Until Sunday September 10, the padel party is in full swing at Roland-Garros. All the tickets for the weekend (i.e. twice 8,000 places) having been sold for several weeks, the organizers of the Greenweez Paris Major, one of the “Grand Slams” of the discipline, have even decided to open the crown high of the Philippe-Chatrier court to still be able to accommodate fans of slotted racket. A showcase of choice for the promotion of this sport in France.
“There is still an increasingly strong attraction and these attendance figures are the confirmation that we needed,” explains Arnaud Di Pasquale, tournament director and head of the padel mission at the FFT. The demand is there. » The objective is now to bring the offer into line.
France, where the number of players is estimated at more than 400,000, today has 1,644 tennis courts and 637 tennis clubs (out of more than 7,000, or less than 10%) offering the activity. The federation’s ambition is to reach 2,000 courts by 2024.
“Respond quickly to expectations so as not to be disappointed”
“The emphasis is placed on the development of infrastructure and support for project leaders,” continues Di Pasquale. We have to be able to respond quickly to expectations so as not to be disappointed. The federation will increase the financial envelope on a multi-year plan to support the structures to be put in place as quickly as possible as it has done for decades in tennis. »
Until the end of 2024, the national sports agency (ANS) is also subsidizing the construction of new tracks. The average cost for new equipment is around 70,000 euros (less if it is built on an existing tennis court). The various aids can reduce the bill by 50% to 80% for clubs wishing to take the plunge.
Large private brands are also growing. “We had to believe it when we invested in padel in 2014,” smiles Joseph Vieville, one of the founders of 4Padel, which will have 120 tracks in France at the end of 2023 and plans to exceed 200 in 2025. We crossed the desert but today the cocktail takes off and we arrive at what we were thinking about. »
More than 60% of players who do not come from tennis
The next step is now to better support practice and in particular learning to start training real generations of players. “We have to convince young people to get started, offer more padel schools,” emphasizes Di Pasquale. More and more educators are taking the specific certificate to teach. We are no longer on this profile of players who come from tennis and are approaching forty. Today, more than 60% of players do not come from a tennis background. We really touch all populations and it will get even younger. »
An observation shared by Joseph Vieville. With successful experience in 5-a-side football (4Padel is an entity of the Le Five group, which has 35 futsal complexes in France), it focuses above all on values of diversity, far from the elitist codes of tennis.
“We will have to take good care of the youngest, teach them to play, to love this sport and avoid falling into a practice where only certain parts of the population will have access to it, breath- he. We want it to be the inclusive sport par excellence and that we have as many padel players tomorrow as we have amateur football players today, or between 4 and 5 million per year. »
“For the moment, there are few French people at the high level”
The company has thus set up gateways to attract football players (tests, free hours, etc.) and takes advantage of the slots that are not very busy during the day (and which are however saturated in the evening) in its centers to open them to schoolchildren. neighboring establishments.
“We just need to get started, that’s why discovery is at the heart of our strategy,” notes Joseph Vieville, whose entity will manage tracks at the Saint-Denis Aquatic Center after the 2024 Olympics. we taste it, we come back to it. It’s guaranteed to have fun thanks to the format and the user-friendly side. People, young or not, are hooked because it’s accessible. Unlike tennis, the pleasure is immediate. »
The different stakeholders (FFT, associative or private clubs) meet within a national council of padel to establish in particular a common pedagogy regardless of the place of teaching. “For the moment, there are few French people at the high level because we did not have the culture of padel,” breathes the French No. 1 Alix Collombon. These are all the young people who are six or seven years old who will perhaps tickle the Spaniards in 10 or 15 years. In any case, it starts today…”
2023-09-08 08:30:00
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