Jean-Thomas Peyrou, director of Beautiful FIP Star Plan, shares with us the organization of this tournament which will take place in November in to Mauritius. He returns in particular to his collaboration with Fabrice Peroux and their ambition to promote this sport on the island..
The meeting with Fabrice Peroux
“The creation of this tournament was a meeting with Fabrice Peroux, who has a bit of the same name as me! In his mission withinIsla Padel, he really wanted to create an international tournament to develop padel on Mauritius. Very quickly, through my experience at the FIP Rise in Bordeaux and now in the organization of the Premier Padel P2 in Bordeaux, he asked me to organize this tournament.
The first thing was to bring together all our partners, and here Mauritius benefits from people who shine in the entrepreneurial world and who really want to offer a very high quality tournament, and to grow year after year. Relations with the International Padel Federation are very good and they strongly believe in the organization of this tournament. There will be lots of nice surprises, I'm not going to tell you everything but we want to offer something high level in terms of reception and in terms of hospitality for the players, with very high quality services, worthy of the biggest international tournaments.
An exciting challenge
“I had the chance to go to Mauritius in November with Mélissa Martin and you can really feel the fervour there. Beyond that, I really fell in love with this island, the people are lovely, I was able to see incredible hotel service and a real development of padel. I think the hardest thing at the moment is to get people on the slopes. They are at the very beginning, for the moment a few courts are springing up here and there, but I strongly believe in padel in Mauritius. I strongly believe in the fact that through the organisation of this type of event, we will be able to introduce the practice to as many people as possible.
Finally, what could be better than an international tournament, whether in France or in other countries, to make people want to try this sport? We are going to offer lots of activities and courses throughout the week. Beyond the international tournament, the objective is really to participate in the development of this wonderful sport within Mauritius.”
The Beautiful FIP Star Plan 2024
It has been official for a few days, the International Padel Federation has validated the Beautiful FIP Star Plan 2024. It will be a men's and women's tournament category IFJ Star, with 12 500€ of prize money per category.
It will take place of the 11 17 2024 November at the superb club Isla Padel, a magnificent center with 5 lands where we can go out on all the slopes, with a center below that we will really prepare for a tournament of this type.
The conditions are just perfect, we will try to be able to play the matches at the end of the day. We will have time flexibility over a week which will allow us to really offer an experience during this tournament. The site is magnificent with a sort of monument in the center, a sort of chimney which sheltered the sugar canes. It makes a kind of temple in the middle of the grounds. The club is extraordinary with very high quality facilities, there is a restaurant, changing rooms, a real pro-shop and a brand village. As you can see, the site is perfect for this type of event.
It's really a will with Fabrice Peroux that I helped with Mélissa Martin to create her club, to develop an academy. His will was to create an international event that will last and to grow the club. He is really someone who shines on the island and he strongly believes in padel. Who better than him to develop the practice in the Indian Ocean?
This will be the first time in the history of padel that an international tournament will take place in the Indian Ocean and I am very happy to be part of this adventure. We are lucky to have signed major partnerships and I would like to thank in particular the company Novaterra who is a real estate developer.
What you need to understand is that the clubIsla Padel is in a smart city, a city which is in the process of being built and Novaterra will bear the name of the tournament by the city Beau Plan, it will then be the “Beautiful FIP Star Plan”. This is what really allows us to have great organizational latitude and with the Mauritian government: we clearly feel the desire to develop the practice. The expected players will undoubtedly be members of the French top 10, the French team but also Spanish players.
Padel is gaining ground in Mauritius
There are plenty of padel fans in Mauritius. Reunion Island is just a few minutes by plane from Isla Padel. We have already seen in the Reunion tournaments the enthusiasm that there can be for this sport. And then beyond that, I believe that it is really a great event for us, to introduce this sport to as many people as possible, to make everyone love padel, but also all enthusiasts.
Mauritius is still at the very beginning. They are creating their own tournament circuit, with real enthusiasm and I want to bring that slightly professional touch. What could be better than having the world's top 100 and the best French players who will put on a show for a whole week with a tournament like this?
And then I'm not going to be alone either, the team of Padel Magazine will be traveling with me, the king of FIP David Mateo will also be there to help me with the organization. There is a whole army of volunteers, passionate people within the club who will help us prepare for this tournament masterfully and I am delighted.
His advice on organizing tournaments
We see lots of international tournaments, FIPs which take place in France but also throughout the world. Lots of tournaments last year had to be canceled due to lack of resources or lack of budget. I believe that it is very important, at least based on my little experience of the FIP Rise in Bordeaux, to embark on the adventure and create a real business plan.
I believe that for clubs, for structures, this type of tournament must be profitable, and the first link in the chain is really to bring together all the partners. Fabrice did an extraordinary job, bringing everyone together around the table. All I had to do was press the button to make them want to come with us. And the Beautiful FIP Star Plan will take place in November with a real desire in year 2, year 3, year 4 to move up in category: FIP Gold, FIP Platinum... We are really very supported by the International Federation and everything will also depend on the calendar and many other parameters, but in any case, we want to offer a very nice FIP Star in November on Mauritius.
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