Urban tennis is no longer nomadic.
And it is in freezing cold that the first permanent ground officially saw the light of day, Friday in Paris.
The 6m x 12m plot, graffitied by artist Caroline Derveaux, is located in the Collège Hector-Berlioz in the 18th arrondissement.
It will allow students to play during recess or during school time.
But not only.
It is also accessible to the general public every Saturday and during school holidays.
The French Federation has been developing the concept for several months.
Install tennis in the streets, equipped with a small racket of 21 chips and a foam ball in an urban setting, with or without a net, alone or with others.
This court was notably inaugurated in the presence of the president of the FFT, Gilles Moretton, and the mayor of the 18th arrondissement, Eric Lejoindre.
"
There is first of all the desire of the Federation to allow as many people as possible to play tennis,
" he explains.
It's tennis everywhere and for everyone.
From kindergarten to tennis court.
The idea is to put more and more in place in establishments to allow young and old to taste this sport.
We also want to create bridges with the clubs.
Yannick
(Noah)
who has 30 years' experience of
“
celebrating the wall
”
, tells me that out of 100 kids who try this sport, about twenty want to come back the next day.
»
The French Federation officially launched the practice of Urban tennis on the occasion of the last edition of Roland-Garros.
A major tour then began, passing through many cities in France.
“
We made a hundred steps to make the link between the street and the tennis clubs.
But it was punctual,
says Moretton.
There, we are in the long term.
We have two other sites in the Paris region that will soon have a final court.
We want to move the lines and show that this sport is not reserved only for a certain elite.
It's a cliché that still exists but is not at all the reality.
»
The project was supported by the FFT with the City of Paris and the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games Organizing Committee. FFT /Tomas Stevens
To also respond to new societal challenges, this project was supported by the FFT with the City of Paris and the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games Organizing Committee. Marie Barsacq, Impact and Legacy Director of the Games Organizing Committee Olympics and Paralympics of Paris 2024, is delighted that this project contributes to the establishment of sport everywhere and for everyone in cities: "
Paris 2024 wants to leave a strong legacy beyond the Olympics.
We want to use its media exposure to show that sport generates a social impact in our country.
We have created an endowment fund to support these initiatives with one project per sports federation.
The legacy of Paris 2024 is also to put more sport into people's lives.
With this land in the 18th, we are convinced that we will change the lives of young and old.
»
Hector Berlioz College in the 18th arrondissement FFT /Tomas Stevens
And within the framework of Urban tennis, the Federation is working on the rehabilitation of the walls, in particular in collaboration with the former French number one Isabelle Demongeot: "
We have to put people back in front of the walls,
she confides .
.
We can detect gifts in children and it is our duty then to direct them to the best clubs in the region.
It can start with the wall.
»
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