Very few people know this, but Alsace is a pioneering region for padel in France. A surprising observation when you know that in 2022, there are only about fifteen places where you can play it: six private clubs and about ten association clubs - the latter with only one or two courts.

However, it was in Alsace that two of the oldest padel courts in the northern half of France were built. This happened in the early 1990s in Sausheim, a small, affluent town on the outskirts of Mulhouse.

“A great addition to tennis”

A sports lover and president of the local tennis club from 1987 to 1990, Daniel Bux was then first deputy mayor of this town, before being mayor for 20 years. “I discovered padel at a sports fair in Blagnac, near Toulouse, he recalls. It was already very popular at the time in Argentina and Spain. I thought it could be a great addition to tennis. Sausheim was at the time the 2e biggest tennis club in the department with more than 400 members. But some stopped tennis because they found it too hard physically or technically..

This is where the project was born to create two padel courts behind the tennis hall, on communal land. “In padel, technique was less of a problem, believes Daniel Bux. It was easy. After two hours of initiation, beginners were able to make a small match or exchanges without problem. At the time, it was wooden rackets, a bit like beach rackets. I still have mine at home”.

Daniel Bux former mayor of Sausheim and president of the tennis club

The municipality uses a local company, the company Richert, which had never built such land. The dimensions of the two courts are already 20 x 10 meters, but there are no windows or rigid mesh. “The floor was concrete, the walls brick and the mesh made of flexible rolls”, says the chosen one. The municipality finances two-thirds of the investment and the club pays 30%: “From memory, it represented 95 francs for the club”, says Daniel Bux.

Construction work in 1993 behind the tennis hall

An inauguration with great fanfare

The inauguration, with great fanfare, takes place at the end of June 1993. It brings together local and departmental elected officials, but also Claude Baigts, president of the French Federation of what is still called "paddle". Two of the best French players, Frank Frances and Patrick Tauma, are there to give demonstrations. "It's the sport of friendship, of conviviality", then declares Daniel Bux in the local daily, L'Alsace.

The best French players were there for the launch of padel in Alsace between June and July 1993

But after this fanfare debut, the mayonnaise falls. The competitors are too keen on tennis to seriously indulge in what some call a "beach sport". The instructors and educators have too much to do with tennis to take care of padel.

“Quite quickly, we therefore lacked people to supervise the practice of padel, regrets Mr. Bux. I must admit, with regret, that this discipline has not caught on with tennis players. For that, we would have needed officials, people who take care of it, available and motivated volunteers. We could then have changed things, joined the federation, organized competitions, had a professional teacher…”

"A fun and addictive game"

And add: "But if we communicate about padel by explaining and showing what it is, I remain convinced that the development potential is enormous. Moreover, this is true today, thirty years later! It is such a fun and addictive game..."

Three decades later, is it too late to relaunch the padel adventure in Sausheim?

“The materials used were not the same as today, admits Mr. Bux. After a few years, we realized that it was starting to get a little rickety. And as no one or almost no longer played and it was fenced, we used it as a kennel for the two dogs that we released at night in the sports complex. And also as a storage platform for communal equipment. Thus, this location was not entirely lost”.

All that now remains of land built in 1993

“When I learned that, I was green”

In 2022, the dogs are no longer there, but a visit to the place barely allows you to realize that padel was played there. The walls have disappeared or are in ruins, the fence is no longer there, the ground is covered with compost, wood and garbage bins…

“When I learned that we had land and that it fell into disrepair, I was green”, recognizes Philippe Fostier, one of the club's tennis instructors, who became a padel fan almost four years ago but was forced to practice elsewhere.

“It was probably too soon”, loose for his part Sébastien Husser, French number 1 in wheelchair padel and child of Sausheim. "I discovered padel during a tennis training course in Lyon in 2014, but I had already played it a little in the 90s, in my club in Sausheim. It must have been one of the very first in France."

This story therefore confirms this sentence of Marguerie Yourcenar: "It's wrong to be right too soon".

After 40 years of tennis, Jérôme fell into the padel pot in 2018. Since then, he thinks about it every morning while shaving… but never shaves with a pala in hand! A journalist in Alsace, his only ambition is to share his passion with you, whether you speak French, Italian, Spanish or English.

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