Vanessa Hermant: “Adding padel and introducing pickleball to Padel City”

Vanessa Hermant, director of Padel City Marconne (62), shares the progress made by the club which is celebrating its first year. She reveals the expansion plans with the addition of a new padel court and the introduction of pickleball, as well as the diversified evolution of their clientele.

A major challenge…

“The biggest development this year has been filling the courts. Initially, we faced a major challenge because we are located in an area where the demand for padel was very low. There was no padel infrastructure within a 30-kilometre radius, which meant that the sport was very little known in our area.

Our first mission was to introduce padel to the people of the region. We organized open days and events to generate interest and make the sport known. From the first year, we organized tournaments to attract players. Initially, we were authorized to organize 25 tournaments, and this year, thanks to the increase in the number of licensees, we were able to organize 35.

We also hired a full-time padel instructor. He obtained his Level 1 Padel Referee certificate, which allows him to referee official matches and ensure the smooth running of our tournaments. We also use social media to promote our events and share videos and photos of the club's activities. All of these initiatives have helped attract more and more people to our club. We are very proud of the progress we have made.

Being a private club, it is more difficult for us to attract a large number of members, but we currently have around 90. This is already a good number, especially considering that we do not have tennis courts: our offer is exclusively dedicated to padel.”

A new covered track coming soon

“Currently, we have three tracks, two semi-covered, which allows you to play even in bad weather, and one entirely outdoors. We have a project underway to add a fourth runway, which should be operational very soon.

This new track will be exclusively dedicated to the region's padel school, which will allow us to meet the growing demand for training. We also want to offer an infrastructure that allows you to play comfortably in winter, hence the idea of a fully covered track.”

Introduction to pickleball

“We have other ambitions for the club beyond adding a fourth track. We are already considering expanding our offering with pickleball. Although demand for the sport is currently low because few people know about it, pickleball is growing rapidly in the United States and other countries.”

A diverse clientele

“Our clientele is quite diverse. About a quarter of our members come from racket sports such as tennis, squash or badminton. This is not surprising, because these athletes often find in padel a new passion that combines elements of their original disciplines.

However, what is particularly interesting is that 50% of our members are footballers, and this includes both young and old. This is perhaps due to the friendly and dynamic aspect of padel that recalls the team spirit and competition of football. The rest of our clientele is made up of families and tourists.”

Padel Growing city

“Currently, we organize a variety of tournaments, including P25, P100, mixed P100 and P250. This allows us to reach a wide audience and offer competitions adapted to different levels of play. We also do a lot of wheelchair padel tournaments. We are considering organizing P500 tournaments, it is part of our growth vision, but it is not for right away.

I am very optimistic about the future of padel here. We are on a great growth dynamic and I think this trend will continue in the years to come. What can sometimes worry me is when I read articles in Padel Magazine announcing the closure of certain clubs. It reminds me that even with good management, unforeseen events can arise…”

Dorian Massy

New padel fan, I am fascinated by this dynamic sport that combines strategy and agility. I find in padel a new passion to explore and share with you on Padel Magazine.