About Padel Federation Ireland

PFI was founded by Joe Cabello, a sports teacher from Spain who moved to Ireland as a university student, trained at University College Galway, and later taught in Rathfarnham. With five other school teachers, he set out to introduce and develop padel in Ireland at a time when there were no padel courts in the country.

In 2012, Joe Cabello and his brother helped bring the first padel court to the Dublin Mountains. From that starting point, the sport has grown through the effort of clubs, venues, coaches, volunteers, players, partners, and communities across the country. Joe is Honorary President of the PFI.

Naomi Nicholl is the current President and CEO of the Padel Federation of Ireland. Involved since its early years, she has held multiple roles supporting its development. She has worked across grassroots and high-performance pathways, helping structure the sport nationally. In the initial stages, she led community-based initiatives that shaped a more accessible participation model, contributing to a blueprint for national growth. She has collaborated with FIP and other federations, contributed to policy development, and is Second Vice President of Padel Europe.

PFI helps organise the structures that allow padel to grow in a clear, safe, and trusted way. The dedicated pages in this section cover the formal detail; this page keeps the overview simple.

• Supports players, clubs, coaches, officials, volunteers, and partners.
• Develops pathways for participation, coaching, officiating, competitions, and rankings.
• Provides public information for clubs, events, registration, licences, safeguarding, and standards.
• Connects Irish padel with international structures and learning opportunities.