Femme Open celebrates Wilson deal
The founder of Femme Open UK has welcomed news that Wilson is now an official sponsor of the organisation Europe-wide, further paving the way for greater focus on the growth of women’s padel.
Pep Stonor launched Femme Open in the UK last September and has since attracted more than 200 women to play in seven tournaments across the country and participate in various coaching sessions.
She told The Bandeja: “Wilson has provided support to Femme Open UK since its launch so we are thrilled to see this partnership announced with Femme Open HQ. Femme Open is now Europe’s largest padel network for women and last year alone it held more than 40 tournaments in Sweden and has expanded across Europe.”
Countries
Femme Open UK forms part of the Femme Open organisation, launched in Sweden in 2018 by Johanna Aybar and Johanna Livijn with the aim of encouraging women of all abilities to play padel, have fun and compete. What started as a hobby project has turned into a business, building bridges between countries and organising tournaments across Europe after expanding beyond Sweden in 2021. Countries covered include Denmark, Finland, Norway, Spain, Greece, Italy and the Netherlands with plans to expand into Germany and France.
Iñaki Cabrera, Global Business Director at Wilson Padel, said: “We are very excited to partner with Femme Open to further the growth of women’s padel in Europe. Our goal is to continue promoting padel for everyone while expanding the player community and improving their sporting experience.”
The sponsorship will include Wilson as the official sporting goods and ball partner of all tournaments in Europe, as well as providing prizes and goodie bags, demonstrations, and Wilson takeover events. The company said the partnership ‘reaffirms’ its commitment to invest in women’s padel.
“We believe that our partnership with Wilson will be incredibly beneficial to our goals due to its strong relationships with experienced padel players and coaches, as well as its notable investment into the success of women’s padel,” said Johanna Aybar and Johanna Livijn, who also have plans to extend their reach to Australia.
UK sponsors
For Pep and Femme Open UK the only way is up, with more tournaments and coaching sessions planned for the coming year. Sponsors are being sought to support events, as Pep explained: “We will look for a range of sponsors to support us on our journey in 2024 to develop women’s participation by delivering at least 10 tournaments and as many trainings as possible so that women all over the UK can benefit from learning padel, networking and competing.” 🎾
