Kévin Tournemire: “We are benefiting from the growth of this incredible sport!”

Last weekend, the best teams in France faced each other in Toulouse Padel Club on the occasion of National Interclubs 1 2023. This major event obviously made Kévin Tournemire, owner of the host club, proud. For Padel Magazine, he returned to the history of its structure, its future plans, but also to his unconditional love of the pala.

Fell in love with this sport

I discovered padel thanks to my Spanish family and my cousins, in the Canary Islands. I always saw them playing without ever being interested, but there was a second stage. I am originally from Perpignan and I played in particular Padel du Mas, which installed courts from 2012-2013. I left tennis for padel overnight, I fell madly in love with this sport. I changed rackets!

The TPC, precursors

We launched in October 2015 with 7 courts, which already made us one of the largest structures in France. It was confidential, the wave had not yet arrived, we were really the pioneers. We had the Spanish community who came to play, a few tennis players who were starting to switch. The big boom finally arrived in 2019. Between 2015 and 2018, it was a battle: we had to clear the way, communicate and make padel known. Today, people see the courts filling up on their own, but it was much more complicated before! I spent my life on the court introducing beginners to it, and that's what makes success all the more beautiful. It's magnificent.

A father-son association

We are two partners: my father as president, and me as general manager. He has the vision a little more “at the top”, with the figures, while I take care of the daily management of the club. It's often said that business partnerships are harder than a marriage, but it's going very well. He is rather based in Perpignan and comes down from time to time during events, as is the case this weekend. I am very happy to do this adventure with my father!

“We welcomed people into algécos”

When I started, the clubhouse wasn't even finished. We welcomed people in tents, we lent balls and rackets, it was a real discovery. Currently, we have people from morning to night (10am - 23pm). The path we've taken is beautiful, but it wasn't written! We are delighted to have participated, like all the other clubs, in the development of padel, and we are also benefiting from the growth of this incredible sport.

The maximum surface area reached at TPC…

Today, the problem of opening another club requires recreating an entire infrastructure, a clubhouse, changing rooms... If we could have continued to grow on site, we would have done so, but unfortunately, we have reached the maximum of the surface. We are thinking about the different options around us, but not anywhere other than Toulouse.

Upcoming projects for Toulouse Padel Club?

It's crazy, it's the first year I've been there: nothing! We've done so many things. We started with the padel courts before adding squash, a health center (with chiropractors) and a gym (with electrostimulation and pressotherapy). We also opened our restaurant this year, because there was no catering until now. I think I'm running out of ideas! We're reaching maturity, now we have to manage this machine. We're positioning ourselves more in management than in creation, so that our players are always just as satisfied to come here.

Auxence Cams

It was through his father that Auxence discovered padel, one evening in June 2016. Today, he passionately follows the international circuit and teases the pala in his training club, Toulouse Padel Club. You can also find it on La Feuille de Match and LesViolets.com, two specialist media on Toulouse Football Club.