English
On 5th and 6th March, La Playa Rijswijk organizes the first Padel tournament of 2016. Today we sit down with the man behind La Playa, Marcel Bogaart, to know more about the upcoming tournament and to understand more about the philosophy behind it.
– Marcel, you are a fervent organizer of tournaments at La Playa. Last year you organized an International FIP Tournament and hosted the European Championship. Why do you organize all these tournaments?
There are many reasons. I want to give people a reason to be excited. People are getting better at playing padel and are asking for more challenges. They want to truly measure their level against others and know how good they really are. Participating in this tournament is also a good opportunity for them to make new friends.
– You are an entrepreneur, thus you probably see a benefit for your business in doing this. What are the benefits for you?
Yes, I want more people to know padel. Tournaments are also a good way to motivate players to become better, possibly train more and play more often. Organizing this event also helps me to promote La Playa.
– How many people do you expect to inscribe in this tournament?
Padel is growing and changing fast. The pyramid of players was until recently dominated by advanced and fanatic players. This is changing. We see a fast growing number of beginners and intermediate players. It is therefore difficult to anticipate how many players will inscribe this year. As a reference, we have over 250 people that play padel routinely at La Playa. Many of them will surely join any of the three categories for men or the two for ladies.
– Will you offer nice prices?
We will have indeed nice prices, perhaps bags and rackets. But this competition is not just about prices. It is about having fun playing against new opponents.
– Why do you organize this tournament in partnership with the Dutch Padel Federation (NPB)? You could instead organize it privately.
For me there is only one option: organize it with the NPB. This is the official and the right way to organize a tournament for me. The NPB has a lot of expertise and good tools to help me. The tournament is sanctioned as official and I receive help with promotion, for example. This is very important. They also provide a circuit and a national ranking. By participating in this, my club is part of a national project where more people and clubs participate.
