Tennis and padel, public and private: Equal?

The FFT announced 52 million euros in aid for the work of racket clubs in 2018. Now tennis and padel are officially treated equally within the French Tennis Federation. However, to obtain aid, the question becomes more complicated when we talk about private structures.

But basically what are the differences between private and municipal clubs? When public and private meet ...

Their strengths

Their weaknesses

P1000 men specifications: minimum 3 courts, with a minimum ceiling height of 7m. For women, there are at least 2 courts with the same height.

All for one… or everyone for himself?

I think that to answer this question, you have to ask it in a different way. What values ​​does this sport convey, straight from Spanish-speaking countries? What can make the padel can meet the expectations of many athletes?

What I see, what I feel, what I live, what I liked in the padel when I started (in 2013), it was because the spirit was, of course, tough on the ground, but very warm and friendly outside. It reminded me of team tennis matches… back then! (yes I am old).

Of course, all was not rosy, we remain human beings above all! But it was overall cool. I found in the clubs that I attended pleasant evenings to share games and good times; I took part in tournaments where, outside of matches, we shared a drink with those who passed, without distinction of levels.

This is what seems to me to be the recipe for the success and development of padel, and a club: welcome people in a suitable place: cloakroom, bar and sometimes catering possible; create animations; offer leisure tournaments: various formulas have been proven ... all you need to do is find out from the clubs that work well; organize approved tournaments; find or replace a player when there is an absent in a game; offer quality courses; broadcast matches of major sports competitions for customers; diversify its offer with the possibility of taking courses for external speakers, or even practicing other sports within the club; initiate business or team-building seminars, etc.

In short, create, offer, work to make everyone feel at home when they come to the club… at any time of the day or night! So of course it's work, enormous work and today times are hard for these structures, which are crumbling under the loads and desires of the people. But the key to success is there… in my opinion.

The FFT understood this and decided to work to really develop the padel, trying to adapt to the spirit of this new sport. The padel can only develop, and perhaps even one day become an Olympic sport, if it is supported humanely and financially (among other things…) by a Federation with everyone. Everyone needs an increase in the number of practitioners, and resources invested for the growth of the padel.

This sport can only grow with the presence of suitable structures, which meet the ever-increasing needs and expectations of the public. This is, among other things, that the FFT needs private structures… and that “All for one” is preferable to “Everyone for oneself”…

What about the competition?

Most departmental or regional competitions are played in private clubs. Why ? They are often the only ones to offer a sufficient number of courts and ancillary services to accommodate this kind of competition and meet federal specifications.

For the same reasons, until today, only private clubs have organized the French Championships. We are at 4^rd edition.

It should be noted that the FFT contributes to the costs of the organizing club ... to be shared with the league and the federal organizing bodies, on site.

As we have seen, all of this should change in the years to come. The FFT now wants to be the only true representative for the development of Padel in France, and has decided to work in this direction, by releasing significant funds for future years with, in addition, the FFT PADEL TOUR. (and The My Padel Tower)

There are also private “itinerant” initiatives:

• Open de France Place du Capitole, Toulouse: exhibition tournament with the best French and some Europeans;
• European Club Cup: tournament between European clubs organized in a different country and city each year (Casa Padel last week);
• NPC (National Padel Cup) approved tournament which takes place in Cap d'Agde during the All Saints holidays; tournament circuits such as Padel Infinity, Head Padel Open, etc.

All these events, tournaments (exhibitions or officials) are very popular with the public, initiated or not, aware of sport or not. Very quickly, it will be necessary to allow the players to form and teach the padel, without necessarily going through the State Tennis Diploma… As you can imagine, an investigation by the Swiss Army Knife will come into the training of coaches and players.

I will end with these words from Bernard Giudicelli, President of the FFT (Oct 18): “ 2019 will be the year of padel."