Most padel clubs sell you court time. Connect Padel Birmingham gives it away – at least a thousand hours of it, earmarked for schools and charities across the West Midlands. That community pledge sits at the centre of everything this club does, and it earned them a place as finalists at the 2026 British Padel Awards alongside established names like JM Padel Academy and Padel & Prams.
The club is run by Charlie Thomson, who moved back to the UK from Australia in late 2020 and tried padel for the first time at the LTA courts in Roehampton. The sport stuck. Thomson had worked in the sports industry for years, and saw an opening: padel was growing fast, but court time was expensive and the barriers for new players were higher than they needed to be. Connect Padel was built to change that.
We put five questions to Thomson. Here is what he told us.
At a glance
| Location | Birmingham Moseley Sporting Village, Moseley, Birmingham |
| Courts | 4 panoramic padel courts under canopy |
| Booking | PadelMates |
| Community mission | 1,000 free court hours for schools and charities |
| Beginner sessions | 2–3 Intro sessions per week, free racket hire |
| Coaching | ~15 group sessions per week, Intro to Advanced |
| Website | connectpadeluk.com |
Why the community mission matters
Padel has an affordability problem. Court hire runs anywhere from £20 to £60 an hour depending on where you are, and once you add racket hire, coaching, and travel, a casual player can easily spend £15–£20 per session. For a school group or a youth organisation with no budget for equipment, the barrier is even higher.
Connect Padel’s response is direct: 1,000 free court hours, reserved for kids and people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Thomson describes it as giving people “a chance to pick up a racket without worrying about the cost.” The initiative was a founding commitment, built into the club’s mission from day one.
That commitment was recognised at the British Padel Awards, where Connect was named a finalist in the community category. Thomson calls it “a massive honour” and says the club is “humbled to be mentioned in the same breath” as the other finalists. For a venue that opened more recently than some of the established operators in that category, it is a strong endorsement of what they have built.
If you are deciding how to choose a padel club, what a venue does for its local community can tell you a lot about the culture you will find on court.
Four courts inside a sporting village
Connect’s setup is unusual. The four panoramic courts sit under a canopy at Birmingham Moseley Sporting Village – a multi-sport campus that also hosts rugby, football, a gym, lawn bowls, physiotherapy, and event spaces. The effect, according to Thomson, is that “players feel like they’re part of a larger sporting family.” The contrast with an isolated standalone venue is immediate – the shared campus creates energy that a solitary court facility cannot.
The canopy is the practical headline. Covered outdoor courts mean year-round play without the cost overhead of a fully enclosed indoor venue, and without the British weather dictating when you can get on court. “That consistency helps keep the social momentum going regardless of the British weather,” Thomson says. If you have played outdoor padel in January and spent half the session wiping rain off the glass, you will understand why this matters.
The panoramic court design – glass walls with minimal steel framework – also gives the venue a more open, visible feel than the enclosed cages you find at some venues. Spectators and passers-by can see the action from outside, which does a quiet job of marketing the sport to people who have never tried it.
For the full picture of where Connect sits among Birmingham’s padel venues, we have covered every court in the city in our dedicated guide.
What a typical week looks like
The weekly programme at Connect is busier than you might expect from a four-court venue. Thomson rattles off the list: daily social sessions including mix-ins, Americanos, King of the Court, Mexicanos, and dedicated ladies’ sessions. On top of that, around 15 group coaching sessions per week, ranging from Intro to Padel through to Advanced.
If you have played social padel formats like Americano before, you will know they are the fastest way to meet other players – you rotate partners, play short sets, and leave having shared a court with most of the room. Connect programmes these daily, which is ambitious scheduling for a venue this size and suggests the demand is there.
The junior programme deserves a mention. Connect was the first club in the Midlands to offer dedicated junior sessions, and Thomson says seeing kids on court every Saturday is “exactly why we started this.” The Intro sessions for adults run two or three times a week and include free racket hire, so there is no upfront kit cost for someone walking in for the first time.
“Just come down and give padel a try,” Thomson says. “We welcome new players with open arms. Whether you want to join a league, try a Padel & Pilates session, or have a private lesson, there’s a pathway for you.”
For anyone still working out how to find people to play with, a club with this density of social programming removes the biggest obstacle. You do not need to bring three friends. You show up, and the format does the rest.
What is coming up this spring
The diary for April and May is stacked.
Padel & Prams runs on Friday 10 April – a format designed for parents who want to play while their children are looked after on site. It is a format gaining traction at clubs across the UK, and Connect was an early adopter.
The Spring Championships follow on Saturday 11 April – Connect’s first major tournament of the year.
Padel & Pilates launches on Sunday 19 April as part of the club’s Summer Series, combining court time with a pilates session. It is a crossover format that signals where Connect sees its market: players who want padel to be part of a broader fitness routine, not a standalone sport.
On the competitive side, Connect hosts its first LTA Grade 5 event on 26 April, with Grade 4 and junior competitions planned for May and June. The step into LTA-sanctioned competition is a milestone for any club – it brings rated players through the door and puts the venue on the national tournament circuit.
Thomson also mentions a “Road 2 London” event planned for the summer, though details on that are still to come.
The bottom line
Connect Padel is doing something distinctive in the Birmingham market. The community hours programme gives it a social mission that most padel venues lack. The Moseley Sporting Village setting gives it an atmosphere that a standalone court facility would struggle to replicate. And the density of the weekly programme – daily socials, 15 coaching sessions, junior sessions, events – suggests a club that is growing into its capacity and pulling players towards it.
If you are in Birmingham and looking for a club where the culture extends beyond court hire, Connect is worth a visit. The Spring Championships on 11 April and the Padel & Pilates launch on 19 April are both good entry points if you want to see the community in action before committing to a regular slot.
Book via PadelMates or visit connectpadeluk.com for the full schedule.