Kristina Clement, opponent of the French in Dubai on the occasion of 2022 Worlds de padel as a player of the German delegation, agreed to speak at the microphone of Padel Mag to return in particular to her career in the national team and the delicate situation of the players at the financial level.

His atypical career in the national team

“I took part in several world championships, I started with France in 2008 (Calgary), 2010 and 2012 (Cancùn). Afterwards, I started my adventure in the padel by developing clubs in France, England and things unfortunately meant that I was no longer selected for the France team.

Besides that, I was also coach of the Monaco men's team, and I finished with a magnificent thirteenth place last year at the European Championships in Marbella.

After that, I wanted to come back as a player. I felt that I still had the ability to do good things on the court, and I wanted to share these incredible moments that we can experience, especially during Worlds or European Championships.

I knew a player from the German team, Denise (Höfer), who is the captain of the team, and who said to me: “Kristina, you have a German passport, we need good players like you! Why don't you come play with us? ". So I called her and told her I was available. The next day the coach said “welcome” to me and I was immediately welcomed with open arms!

I first participated in a gathering in Karlsruhe in September 2021, which allowed me to get to know the girls and to be able to show my experience of padel.

We participated in a first championship in Bilbao with the FEPA, and then we went to the world championships in Qatar, where we managed to get this 8th place which meant an immediate qualification for the worlds of this year.

Kristina Clement Global Dubai

Travel expenses paid by players/federations

“France, Spain and even Sweden are big countries which benefit from sponsors and support from their federations which are quite powerful and above all capable of financing everything.

These federations have the means to send a physiotherapist, a physical trainer, etc. When we faced Chile, for example, there was a physical trainer who took charge of the players' warm-up, while we had to do it on our side.

Germany at the moment is a very small country of padel, even if it remains a great country of sport. At present, there are approximately 250 courts of padel, which is very little compared to Italy, which has more than 6000 courts… We are still a small country, the federation does not have a lot of resources.

We, German players, had to finance our plane tickets. We do it because we like this sport, we like to experience these events, and we want to defend the colors of our country, but it's true that we don't have a physiotherapist, for example. Which means that for recovery, it's more complicated, it requires more effort on our part… but we're still in the top 8 in the world. »

kristina clement global dubai

Players who do not come for professional or financial reasons

“There are two players who could have been present: Inga Bertschmann, who was German champion alongside Luci' (Luciana Renic) and who could not come for professional reasons. And also another player because she got pregnant, but that's another subject (laughs).

It's a special effort, because it's a full-time week. We are not professional players so we have to be able to free ourselves from work and it is not easy for everyone. »

Watch the interview in its entirety, right here:

Nasser Hoverini

Passionate about football, I discovered the padel in 2019. Since then, it's been crazy love with this sport to the point of abandoning my favorite sport.

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