Arnaud di Pasquale  was chosen by  Gilles Moreton  to be the person in  responsible for the development of padel at the FFT . Padel Magazine organized a Live on Facebook with the former tennis player following this appointment.

An ambitious project

 Arnaud di Pasquale:  "I am very  happy . There are plenty of competent people who could take this position. The  FFT  shows his willingness to give a  impulse  by naming a  director in charge of padel,  which was not sufficiently the case when the delegation was obtained in  2014 . "

“It is not enough to be passionate to accept a mission. There will be resources committed. We decide to be ambitious. We want to put in place a certain number of things that will allow padel to shine, to be much more visible. I am convinced of it.”

“The federation must put in the resources. We talked a lot and I presented a project. I felt in the president's speech,  Gilles Moreton , a real desire to finally develop padel. Let's not talk about associated disciplines anymore, let's talk about the French tennis, padel and beach tennis federation."

“We must ensure that padel develops. This is the  role of the FFT  who picked up the  delegation  padel. If she doesn't do it, she shouldn't have gotten it back."

A real change

“The approach is completely different.  There was no real desire to develop padel.  They didn't believe it enough. If I come here, it's because I'm passionate about it (I played there 4 times a week). I am not sure that the old governance saw a particular interest in it. They did not see this sport as an important development lever for the federation as a whole. ”

"I sincerely believe it can explode, I believe in it."

From padel to Roland-Garros

“The short of  Roland Garros,  I can't imagine we haven't had one for a long time. Everything that we could do there as an exhibition, to play former players, former players. There are plenty of them who love it. In terms  image  internationally it would be colossal. We know how much this sport is  addictive . The necklace is now. Time is passing and we cannot let it happen. We need them  structure  and  frame . "

“We decided to put a  padel court at Roland-Garros . It is a decision that has been made. Everything will of course depend on the health circumstances. Everything will depend on the  audience gauge  which will be allowed on the fortnight. We are working on several options. ”

“The court will be there, and I want it as long as possible. In 2015, court n ° 13 was too small. Me  I want a real short.  I want real matches, real spectacle. And also discovery for the public. The ideal is the fortnight. ”

organize a World Padel Tour

“We have a desire to weigh internationally. Hence all the exchanges with Luigi Carraro (president of the FIP). We want to have more international tournaments. There is only one in Angers. This is not normal for a country of our caliber. ”

“To weigh internationally, you have to invest. We don't want to stop at an FIP tournament. It is not utopian what I am going to say: on the mandate,  we will have a tournament World Padel Tour, one of the most beautiful . "

" You don't have to continue FFT Padel Tour . It was a lot of money. This money can be better used for the promotion of padel. We are working on the overall envelope that will be allocated to this direction. Everything will also depend on this Roland-Garros.”

“Luigi Carraro expects a lot from the FFT. and it’s great. I like his enthusiasm. Yes, we want to organize big competitions to promote padel. It’s not impossible, but we have to do things in order, without rushing.

The federation of all clubs

“Regarding the 25% of private clubs, these are clubs that know this discipline perfectly and  are developing it more than tennis clubs that have padel courts. . "

“We need to strengthen this link with private clubs. I will bring together the AFCP office to discuss with them, because they are the ones who are very dynamic. There are also tennis clubs that are. The idea is that the federation is the federation of all the clubs.  Private-public cohabitation can and must take place . We will commit resources to private structures. ”

“On subsidies, the FFT must also subsidize private structures. There is a legal vagueness that we are going to have to unlock. Initially, it is a commercial structure, and what I would like is to put an equipment subsidy mechanism for the benefit of all clubs subject to affiliation. ”

The padel license

“The padel license is not created to make more money. I think it should be a starting price. If we want to recognize the discipline, we need to know how many padel licensees we have. This single padel license does not allow us to count our audience and really develop it. We could also have two licenses.”

" Through this license, the FFT recognizes this discipline, and shows that it is no longer just tennis. . "

Increase awareness of padel

“There is a media plan that will be developed. Roland-Garros will allow us to organize a “press day”, to show the values ​​conveyed by padel.”

" We want to see with the communication of the FFT, and also with Padel Magazine, to see what can be put in place over time . It should not be a “one shot” on Roland. Actions must be frequent. ”

“There also need to be events to communicate. That’s how we can feed the media and make padel known. We can also use the VIPs who love this sport. I want us to have reports on public channels.” 

Go look for youth

“We have to create bridges with tennis. There is a know-how in tennis that we will be able to use. We will be able to use the very experienced human resources of the FFT. It is mainly focused on the high level, with the players who will be able to go to the National Training Center. ”

“For young people, there must be  more padel schools . We need to reach out to a younger audience. Everything we said before will give a boost. All the clubs will be able to teach padel better.”

Feminizing padel

“The male / female imbalance is an enigma for me. It is an accessible sport. I can't understand the 83% proportion of men.  Feminizing this practice is one of the objectives . "

“Luigi Carraro told me that in Italy the proportion was almost equal. We need to talk with other countries so that we can understand how to attract more young people and women. ”

An Olympic ambition

"It is necessary  use the Olympics . We will try to find a way to be visible in order to promote it. It will not be a demonstration sport, but we absolutely have to have the ambition to become Olympic. Seeing other sports, I think we can have our place. ”

“To see padel at the Olympic Games one day would be great.”

To find the exchanges in their entirety, it's just below:

 

From his names, we can guess his Spanish and Italian origins. Lorenzo is a multilingual passionate about sports: journalism by vocation and events by worship are his two legs. He is the international gentleman of Padel Magazine. You will often see him at various international competitions, but also at major French events. @eyeofpadel on Instagram to see his best padel photos!

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