(Des) hope(s)!?

This title, I concede, is ambiguous and contradictory... But after wishing you a happy new year and sharing my impatience to see you all again on the courts, it must be admitted that time drags on and that current events, both dramatically health-related in general and “trivially” padel-related in particular, regularly blow hot and cold, bringing hope and despair…

 

Once again, I will begin by mentioning the situation of our padel clubs, still deprived of their reason for being and livelihood: us, the male and female players. It was as much to be expected as feared; the first announcements of permanent closures have come in, cutting short projects that were nevertheless promising and committed.

 

In the face of this economic disaster, there are indeed two categories of padel clubs: those backed by large groups and/or solid, resilient investors, often owners of their premises, and the others, just as passionate and willing but who, faced with mandatory expense columns, have little left to enter. For them, hopes of reopening are commensurate with the despair that losing their work tool, often the project of a lifetime, would bring…

 

And there is hope! First and foremost, there is a much-awaited technical innovation: the protective mask for athletes in general and tennis and padel players in particular. 

 

While all the brands currently positioning themselves in this market inevitably have primarily commercial intentions, given the financial windfall that would result from being the first to mass-market this type of mask, we, potential customers but above all frustrated athletes, must seize the providential omen it represents.

 

The main reason leading to the closure of our indoor clubs, despite already draconian health measures that all stakeholders in our sport strongly supported, was the impossibility of wearing a protective mask while playing. Once this obstacle is removed, negotiations for reopening will inevitably be easier. The enthusiasm sparked by recent announcements that several prototypes have successfully met AFNOR standards must nevertheless be tempered by two factors:

• Firstly, there are inevitably irreducible delays between prototype and mass marketing, and the first models do not appear to be aimed at indoor racket sports.
• Secondly, the masks that would allow the reopening of performance venues already exist, and yet…

On the positive side, it should nevertheless be noted that trials for the return of spectators to stadiums are being decided.

 

Despair but hopes….

 

Another event that may bring hope and its opposite in the news concerning padel players: the election of Gilles Moretton as head of our governing federation: the French Tennis Federation. 

At the end of a campaign in which outgoing president Bernard Giudicelli's team had dragged around an image deficit like a ball and chain, being seen in particular as the gravedigger of the Davis Cup, it was the Lyon native and former top-level tennis player who managed to ride the wave of his promises of renewal and a break with the previous team.

Demagoguery or genuine virtues?

While only the future will tell us for certain, it is worth noting that this campaign strategy had already enabled the new president of the F.F.T. to secure an initial victory over the Giudicelli “clan” in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes league elections 3 years ago. And objectively speaking, it must be acknowledged that in terms of padel, the league's governing bodies have driven nothing, or worse: only two meetings of the padel commission, whose various successive appointees, although motivated, knew nothing about our sport; no youth gatherings and no attendance at the French junior championships, no communication or development action, no allocated budget and contemptuous statements. Padel has, to say the least, been neglected, considered a thorn in the side at worst…

 

Nevertheless, the statements of intent were promising and capable of providing real solutions to the issues facing our rapidly growing sport: hope?

 

Although all the delegated vice-presidents have been appointed with clearly identified tennis missions that will occupy them full-time, padel still does not know who its elected head will be for the next 4 years, succeeding Hubert Picquier. It is to be feared that for whoever takes on the role, it will only be an additional function on top of their already assigned tennis responsibilities: despair!

I will surely have the opportunity here in the future to acknowledge that these fears were unfounded. And the sooner, the better!

 

Finally, it is impossible for me to end this article without a nod to our French number 1: Alix Collombon. She too has generated hope and despair at the start of her season! By winning the first tournament of the season with her new partner Jessica Castello, hopes of seeing her reach a new level in her progress are at their highest!

 

But what about despair, you may rightly ask? Just ask the opinion of all their opponents of the week, whom they will soon meet again on the World Padel Tour...

 

“Hope is contagious, despair too” (anonymous quote)

 

So let's stay positive and see you very soon on the courts!

 

  Jérôme Becasset, an informed amateur, in theory...