Guillaume Debelmas is one of the pioneers of padel In France. Co-president of the Le Five group, Guillaume has evolved at the same pace as the practice of padel in France.

Under the P2000 4Padel Strasbourg, he is got on the microphone by Franck Binisti.

the 4Padel : a risky and innovative bet

the 4Padel didn't exist ten years ago. The tracks of padel were associated at Five, 5-a-side football fields. “We believed in padel, this sport which is incredible.”, confides Guillaume Debelmas. “We understood quite quickly that it was a different world from football and that it deserved a different experience..”, he adds.

After a long moment of reflection, the managers of Five, including Guillaume Debelmas, understood that a different approach was needed between the “padelists” and footballers. It is following this observation that the franchise 4Padel appeared in France in 2018.

A decade later, he perhaps did not imagine that this sport would explode so much and that the infrastructures 4Padel would develop as quickly: “Today, it feels a little something to be in a 4Padel, with 14 fields, in Strasbourg, for a nice P2000 ! "

4Padel-leaders-Lebron

4Padel Strasbourg: from two to fourteen tracks

the 4Padel Strasbourg was at the base an almost 100% football center, with two tracks for the padel. Today, there is no more football and no less than fourteen tennis courts padel (12 indoor, 2 outdoor)! “The message is not to develop the 4Padel to the detriment of the Five“, still justifies Guillaume Debelmas, “we simply developed the 4Padel depending on demand".

In Strasbourg, you should know that the number of 5-a-side football pitches was already very large, but if the 4Padel could not start with fourteen courts, he has evolved his center over the years: “The structure is magnificent, it is ten meters high. We simply realized that the structure was made for padel. It was a structure of padel and no football".

the 4Padel Strasbourg is not the only center to have 100% transformed into padel : this was also the case in 4Padel Toulouse-Colomiers. So, when Guillaume Debelmas is asked if other Five centers risk experiencing the same fate, the answer is categorical: “No !".

The future “little brothers”

The appointment has already been made for in a month, with the opening of the new Rouen center, with no less than 11 tracks on the program. A new center which is added to the already existing Five in Rouen, with two tracks in particular.

We tried to get Guillaume to talk about future projects for the implementation of 4Padel. These famous “little brothers“, but when we talk to him about being excluded, the only thing we get is: “we will continue to surprise you“. A promise that did not fall on deaf ears!

Today, the 4thPadel is made up of 20 clubs padel and more than 120 slopes spread across French territory. By the end of 2025, 4Padel aims to “double the number of tracks, to 250” throughout France!

Gwenaelle Souyri

It was his brother who one day told him to accompany him on a track. padel, since then, Gwenaëlle has never left the court. Except when it comes to going to watch the broadcast of Padel Magazine, World Padel Tour… or Premier Padel…or the French Championships. In short, she is a fan of this sport.

On the same subject

Tags