Alain Henry, owner and co-manager of Padel Club du Mas in Perpignan shares with us the story of this family club which made a radical transition by transforming all its tennis courts into padel courts.

The history and evolution of the club

“I am both owner and co-manager of the Padel Mas Club, with Frédéric TAP, and am also a padel coach. Originally, our club was a family establishment launched in 1981, mainly focused on tennis with 4 courts. In 2005, we diversified our offer by adding 5 squash courts. The padel adventure began in 2012, when we transformed an unused space into a padel court. At the time, there were very few sites that offered padel in France.

fred tap and alain henri club du mas

Faced with the growing enthusiasm for padel, we gradually replaced our tennis courts with padel courts. This evolution led us to a radical transition since we went from 100% tennis to 100% padel. Today, we have 6 indoor courts and 4 outdoor courts, which, I believe, places us among the few clubs to have achieved such a metamorphosis.”

The transition from tennis to padel 

“The transition from tennis to padel was driven by the growing interest in this sport that was still little known at the beginning. In 2012, there were only about a hundred regular padel players. The growing demand generated a dynamic that encouraged the development of the club to respond to this craze. Then the competition arrived and we had to develop the club a little more to accompany the expansion of padel. 

When we only had 2 out of 4 tennis courts left, maintaining tennis became a challenge. In 2021, we made the decision to remove the last two tennis courts, due to the low number of tennis players remaining. This approach allowed many tennis players within the club to discover padel. Some of them have definitely adopted padel and are still active members of the club.”

Padel Mas Club

Strategies to promote padel

“In our department, padel is highly developed, and our club has had a reputation in this sport since 2012. To attract players, we have organized tournaments and events. Beyond these initiatives, we have not had to deploy specific strategies to promote padel. The craze for this sport in our club has mainly spread through word of mouth. The satisfaction of our members has played an important role since they have recommended us to their friends, which has contributed to the increase in our popularity and our player base.

We generally organize 1 or 2 approved tournaments each month, which seems to us to be an ideal balance to cater to both competitive players and those who are simply looking for the pleasure of playing. Each month, a weekend is dedicated to our monthly tournament. Exceptionally, during the summer, we increase the pace by offering one tournament per week.”

fonteny boronad alain henri
club du mas perpignan

Anticipation of the evolution of padel

“Currently, we are not considering adding new courts to the club. Our strategy is rather to anticipate the evolution of padel in the next 3 to 4 years, planning our actions to stay ahead of trends, rather than reacting to changes as they occur. This has always been our approach, and we continue to adopt it to maintain our lead. As for the expansion of our facilities, the space of the club limits us a little.”

Dorian Massy

New padel fan, I am fascinated by this dynamic sport that combines strategy and agility. I find in padel a new passion to explore and share with you on Padel Magazine.

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