COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT:
WORLD'S LONGEST PADEL MATCH
- United Kingdom
- Jamie Rowe
A Record Attempt for a Remarkable Cause
When four friends decided to turn their love for padel into something extraordinary, they set their sights on an ambitious goal: to break the World Record for the longest padel match ever played – aiming for 40 hours on court (yes, that’s not a typo: 40 hours!)
At the heart of the team is Nathan (Nay), joined by his friends Benny, Marcus, and DD (David). What started as a wild idea has evolved into a deeply personal mission rooted in friendship, resilience, and purpose.
Nathan was quick to give credit to his friends who signed up:
“Benny has been my best friend for 20 years at this point, and through padel we met Marcus and DD a little later on. All three are great friends, and it’s a huge honour that three people are willing to give up 40 hours (as well as everything else with the planning and organising the event) to help give to a cause that means so much to me. Though some of this story is personal, it is a true team effort and quite simply none of this would be remotely possible without the help of these three legends.”
A Personal Journey
Nathan was born with Retinoblastoma (RB) – a rare form of eye cancer. His diagnosis came after his Aunt Kaz noticed a glow in his eye when looking at photographs from Bonfire Night. Fortunately, his mother’s local connections helped him see several specialists, and he was eventually referred to St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London under the care of the late Consultant Ophthalmologist John Hungerford, a leading expert in researching and treating RB at the time.
Nathan received a range of treatments, including radiotherapy and cryotherapy, spending long periods at St Barts with his mother while his father travelled back and forth for work to support the family. Because the condition affected both eyes, doctors decided to remove his left eye to prevent further spread of the tumour. As a result, Nathan lost all vision in his left eye and around 50–60% in his right.
He considers himself lucky, explaining:
“I wasn’t diagnosed at birth, so the discovery of the tumour meant I was able to receive treatment. Conversations did happen as to whether I would survive at all, and if I did, would I be able to see anything. Not everybody who suffers from RB is as fortunate as I was and though things aren’t the easiest at times, I do try to remember this.”
Nathan describes himself as “nothing special,” but someone who will always try to “find a way.” He credits his resilience to the people around him:
“I’m very lucky to have had an incredibly supportive upbringing, two parents that have forever encouraged me to just ‘have a go’ at everything and an incredibly supportive group of family and friends who always have my back.”
Nathan’s Family
In December 2019, Nathan and his wife Als welcomed their first daughter, Izzy. Because of Nathan’s condition, there was a 50% chance that Izzy would inherit the RB gene. In early 2020, she was also diagnosed with retinoblastoma.
“The moment we found out is one that will stay with me forever more, and nothing in life quite equips you to deal with that. However, due to the incredible support from the Childhood Eye Cancer Trust (CHECT), they arranged for all the experts to come and see us, walk us through the next steps, likely outcomes, risks and quite literally organised everything for us.”
For two years, Izzy underwent cycles of chemotherapy, all during the COVID pandemic when only one parent could attend hospital visits. Nathan shared how vital his wife’s role was:
“My wife Als was the real hero here. With public transport being out of the question and limitations in terms of people in hospitals, being the only one that could drive I’d struggle to count the amount of times she hit the road and did that lonely drive from Lytham St Annes to London so Izzy could receive her treatments.”
Izzy is now nearly six and doing well.
“She will lose all sight in her left eye, but all being well she will retain a full range of vision in her good eye – which would be incredible. We owe all of this to CHECT. She’s a tough kid, and having been through so much so early it’s really hard to say just how proud we are of her.”
Getting Involved
Anyone wishing to get involved can reach out on Instagram at @worldslongestpadelmatch or by email at worldslongestpadelmatch@gmail.com.
Donations can be made via GoFundMe.
The event will be held on November 21st and 22nd, and supporters are invited to come along, cheer, and share the team’s story to help raise awareness for CHECT.
Discovering Padel
Nathan’s introduction to padel came thanks to his brother, Josh, after a local outdoor centre opened nearby.
“After a couple of games we started to get the hang of it – well the others more so than me – and quickly found ourselves playing more than once a week rain or shine!”
Through local mix-ins, Nathan and Benny met Marcus and DD.
“Fast forward to present day, it’s safe to say we are all padel addicts and we probably see more of each other than we’d all care to admit, and padel is now part of our way of life!”
More About the Cause
“Because of both mine and Izzy’s condition it means CHECT have now supported me and my family for my entire life.”
The Childhood Eye Cancer Trust (CHECT) is the UK’s only charity solely dedicated to supporting babies, children, and families affected by retinoblastoma. Their mission is to prevent sight loss and death as a result of rare eye cancers, support affected families, raise awareness for earlier diagnosis, and fund vital research.
“CHECT receives no government or regulatory funding and is therefore reliant on donations to deliver their services to families. The current economic landscape continues to be a challenge, and in these times these donations are even more important!”
Nathan emphasised how vital their help was throughout both his and Izzy’s journeys — from arranging appointments to organising accommodation, providing guidance during the pandemic, and visiting during treatment.
“It’s very hard to capture the level of impact they’ve had on our lives in words, and it’s absolutely critical the team have the funds to continue to support families like mine for years to come!”
Understanding Retinoblastoma
Nathan referenced @one_eye_katie on Instagram as someone who “does such an awesome job of humanising such a complicated topic.” Using her analogy of an orange (her full post is here), he explained:
“Imagine the orange is an eye socket, which is filled with a jelly-like substance and at the back there is a thin sheet called the Retina, which is the bit that detects light. RB is a tumour which grows on the Retina. This needs to be stopped as it can block vision and spread to other areas of the body. This can be shrunk with chemotherapy, which was the case with Izzy. But in my case the tumour was already too big and that is why my left eye was removed and replaced with a prosthetic eye.”
Nathan also encourages people to visit chect.org.uk for more information and resources.
Event Origins & Special Shoutouts From Nathan
“I stumbled across a post of a group that last set the world record. I consider myself reasonably fit and thought ‘how hard could that be.’ Though 40 hours sounds much more daunting seven weeks out than it did a little while ago! So I applied to the Guinness Book of World Records to do it – they accepted, and at that point it felt like I had no choice!”
The mission is simple: to raise as much money and awareness for CHECT as possible.
Along the way, the team has received incredible support from several partners and friends including Zooki, Becketts Wealth, Connect Padel, Y1 Padel, Sovereign Beverages, Lemondrop Creative, and the Zooki Padel family — all of whom have played key roles in making the event possible.
- Zooki – “Marcus is the co-founder of Zooki, and where the 4 of us play most of our Padel. When I approached Marcus to ask if there was any chance we could use the facility to host the match he said yes straight away and his only questions were could he join and what could he do to help.”
- Becketts Wealth – “Becketts is the workplace of our own Benny. The boss Dom has shown such faith in us by donating and partnering up with us on this event, and we can’t thank him enough for supporting us at such an early stage!”
- Connect Padel – “Charlie at Connect Padel was the first person to jump all over this the second I mentioned it to him. He’s been an immense sounding board for ideas, and has played a huge part in terms of connecting us with people in and beyond the Padel world as well as coming up with some awesome ways to raise money!”
- Y1 Padel – “Our official kit and racket sponsor, I met George earlier on in the year and he was so keen to get involved. They will be providing kits and rackets for the event and have been kind to offer so much support. We’ve got some really cool content and things lined up with the Y1 team, and that’s massively exciting!”
- Sovereign Beverages – “Our own DD is the founder, and they’ll most certainly come into their own for planning the after party! But beyond this DD has been immense in terms of raising awareness of our cause and helping with the sponsorship of the event.”
- Nicky Thompson & Lemondrop Creative – “If you’ve seen our stuff on Instagram, you’ll be acutely aware it is designed way far and beyond anything my stick man art could do! Nicky is another friend I have met through Padel, and very kindly offered to give us a hand. His work is absolutely first class, and he is a true creative and we owe a lot to Nicky for both helping us graduate from an Instagram egg account, through to his continued support of the project. You’re a legend, mate!”
- The Zooki Padel family – “We have a great little Padel family, and everyone has been getting behind making this event what it can be. Big shout out to Matt (Nelson) who has organised a round robin tournament for all of the lads to play out before the attempt with all teams donating to CHECT!”
- and more, the list could go on!
Community Reflections
“Seeing it come to light, what started as a nice idea is quickly becoming a reality. It’s been so much fun doing it with a group of mates! In terms of biggest challenge, I think it’s just the continuous push to make it as big and great as we can!”
Looking Ahead
“I have no doubt we’ll make it. All three of the guys are so strong willed and are real winners. So whether it’s running or hobbling, I know we’ll make it over the line. It’ll be mentally taxing, but hopefully an unbelievable experience. And that first beer at the finish line will be one of the best ever!”
