Diego Miller is the president of the Uruguayan Federation of padel. Elected to the General Assembly of the International Federation, Diego is a key player in the padel. Padel Magazine go to meet him.

“Exponential growth in Uruguay”

Franck Binisti: Can you tell us about your story in the padel ? How did you become a member of the family of padel ?

Diego Miller: "When I was 9 years old, my parents left my native country (Uruguay) to settle in Buenos Aires for work. When I was 12, they built a club with a few courts in front of my house, and that's where I first played. I still remember that first match, of course with wooden palas!

Soon after I started competing, at the age of 16, I returned to my country and continued to practice padel. At one time, I competed and gave lessons. I reached first place in the Uruguayan standings, and qualified to defend Uruguay in international competitions, including the World Cup. I was then offered the technical part, and I coached the men's national team during 3 world championships. You could sum it up by saying that the fun, the challenge of competing and the passion for it all made it a profession. ”

diego miler padel uruguay

Franck Binisti: Uruguay, like South America, is affected by COVID, does this influence the state of padel ? For example, in many countries the padel exploded during the pandemic. Did people start playing it more during the pandemic?

Diego Miller: "Yes, a curious thing has happened almost everywhere in the world, and in South America, I noticed it in a very particular way, is that despite the restrictions generated by the pandemic in almost every country, the padel has grown exponentially, including in Uruguay. Although we are a country with a long history in the padel, new clubs have opened with modern facilities, which has been very positive. Either way, I think it would have happened anyway, for me the pandemic just showed that it couldn't stop the development that was going on. "

“I want the padel reaches all countries ”

Franck Binisti: Now you wear several caps in the padel. What are your missions in Uruguay as in America? 

Diego Miller:"Well, actually, I don't think I wear multiple hats in the padel, or maybe I don't think so because since I started getting involved in management in Uruguay, even as a player, around 2006, I always tried to contribute when they asked for my collaboration. Already in 2009, the General Assembly of the FIP (that is to say the countries) elected me president of the disciplinary commission, then in 2012, at the request of certain presidents of federations, I was proposed as a member of the board of directors, and I was until 2018 in the DB. ”

“Then I didn't want to run for the FIP board, because I understood that I had completed a cycle on the board. It is true that this year I accepted the post of General Counselor, and when they called me I did everything in my power to help them.

In America, I hold the post of president of the APF, which is the American Federation which brings together all the active members in sport and recognized by the FIP on the continent. But it's more of a formality, for many years we have been working as a team with the countries of America, with a series of sporting events, and it must be said that we have a very open system of government that works very well. If it weren't for this common work, I couldn't do all this work because I couldn't do it. ”

“As far as my country is concerned, I chair the Federation, with our structure of coaches, delegates, advisers, and above all with an excellent understanding of the sports spectrum that makes up our universe of players of all categories and all ages, I think we are doing very well in many ways. Although we are a small country, with 3 million people, our dreams and illusions about padel are still high, some have been achieved, and we are always trying to improve.

Now what comes closest to it, internationally, is the “Panamericano absoluto” that we have this month, then we have a series of championships that end in December, like the World Junior, the World Veterans, World Absolute, Pan-American of free categories, and Pan-American of Ladies and Seniors. And we already played a South American Amateur Championship in Paraguay in March, with 420 players from 7 countries.

My wishes, goals and desires, I think they are those of anyone who enjoys this sport, and it is that the padel reach every country, see it on TV around the world, and occupy the place I think it will reach, becoming one of the most important sports in the world. This will allow the main protagonists, who are the players, to have chances to be professional all over the world. ”

Develop the padel in the world

Franck Binisti: Can we come back to figures on the development of padel in Uruguay in the past 10 years? More players, more clubs?

Diego Miller:“It's very difficult to have an exact number, because there is no state census, but we can quantify the players who make the tournaments, which is very different from the number of people who practice. I can say that we have a men's Uruguayan circuit that goes from the 1st to the 6th series, the female goes from the 1st to the 5th, there are also the seniors, the minors, etc.

In our federated activity, some 600 athletes participate in a sustained manner annually. But does the data collected by our federation indicate that we have around 15.000 daily players in the country? A figure that is increasing day by day, because it is true that in the last 5 years there has been a 40% increase in courts, and this comes directly from demand. ”

Franck Binisti: The padel is exploding all over the world: is Uruguay benefiting from this trend?

Diego Miller: “As I said, Uruguay has a long history in the padel, during the first world championships, we were third in the fight with Argentina and Spain. Uruguay lived the fashion of the 90s and then also the decline, and I think that helped us to learn. It seems to me that it is very important for countries with less history to observe and focus on the rooting of a sport, because if it is only the commercial aspect. I am convinced that this era is an opportunity for the development of sport on a global level, and I prefer to see it that way, rather than as a fad. ”

diego miler padel uruguay

“France made us suffer!”

Franck Binisti: Have you set a goal for Uruguay for the next 5 to 10 years?

Diego Miller: “Yes, we still work with projects and goals, we set goals, and we are on this constant path. Sometimes we understand that some processes are coming to an end, so we start new ones. It is true that the pandemic has slowed down many of our projects, it has put our free primary schools on hold, as well as specific projects for the padel female, our technical training for teachers, which took place at an excellent pace ...

But we are paying attention and doing our best in this context. We have many social development plans, which for us is fundamental in sport. High performance is a very big challenge, which at the moment we are meeting with knowledge, and we remain in the top 10, however, we are also working on it a lot because players in many countries are improving a lot.

Finally, I will come back to an anecdote. During the last worlds in Paraguay, France made us suffer a lot by beating us 2-1 in the jump-off for the passage to the semi-final, I remember the match where we equalized. It was a crazy game with a lot of fans, so exciting. A match that lasted almost 3 hours, I suffered a lot, but I love this sport! ”

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 it on the various international competitions, but also on the major French events. @eyeofpadel on Instagram to see his best photos of padel !

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