About Yourself

Growing up, sport was always at the centre of Max England’s life – particularly tennis. He trained and competed both nationally and internationally, playing alongside some of the UK’s top-ranked players, and even competed at the lower levels of the professional tour. All of this, while balancing his sporting ambitions with academics, completing both his undergraduate and master’s degrees at the University of Bath.

“I was actually first introduced to padel a few years ago through good friends of mine who had already transitioned from tennis,” Max explains. “I fell in love with it immediately, and haven’t looked back since.”

Coming from a tennis background gave him a head start, but what kept him hooked was the process of mastering the unique elements of padel. “What really got me hooked has been the process of learning padel-specific skills, pushing myself to get better every day, and ultimately seeing myself improve. It really is true when people say that padel is one of the most addictive sports you can play.”

Max set himself a clear target at the start of the year: to break into the top 50 of the LTA Men’s Padel Rankings – an ambitious goal given that he started at around 600. At the time of writing, he’s already climbed to number 60 with two tournaments still to go!

Community Origins

Outside of the padel court, many will recognise Max from BBC’s The Apprentice – a popular reality TV show in the UK where contestants compete in business challenges. He appeared as a candidate on this year’s season, pitching his padel business plan to Lord Sugar.

“My business plan was (and still is) to open premium padel centres to service the growing demand for padel here in the UK,” he shares. “Another goal of mine off the back of the show was to promote padel in mainstream media, and ultimately use my social platforms to showcase all of the wonderful things going on in UK padel.”

Through his social media channels, Max posts behind-the-scenes tournament content, centre reviews, racket and equipment reviews, and game improvement tips, all with the aim of helping to grow awareness of the sport. To connect with him or follow his journey, see his Instagram Account @maxengland.padel.

At the end of 2024, he launched MaxPadel Ltd, his own padel brand offering high-quality carbon rackets and equipment at affordable prices. “We’ve got some really exciting things planned for 2026 and beyond,” he adds.

Local Padel Experience

When it comes to the UK padel scene, Max has a balanced perspective. “The infrastructure for padel is definitely changing rapidly for the better,” he says. “Even just compared to this time a year ago, I’ve seen first-hand how many more centres and options there are for those looking to get involved.”

Still, he acknowledges that there’s a long way to go: “We are massively under-indexing on court availability compared to the growth in demand. Court bookings can be hard to come by – and really expensive – but ultimately things are progressing in the right direction to make padel available and accessible for all.”

Community Reflections

Reflecting on his journey so far, Max’s continued enthusiasm is clear. “Padel has already given me so much! I’ve appeared on national television because of padel, launched a business because of padel, and have met so many amazing and wonderful people through this incredible sport. I can’t wait to see what the next 12 months (and beyond) look like!”

We wish Max all the best and thank him for taking the time to share his story with us!