Alain Moreau, President of the tennis league and padel from Nouvelle-Aquitaine, takes stock with us of the development of the padel in his league, in terms of infrastructure, competition and training.

Padel Magazine : When did you discover the padel ?

Alain Moreau : I am a veteran of padel. I have known this sport for a very long time. I was even vice-president of the former organization dedicated to padel in the 90s. At that time, there were very few clubs and players. It was a sport very isolated and unknown to the general public.

Alain Moreau takes care of padel for nearly 30 years

To make a tournament of padel, you had to be ready to move. Today, we have tournaments of padel in all leagues and every week. It's amazing to see how important this sport has become in France, as in Europe for that matter.

At the time, the padel, it was just a sport that we practiced in Spain and South America. Today, that is no longer the case. The fact that the padel joined the FFT is a chance. It will bring him all the experience that this federation has. This allows this sport to be at Roland-Garros, in one of the most famous sports venues in the world. For the fans of this sport, of which I am, it is necessarily a very good thing.

The Niort League center now has two outdoor pitches

PM: Tell us about development of padel in the New Aquitaine region.

AM : The Ligue Nouvelle-Aquitaine now lists 19 specific authorized structures padel and 52 FFT clubs with at least one piste. This autumn, we are inaugurating a regional complex in the Ligue de Niort centre, with two outdoor tracks.

To date we have recorded 180 tracks: this is 15% of the national park. 70% of complexes padel of Nouvelle-Aquitaine can be found in affiliated association clubs.

The dynamic is very clear in the southern territory, due to the geographical and cultural proximity with Spain, and in the Gironde sector. The deployment is a little less dense in the northern and eastern zone of the League.

New Aquitaine also lists some high-level national and international players, with a top 5 FFT player and five players in the top 15. The League also includes five teams in the future N1 (four men's teams and one women's). Finally, on the broader dynamic of sports development, we are recording a record year in 2022, with 750 approved tournaments.

PM: What policy have you put in place to promote this development?

AM : We are gradually structuring the activity in order to best respond to the strong pressure on the ground. The departmental commissions and the regional commission, chaired by the first president of the national commission Pierre Bidegaray, work daily to develop the discipline with the strong support of the regional development team. We have recently decided to give responsibility for the coordination padel to the RRD (Regional Development Manager) of the League. The idea is to advance simultaneously in the areas of executive training, training of the young elite, deployment of infrastructure and competition. On this last point we have just organized our first Regional 1 interclub competition, qualifying for the National 2. It was a beautiful Sunday of competition in La Rochelle.

We also try to keep a permanent watch through regular studies and surveys. For three years we have been carrying out a complete end-of-season statistical study.

PM: What are the flagship competitions in New Aquitaine?

AM : After the last pair championships in July in the Arcachon basin and the Regional 1 in La Rochelle, we hope to experience many beautiful P1000s in 2023.

PM: Can you introduce us to the best players in the region?

AM : Among the ladies, the league is lucky to count in its ranks Amélie Detriviere (n°5 FFT), Margaux Randjbar (n°33 FFT), Marie Boura (n°40 FFT), Catherine Lalanne (n°45 FFT, and senior world champion +), Maï Vo (n°46 FFT), Virginie Guérinet (n°47 FFT).

meyer vanbauce
Dorian De Meyer and Thomas Vanbauce form one of the best pairs in the region

For men, we have a total of 12 members of the French top 50: Adrien Maigret (n°8 FFT – 161 FIP), Thomas Vanbauce (n°10 FFT – regional stock exchange), Dorian De Meyer (n°10 FFT – regional stock exchange), Benjamin Grue (n°12 FFT), Ludovic Cancel (n°15 FFT), Matthieu Armagnac (n°21 FFT), Jean-Thomas Peyrou (n°26 FFT, captain of the French senior team +), Baptiste Moura (n° 30 FFT), Alexandre Perilhon (n°39 FFT), Morgan Mannarino (n°45 FFT), Laurent De Barbeyrac (n°49 FFT), Alexandre Leruste (n°50 FFT), Lucas Pillon (n°123 at 14 years old , selected for the France U18 team).

PM: What are the future projects related to the padel in your league?

AM : There are more than 30 construction projects registered and supported by the league to date.

PM: Where is the training in the region?

AM : The launch of the TFP (Professional title) is scheduled for January 2023. We are currently in the middle of the application period. In addition, six DFMP sessions (Federal Diploma of padel) were organized in 2022 in the Pau, Limoges, Tarnos, Rochefort and Bordeaux sectors and a seventh is scheduled for the end of October in Bordeaux. These sessions are aimed at tennis instructors wishing to obtain a diploma to teach tennis. padel.

Read HERE our other articles on the French leagues

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