Gijs Kooken, Belgium is among the best nations in padel when there was nothing or almost nothing five years ago. How do you explain it?
“We have competitions of a good level thanks to the Belgian Padel Tour and, in Flanders, to the Masters. The best meet quite regularly in these tournaments. In addition, the distances are never long given the size of our small country. Our ‘P 1,000’ (Editor’s note: highest national ranking) meet very often. The Premier Padel de Bruxelles in April also offers us a great showcase to reach the Belgians. People saw that we had an incredible player: <a href="https://www.archysport.com/2022/05/soon-a-belgian-padel-champion-ten-to-twenty-years-to-release-a-top-player/" title="Soon a Belgian padel champion? “Ten to twenty years to release a top player””>Clément Geens.“
Are the infrastructures sufficient at present?
“In 2021, we had more land in Flanders than in France, which was not normal. Today, we have land for 4,500 inhabitants in Flanders. We are getting closer to 4,000. The Swedes have pushed the traffic jam further by building a field for 2,500 inhabitants, but we see that many centers have to close. In Belgium, we still have clubs which open every month. The whole country is no longer living in the madness of. 2020-2021 during the Covid pandemic. Before, the occupancy rate flirted with 100% from morning to evening. Today, the grounds are full from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Belgium deserves a top 5
Is padel less seen as a sport for old people or a leisure sport?
“We have a mentality problem. Padel is still seen as a leisure activity. Young people train two or three times a week, which is not enough to become professional. Clubs do not yet organize academies for the highest level. We need trainers. To be honest, the demand is not there yet.
Flanders is a good student when it comes to padel. What are the links between the two Belgian federations?
“It is not easy to organize the padel on a national level because of the vacation calendar which no longer coincides between Flanders and Wallonia. Young people can no longer develop in good conditions. The two federations agree very good. Wallonia lost time because of the tensions between its two federations (Tennis Padel Wallonie Bruxelles and AFPadel).
The national team is a fine example of the Belgianness of padel…
“Yes absolutely. We have a team of girls who are mainly Dutch-speaking since Laura Bernard was pregnant. On the boys’ side, the players are mainly French-speaking. All these beautiful people train together on good terms, that is to say say in the clubs which require the least travel for everyone.”
gull We have planned with the players to divide the World Cup prize money in two: 50% for the athletes and 50% for the federation.”
You spoke of a blessing when mentioning the padel, but isn’t it a pit for the finances of a federation?
“For the padel, we receive almost no subsidies. However, the padel costs us more and more. If I take the example of the World Cup in Qatar, the cost is low because the delegation (more than 20 people ) is hosted and supported by the tournament We only pay for plane flights We have planned with the players to divide the prize money in two: 50% for the athletes and 50% for the federation. (Editor’s note: 15,000 euros for a top 8, 20,000 euros for the top 4). For our youth teams, the costs are the same, but we have no support from tournaments. The COIB does not help us because padel is not Olympic. We’re trying to raise political awareness.”
Do you have figures on the number of members of Padel Vlaanderen?
“In Flanders, we have 150,000 people who play padel regularly, including 90,000 affiliates. We are the fourth sport behind football, tennis and gymnastics.”
Do you consider that Belgium has taken the padel train on time?
“We have in any case not missed the boat as our results at the international level demonstrate, but we must be aware that the global hierarchy is evolving quickly because everyone is becoming more professional. Argentina and Spain are at the above all. Brazil and Portugal have a solid lead behind, we have a big car with Belgium in particular.”
