On the occasion of the return to sport and the Cupra Padel Point Tour , the president of the Angers Tennis Club, Alexandre Soulié, spoke with us. Between the disrupted start and the rise of discipline in the club, he looks back on the expansion of the sport within the club last year and on the objectives for the coming season.

The desire to create a club padel in Angers

I started on padel in 1996, in Spain. I left for cooperation, at the time when military service was compulsory. And then, a few years later, I wanted to create a club padel in Angers, in collaboration with Décathlon. But it was still too early and for various reasons, the project did not come to fruition.

When in 2015, the French Tennis Federation took over the padel under its umbrella, the city of Angers
had just suggested we move the club. So I decided to take over the file padel which
I had done a few years earlier. The city immediately followed us and we decided to
create four covered slopes.

A policy based on the discovery of padel

Thanks to the various managers who have been at the club in recent years, the club's policy has been based on the discovery of padel. But we are also focused on competition. 

From the first year, we created a school of padel for adults. And for two years now, young people have come to discover this sport. Today we have Germain Carmé who takes care of 100% of the padel. He gives lessons all year round. 

On the competition side, we have around forty tournaments over the year, ranging from P100 to P1000. We have added to this some mixed tournaments and even +45 tournaments! Let us also remember that the very first FIP ​​tournament in France was played at the Angers Tennis Club.

And in the middle of all this, we try to respond to the requests of the Committee 49, or the Ligue des Pays de Loire, by making our facilities available to them for federal demonstrations. 

More than 1000 players who pass through the club all year round

We finished the season with 1100 members at the club, including around 300 players from padel. In comparison, at the end of 2017, we had a little less than 500 licensees: it is therefore an entire sporting policy which has been rewarded, both for tennis and for tennis. padel. We have succeeded in introducing this sport to Angers and now more than 1000 players pass through the club during tournaments throughout the year, apart from our 300 licensees. 

For the season which begins, we remain on the same model in order to meet everyone's expectations, knowing that we are approximately at our maximum capacity.

Around forty tournaments to come

This year, the agenda padel of the club is well stocked. Around forty tournaments are planned for
time, with surely the reception of the departmental or regional phases, if necessary. 

In addition, the club's first team will also participate in the French Championships this fall. And we will register for the next championship to meet the demand of our competitors. 

Players delighted with the Cupra experience Padel Point Tour

The reception of a Cupra stage Padel Point Tour happened quite naturally. Last year, we had discussions with Melissa Martin because one of the stopover clubs had failed her, but the proposed date did not suit us. 

However, we stayed in touch. In addition, the Angers Tennis Club has Cupra Angers among its partners. It was therefore natural to try to fit into the Cupra calendar Padel Point Tour. 

We received this stage at the end of August and it was a great weekend. The players were delighted with the experience, the spectators were delighted. I myself would like to thank the entire Cupra organization Padel Point Tour for this exceptional weekend. This energizes the club before the start of the school year and we will try to do even better next year if we are called upon again. 

Main photo credit: FFT

Xan is a fan of padel. But also rugby! And his posts are just as punchy. Physical trainer of several padel, he unearths atypical posts or deals with topical subjects. It also gives you some tips to develop your physique for the padel. Clearly, he imposes his offensive style as on the field of padel !

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