three words: history in the making.

The league

The NUPL calls itself the first and only official student padel league in the UK. Students founded it in 2024, and it has grown quickly: ten universities took part in its first season, and twenty are competing in 2025–26. Since September it has carried the name of its title sponsor, UK PADEL. Their three-year partnership means competitors no longer pay entry fees.

The universities are split into four regional conferences: North, Midlands, South East and South West. Each conference runs as its own league through the academic year. In August the league confirmed a five-university South East line-up: Oxford, Cambridge, Oxford Brookes, Reading and LSE. The first fixtures were released earlier this month.

How it works

Each conference has three divisions: Men's Division 1, Men's Division 2 and Women's Division 1. Every university enters two pairs in each division:

  • our first and second men's pairs play in Men's Division 1;

  • our third and fourth men's pairs play in Men's Division 2;

  • our two women's pairs play in Women's Division 1.

Over the season each pair plays every other pair in its division except the other pair from its own university. Points from each result decide the standings. The season runs over four fixture days, and the best pairs from each conference go through to a national Finals Day in the spring.

A first for the club

Sending twelve players to represent Oxford against four other universities is a significant step for a young club. It is the first entry in what we hope will become a long record in the league.

Our thanks go to every player who made the trip to Reading. Results from the day will follow.

 
 
 

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