Back to the interview with Lionel Ollinger, President of the Grand-Est tennis league on Friday 8 May in the “Face-to-Face” Live on Instagram.

  • On containment

It's a new time for everyone, I'm in telecommuting of course, my family is fine. Unfortunately in the league many collaborators are partially unemployed, with some of them a little bit of telework. Lots of people affected in the Haut-Rhin, but it's ok overall.

We worked in collaboration with the FFT. A major recovery plan has been put in place by the Federation. We went to see more precisely what we needed in particular in the Grand-Est, a very affected region. A videoconference tomorrow with all the Chairs of the Departmental Committees tomorrow (Saturday May 9) to decide on the orientations of the aid. Audiences such as teachers, players (up to the 500th place ATP and WTA), but also clubs, will obviously benefit from the recovery plan, whether it is support or 0-rate credit. The aid will be implemented fairly quickly.

  • Regarding his journey

My father was president of a handball club, my mother of a tennis club. And I got into tennis a bit as a second sport. I taught tennis a little, I played a lot of handball, pivot. And today at padel. I have been immersed in sports since I was little. I went to business school, I didn't work in sports, by choice, for 20-25 years. I was a volunteer, president of a tennis club for 4-5 years, then a principal in the Lorraine tennis league, a mandate as president, and now the Grand-Est.

  • Regarding the de-containment of tennis and padel

I trust the scientific committee that was set up at the FFT, which dealt with both tennis and padel. There are doctors, infectious diseases, psychologists, sociologists. And it was decided that only singles tennis could resume on May 11. At padel you are much closer to your partner, but also to your opponents, a lot of volley and volley. In tennis, we did not recommend going to train in the volley. It may seem excessive but it is obviously temporary. We also have the plexiglass surface on the padel which can be a transmission vector.

In France, our policy has been the choice to save lives. In the countries of the North, the cursor was placed more on the economic aspect.

I think the padel will quickly be opened. We will see more clearly in France from June 2.

  • Concerning tennis clubs which cannot open due to constraints linked to standards

It's true, the communication that was made is quite complex. It is up to each club to adapt these measures so that they are respected without necessarily going to find the Covid referent at 100%. I believe that the discussion should especially be made with the mayors because they are the ones who give their opinions and who will be able to act of a reopening. Most of them were in favor of reopening the outdoor courts only under the conditions mentioned.

The easiest thing would be to remove everything that transmits the virus. We need to resume sport, to go play padel.

  • Concerning FFT PADEL TOUR

Le FFT Padel Tour is organized by an external agency that specializes in this type of event. It is not the FFT which, internally, organizes these events, but it subcontracts and coordinates them.

The cancellation of the stages is a huge disappointment for us. We wanted to organize this beautiful second stage, in the heart of Metz, Place de la République. We will be candidates again next year without a doubt.

If we can make a different version before the end of the year, to come back to the initial version next year, we are interested in the East, to co-organize this with the FFT and the appropriate agency.

It is always important not to rush when making a decision. I don't understand why an entire season is canceled. When you are capable of wanting to defend Roland Garros, you must not take such radical decisions in other disciplines either. I don't know why it was taken, but anyway when we are allowed to take it back padel as well as the competitions, it would be unfortunate if there were no more tournaments.

  • Le padel armchair

We are lucky in the East to have great champions in wheelchair tennis, we have a real culture. We must therefore set up the padel armchair. The FFT is working on a padel, it is absolutely necessary that there is a part on the padel armchair is essential. On the next Olympiad, we will look through the tennis commission and padel armchair, on a discovery first, then on a competition of padel armchair.

  • Le padel at the Olympics?

It is very complicated to bring a discipline into the Olympic Games because to bring in one, generally, you have to bring out one. Paris 2024 seems very complicated. It would be such a sport to discover. I know that the President of the FFT is listened to by the NOC, and we will continue to fight for our discipline to be admitted to the Olympic Games.

  • Le padel female

It is complicated to retain women in individual disciplines, in a world where they have a professional and personal life to assume. They will instead consume tennis or padel on demand rather than joining a club for regular activity.

I believe the padel is one step ahead of diversity, compared to tennis. I believe a lot in this diversity, in the opening of competitions including the players.

I also believe that the discovery of the padel in schools. We would need even more equipment. This is easy to apprehend compared to tennis. This is an obvious lead for me. We need to pick up the children as soon as possible to bring them to padel and I think that the authorized structures with which we work will be completely open to this type of approach.

  • Private structures

It is a subject that I know well and that I defend tooth and nail. We need a coordinated approach between these so-called authorized structures and the structures approved in the padel associative. If we didn't have to padel private, we would have great difficulty in developing the activity. I think we have to work together, a geography approach. It is important not to help clubs wishing for a short padel while there is a private structure next door. Let's work together. At the Grand Est league level, we will help private structures by taking over part of the license. We will give 8 to 10 € per license to clubs of padel empowered.

We need a territorial plan. The leaders of public clubs believe that they are in competition with the private structures: they are wrong. We need equipment, leaders, and trained teachers: a triptych to be able to continue to develop the padel.

  • Concerning sports associations of private clubs

From the moment we consider that there is too much difference between an approved and an authorized, we will find all the good reasons not to help him. We can't help everyone. But the padel private sector is part of the large family and is eligible for aid, whether intellectual or financial.

You must not see the padel private as a competitor but as a complementary one. In tennis, tournaments, which are private companies, benefit from support from the FFT. It is nonsense that the National Tennis Cup and the National Padel Cup are not supported by the Federation.

  • On the FFT elections

Even if I am generally quite in agreement with what is being done, I completely oppose the form of this Federation, I find that we are not turned enough towards the clubs, and that we are completely self- center. My choice is of course to turn to Gilles Moretton. I have no personal ambition to be too busy professionally, personally, with the Grand-Est league. I said that I was redoing a mandate, I will focus on the Grand-Est league, but I give my full support to Gilles Moretton and his great team.

 

 

Find the + / Internet users' questions / INSIDE in the podcast here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lq8-ZCi08c&t=2417s

Xan is a fan of padel. But also rugby! And his posts are just as punchy. Physical trainer of several padel, he unearths atypical posts or deals with topical subjects. It also gives you some tips to develop your physique for the padel. Clearly, he imposes his offensive style as on the field of padel !

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