High-level player, coach, selector, consultant… Every time we meet the Frenchwoman Line Meites, she has put on new hats and as many experiences to her credit. We interviewed this never-satisfied enthusiast, who thrives today in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates.

Padel Magazine : How come we find you today in Abu Dabhi?

Line Meites : “In December 2021, I received a phone call offering me a great project. I thought very little: a month and a half later, I had quit my job, left my apartment, sold my car and packed my bags. I found myself in Abu Dhabi to work for a company called " We are padel which works with LeDap [Padel in slang]. It is a company of Scandinavian investors which builds fields and clubs of padel all over the world and more particularly in the Emirates. »

PM: Do you already know what you will do after this mission?

ML: “I did almost everything today in the padel and the opportunity I had here allows me to fully express my skills and experience. I was given this chance here, so I take advantage of it. The rest, I don't know. I give myself fully to this experience, we have already opened four clubs in Abu Dhabi in just eight months. I did different missions being HRD, coach, receptionist, setting up projects and clubs.

Line Meites Dubai 2022

“Creating my own club? It is a goal, in the long term”

Today, I am the manager of a new center with tennis courts padel indoor and outdoor. I will also return to the field a bit. That's a lot of different things that allow me to develop all the experience I've acquired over the years. »

PM: What are the differences here, compared to France?

ML: “It's an incredible country. Everything we learned, all the executives we know in France and in Europe, well, we're putting everything back to zero. In terms of sport, they do not have the culture of sport for the moment, but they are coming to it and realizing all that sport can bring to everyone's life in terms of values. , a taste for effort and endurance… I try for my part to bring this state of mind and these values, to show all that sport can bring and to bring people to sport .

Line Meites Dubai 2022

“Setting up a women's team in the Emirates, a great challenge”

The inhabitants here live in a service society but are not used to moving, sweating, giving of themselves, making an effort. This culture of sport, we are in the process of bringing it, this community padel with courts, tournaments, academies and above all the pleasure of playing while meeting friends. »

PM: And creating your own club, is that a desire?

ML: “Why not, I still have that in the back of my mind. Create my own club padel, it's a long-term goal for me, but it's not the only one. I think I know all the positions that are required to run a club padel and develop it. And that interests me, because I like to touch everything and diversify myself. »

PM: Some nations are looking for female players for their teams, sometimes naturalizing them...

ML: “I think it would be a great experience for me, but without necessarily abandoning France, because it remains my country, my homeland. I have a very strong attachment to what I experienced when I was a player for the France team, then coach and selector of veterans [at the world championships]. These are emotions that I liked to experience. But bring my experience, perhaps to coach a team – and why not the Emirates? Setting up a women's team in this country would be a great challenge. the padel comes from very far here, we saw it during the Worlds. But I'm interested. »

Watch the full interview below:

After 40 years of tennis, Jérôme falls into the pot of padel in 2018. Since then, he thinks about it every morning while shaving… but never shaves pala in hand! Journalist in Alsace, he has no other ambition than to share his passion with you, whether you speak French, Italian, Spanish or English.

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