Alexis Ramé, manager of the Sport In Park complex in Laval, looks back at the history of the center and the rise of padel, now the main driving force of the establishment. With seven indoor courts and strong demand, Sport In Park is establishing itself as a major player in padel in the region.

Alexis also talks about organizing regular tournaments, the padel school for children, and the importance of maintaining a friendly approach for his customers.

The History of Sport In Park

“Sport In Park is basically a real estate company owned by the Ramé family. They owned several buildings throughout France, including the one in Saint-Berthevin, where the Sport In Park complex is now located. This building was vacant, located in an industrial zone that no longer really met the economic needs of the city of Laval. As in many cities, business parks move and new ones are created, leaving some spaces less attractive. The hangar in question was struggling to find a new tenant. That's when one of the family's children suggested to his father: "Why don't we create our own activities to occupy our empty buildings?" At the time, in 2012, indoor soccer was experiencing a certain craze. So they decided to take the plunge and create Sport In Park.

So, they started by launching SOCC'ORANGE FOOT EN SALLE, an activity dedicated to indoor soccer, in reference to the local Laval team, whose colors are orange. The Laval stadium was also their first partner. At first, they only used about 2 m² of a building that has 000, simply to develop the indoor soccer activity. Then, they started wanting to develop the racket sector. Initially, the racket sector was developed by badminton and they created 10 squash courts.

Sport In Park

How did padel come about? It was thanks to a former director of Decathlon in Spain who, after leaving Spain, returned to settle in Laval, his hometown. He noticed that our space was big enough, with 9 meters of height, which perfectly meets the standards for padel. He said to my nephew: “You have to do padel, you'll see, one day it will take off in France as in Spain, where it is everywhere.”

At the time, there were practically no padel courts in France. We were the first club to install indoor padel courts. There were a few in the South of France, but they were all outdoors. However, the Laval climate does not really lend itself to outdoor courts, because you could only use them for three months of the year, which would not be profitable. My nephew said “Banco!” and in 2014, we created three indoor padel courts. That's how it all started. We were lucky, right from the start of Sport In Park, to welcome two players ranked in the top 20, which helped to make padel known locally.

Sport In Park

For my part, I arrived in 2016, when my brother asked me to take over the management of the Sport In Park complex. I took charge of managing the 10 m² of the complex, with sections dedicated to soccer, racket sports, a children's area called Kid'y Park, as well as a karting track. However, COVID caused adjustments, and we decided to close the karting track. My nephew took over its operation by renting the spaces, which left me with 000 m² to manage.

A competitor arrived in Laval a year ago, which impacted Kid'y Park's turnover a little. Since there was a strong demand for padel and I had the necessary space and height, I decided to close Kid'y Park and build three new padel courts. Initially, we started with three padel courts. I then removed a small soccer field to add a fourth padel court. And within 15 days, we will have a total of seven indoor padel courts.”

Padel, the driving force behind Sport In Park

“Today, padel is the driving force of the complex, it has the highest occupancy rate. We have set up an online booking system for padel, which works quite well. We are in the process of exploiting it further by integrating registrations for tournaments. Players will therefore have to go through this system to register for competitions. I try to bring some constraints, but without being as strict as in some large chains, where there are strict payment obligations, etc. I want to preserve the conviviality with my customers.”

Sport In Park

Tournaments and padel school

“We organize about 2 to 4 tournaments per month, including friendly tournaments, P25, P100, and P250. This is the main competitive activity that we offer. We also set up a P500 per quarter. We have inter-company championships at lunchtime, and although we do not have qualified employees to teach padel, we offer individual or group lessons via an external teacher. I also created, through an association, a padel school for children called Padel Park. "

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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