About Us
Finding Inspiration in Every Turn
Padder Tennis New Zealand Incorporated (PTNZI) is a nationally operating not-for-profit incorporated society and the governing body for Padder Tennis in New Zealand. Our purpose is to provide means for young people to find enjoyment, reward, and social inclusion and to better their health through Padder Tennis. Our vision is to see Padder Tennis grow to be a school playground sport, providing opportunities for tamariki to be active at break times and before/after school. Ultimately, we aim to encourage participation and competition in the hopes that this will translate to youth partaking in club and high-performance level tennis.
IT ALL STARTED WHEN....
As an 8-year-old, Paul Grubi played Padder Tennis with his friends at Marist Wilton School in Wellington, New Zealand. One friend in particular, Craig Mutch, has also remained a die-hard Padder Tennis fan and currently holds a board member position with Padder Tennis New Zealand. Both Craig and Paul went on to play tennis at a national junior level before attending US tennis scholarships. Paul went on to play professional tennis and found coaching as his career choice before coming back to his roots.
Now, Paul has a vision to give all Kiwi kids the opportunity to play Padder Tennis at school so that they have all the necessary skills to move on to tennis!
PTNZ Board Team
DAVID PATTERSON
CHAIRMAN
David currently holds the Chair Person position at Wellington Tennis Inc. and was the Former Chair of Tennis NZ. He is a passionate life-long tennis player and has represented Wellington and New Zealand in the sport. David also runs his own law firm, Patterson Legal.
CRAIG MUTCH
BOARD MEMBER
After completing his tennis scholarship in the US, Craig held various Human Resources leadership positions with companies including National Geographic, Fox Sports, Twentieth Century Fox, Mattel and Boeing. In 2021 he moved back to New Zealand with his family. Now Craig wants to give back to the sport of Padder Tennis that had such a positive impact on his life.
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SACHA HASKELL
BOARD MEMBER
Sacha Haskell is a talented all-round sportswoman - Vice Captain of NZ in Football at an international level, where she scored 8 goals in 16 internationals. She represented Wellington in junior tennis with Paul and Craig and also played senior representative cricket. She has served on several boards, Capital Soccer, Northern Football and NZ Football, and is a consulting Director and Commercial General Manager.
Paul Grubi
CEO & FOUNDER OF PTNZ
“We are reviving the iconic New Zealand school playground game so more kids have free access to build the necessary skills required for all racquet sports, particularly tennis.”
What Teachers & Kids Say
"Padder Tennis is close to being our all-time favourite game at Halcombe School. Kids bring their own homemade bats to school and the break time battles are epic! We also have an inter-house competition where the senior students battle it out. Lots of staff play too!!”
Di - Fielding, Manawatu
Our Partners
