On the Tours side, le padel still struggling to find a place. If we compare with departments like Hérault, Haute-Garonne or Alpes-Maritimes, we can clearly see that Indre-et-Loire is lagging behind in terms of ski slopes. padel. It's simple, last year, on the outskirts of Tours, there was only two courts for the whole city...

After making this postulate, Damien Mamolo decided to launch his project. It is in July 2023 that the bubble Padel see the day. 2 months later, Corentin Gruzska joins the adventure and becomes the coach at the resort.

A few months after opening, the Bulle Padel already creates the exploit in qualifying for National 2. Corentin Gruzska and Damien Mamolo looked back on the beginnings, the performance in the regional and on ambitions of the club at the microphone of Padel Magazine.

Damien and Corentin, from tennis to padel

Damien Mamolo: “I am the manager of the Bulle Padel Club. For years, I was a tennis teacher. The last five years, I practiced this profession on Montpellier so I saw a lot of clubs padel to create…

I grew up in Tours and when I wanted to come back and play padel, I was surprised to see that there was no padel. Therefore it gave me the idea and the desire to create a club padel in Tours."

Corentin Gruzska: "For my part, I played tennis for 15 years, without necessarily doing a lot of competition. I, on the other hand, did a lot of training and matches with friends, until the day I discovered the padel on the Tours Nord structure.

I started playing four years ago and I developed a passion for this sport. So, I wanted to complete the training to be a coach. I got the diploma, I worked in Oléron then I came to Damien’s structure since September 2023.”

A lack of padel in Tours

Damien Mamolo: “In Tours, there was no only one club who played squash and padel and suddenly, supply was extremely limited. Last year, there were still only two playing fields in all of Tours.

So, I put three indoors. The other center also added three indoor tracks, so it's starting to develop a little but there was really a lack.

We struggled a bit to carry out the project but today, we can say that we are very happy with the start. Now we have to continue and manage to do other things. For the moment, we have a mainly leisure clientele, we would like to develop the competition a little more and above all, manage to have more young people.

A play on words… not on purpose

Damien Mamolo: "The name of the club has nothing to do with the brand. The place where we are belongs to the same owner. There is a decoration store called “La Bulle Verte” and a bistro called “Le Bistrot de la Bulle”.

So, as people know this place as the La Bulle district, we didn’t look far: “Le Bulle Padel Club ".

Today, we have three indoor courts and we are in the process of discussing with the owner have some outdoor tracks by next year it would be great. Ideally, have two, or even three.”

Bubble-Padel-Club
Logo-the-Bubble-Padel-Club
The Bull Padel Track Club

Survive in a region where padel did not take

Damien Mamolo: “As I was in Montpellier, I was able to see the clubs of Sète, Béziers or Narbonne set up, with an extraordinary enthusiasm, with people wanting to play all the time. With the passion that is growing more and more around this sport, I told myself that it was unmissable.

We still have empty slots during the day... However, from 17 p.m. until 22 p.m. we are full. We also try to do events or tournaments on weekends and it fills up very well.

Afterwards, in Tours, it's still a very new sport, so we're missing young people, schools, recreational centers... We're working on that but we still have a lot of things to do. In the region, we are 5-6 years behind compared to Occitanie."

The level of players on site

Corentin Gruzska: “I think that, compared to the south of France, we are behind the level also. Afterwards, we start to have a good pool of players with a good level in the region since there are other structures outside of Tours where it works well. So these players come to play with us from time to time.

In general, for my part, I give lessons to people who are at a leisure level, people who are just starting out and who play regularly, once or twice a week. These people have a P100 level basically.

Currently, this is the largest number of clients I have. Afterwards, I have a small group of very good players that I coach from time to time, but it's true that there aren't any really well-ranked players in our region yet."

A victory in Regional 1

Corentin Gruzska: “We recruited a work-study student, Pierre-Yves Siette, who has been playing with his brother for several years in Orléans. They are very good players. We had other very good players, including another coach, Damien, and me as well.

Finally, we managed to put together a very good team and we managed to win these regionals. Now, time for the Nationals but for a first year, we can say that we are very proud to be able to represent the club and go to these National 2 Championships.

I now think that the step for Nationale 1 will be quite high. The ambition is to win the first round and to maintain. Not finishing in the bottom two would be good!"

Damien Mamolo: “We are quite lucid but you never know. We have a very united and motivated team. For our part, it allows us to have a pretty nice experience. And for a first year of existence, it's great."

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.

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