In sport in general, it often happens that the private is opposed to the public. The padel is no exception to the rule. Except that in this opposition, an actor can tip the balance: The French Tennis Federation.

Its role is central, and certainly even more so, in a young sport such as padel. We will try to take the pulse on these different actors of the padel.

Clubs padel private, precursors?

The private club is the club of padel which develops its structure with financial means from which the source is private or largely. These investors believe in this sport and therefore mobilize their own funds to hope to have a return on investment in the long term.

The other point not to neglect: The charges. Of course, when you are a private club, you will have to support the land or a monthly payment, a rent that comes most often take a very important weight at the end of the year at the time of the accounts.

John Berenbaum, one of the co-founders of the club padel of Bois d'Arcu, the Padel Club, explains that “creating a club, managing a club is a human adventure, but it is also a big risk for all investors, because we start from almost 0 in France. We bet on the future while assuming all costs"

Thibault Nollet, one of the founders of Padel Attitude, also has its opinion on the question: “We are today precursors. We invest a lot in the club, to welcome the players, but we also invest a lot in the communication of this sport. Today, there is a second wave of clubs coming to enjoy our work and that's good. But there is still a lot to do."

The manager of All In Padel Sports in Aix-en-Provence, Stéphane Massot, also explains that he “do not underestimate the time taken to organize all week games for your players. Because a club of padel, these are people who will focus 100% on the life of the club."

Municipal clubs, an asset for the development of padel ?

For 1 year, we have seen more and more municipal tennis clubs attached to the FFT launching into the padel. Obviously, we are delighted to see all these clubs believe in it. And we will see that many questions and prerogatives can be imposed (not all the time, it is true) to municipal clubs.

First, some clubs are forced to wait very long to get the budgets. Sometimes even the club gets into debt, just like a private club. Catherine Lefèvre, the President of US Pecq, tells us bluntly: "I fully understand the tension there can be among private individuals. But in our club there is also a lot of investment from the whole team. And we must also animate, give lessons to bring the padel. There are also investments or loans granted to develop the sports club. And it's not easy".

What is obvious: Nothing is simple. On the other hand, "the point that can scare“, It is the municipal clubs that will offer“ broken ”prices for the year. Sometimes, "club players are automatically included in padel unlimited thanks to their annual subscription of less than 300 € ”.

Are these low prices offered by certain clubs a hindrance to the development of padel ?

Alain Henri, one of the managers at the famous club Mas in Perpignan, explains that "the objective is to create player and not to take away from other clubs. We invest a lot on site in the communication and promotion of padel. It has been years. Perpignan is a region where the padel has developed strongly. But does the demand padel has grown as much as the offer? Are the players who land in these clubs whose price is broken is good for our sport? I do not believe that. "

The French Tennis Federation is for all clubs

Hubert Picquier, the elected official in charge of padel, returned to this subject which does not date from yesterday:

There may be a form of private / municipal opposition. But the FFT does everything possible so that the clubs as a whole can live together and especially develop the padel in good intelligence. The role of the FFT among others is to coordinate and control this development of padel so that everyone is a winner.

Private clubs sometimes have the opportunity to host major events. But the development of padel in municipal clubs also makes it possible to democratize this sport throughout France.

A theme that has not finished debating.

Once again, it is important not to fall for caricature. Especially since depending on the geographical areas, the experiences are often different. On the other hand, we can first admit that private clubs have invested heavily for several years now in the padel.

We have also seen private clubs burn their wings, but we must admit that thanks to these precursors, the padel It is there for the most part, not to say exclusively that thanks to them.

Things have changed enormously in France and in Europe in recent years. The phenomenon padel is far from being limited only to our borders.

One of the strengths of the development of padel in municipal clubs, it is the democratization of this sport and the networking of padel all over France. Today, it has become difficult to avoid regions where there is no padel. And we can only say thank you to all these clubs that are launching into the padel.

Franck Binisti

Franck Binisti discovers the padel at the Club des Pyramides in 2009 in the Paris region. Since padel is part of his life. You often see him touring France going to cover the major events of padel French.

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