Present at the opening ceremony of the FIP Gold Perpignan, Sébastien Ménard Deputy Mayor for Sport of Perpignan spoke at the microphone of Padel Magazine.

A place chosen because of its adaptability for the night sessions of the FIP Gold

 Padel Magazine : I imagine that you must be delighted to welcome such a great competition in Perpignan? 

 Sebastien Menard  : “Yes of course! We organize few big events and for some time we have been trying to remedy this.

And it's true that padel, which is on the rise, benefits from a beautiful location in front of the "Dames de France", in front of the station... it's really a very beautiful setting to host the event."

 Padel magazine : Can you explain us the choice of this place? Why did you organize this FIP on the Place de la Catalunya? 

 Sebastien Menard  : "A few years ago, a padel tournament was organized in front of the Castillet, but it's true that there was a lack of space. So we looked for another space, and when we knew that there would be night matches, we said to ourselves that we had to find a suitable place. In front of the "Dames de France" it allows us to have a great image, to have a rather nice setting for this tournament and to promote the city much more interesting for us."

Two additional padel courts south of the city

 Padel Magazine : The city of Perpignan wants to invest more and more in this sport, what is the city's policy to promote it? 

 Sebastien Menard  : “We already had a few padel courts in the city’s tennis clubs, and we recently approved the construction of two new padel courts in the south of the city where there was a shortage, more precisely in the sports park.

We will take advantage of this event to promote padel, try to attract the curious and the young. Then we will try to redirect them to the city's clubs, so that they can learn padel and stay there.

A tournament that could be long-term…before the creation of other small local tournaments?

 Padel Magazine : The objective is also for it to be a competition that lasts over time, isn't it? 

 Sebastien Menard  : " Sure ! We will take stock at the end of this first stage, and if it goes well and we see that there is interest, the idea is obviously to keep it every year, to maintain it and rearrange it. Then afterwards we'll see if we don't have other events around, smaller or more local to accompany this big tournament. »

 Padel Magazine : Already a successful tournament, because it has just started and there are already people who want to come, who want to play, and that's rather a good point! 

 Sebastien Menard  : “There is the effect of curiosity, because it is true that demonstrations like this in Perpignan, there are not many. The fact that we are in the city center on a busy place, in addition it is the music festival next door, so it will attract people. This is really the right time to attract the curious. »

To watch the interview in its entirety, go here:

Nasser Hoverini

Passionate about football, I discovered padel in 2019. Since then, I have been crazy in love with this sport to the point of abandoning my favorite sport.

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