what the brand new departmental Tennis center looks like

DBehind the Firmin-Daudou football fields, in Trélissac, its wavy roof glows in the night. Everyone from Dordogne Tennis gathered there and commented on the installation. “It’s great, it’s a real plus with this lighting,” smiles Mary Jane (Mijanou) Marty, over-80 world tennis champion.

On the evening of Thursday, November 7, the brand new departmental tennis center was inaugurated after months of work and an investment of 3.8 million euros (read below).

Courts et terrains

From the end of the 1980s, the Departmental Tennis Committee (CDT) was looking for a site for its center, said Francis Colbac, the mayor of Trélissac. “It was here. The inauguration took place in 1993 with three courts and the CDT headquarters. » But over the years, the place has deteriorated. “The town could not bear [seule] the cost of the renovation,” he continued, so that a compromise was found with the Departmental Council.

Trélissac donated the installation to him free of charge, with the Department responsible for putting it back on track. But more than repairing it, he created a new structure. It was the Bordeaux firm Brel architecture, specializing in sports equipment, which took care of it. But the roof and frame of the old center being too damaged, everything was redone from A to Z.

Its skeleton is made of wood, reinforced with metal ties. The set includes a textile cover with obvious qualities: “It offers uniform and non-artificial lighting during the day,” describes Guy-Vincent Brel. As there are no shadows, this gives players the opportunity to have a very precise reading of the game. » In winter, the slightest ray of sunlight also helps warm up the place. And summer? No furnace effect, because the lower parts of the structure have large openings to circulate air.

Since 2020, the number of licensees has jumped from 5,600 to 6,600, spread across 56 clubs

Two mirrored modules make up the whole. The first, which takes over the base of the old center, has three GrennSet-type synthetic resin tennis courts. Its counterpart has a fourth court and two padel courts. It is also possible to play racket games like pickleball (1). Added to this are changing rooms, toilets, meeting rooms, the CDT headquarters, a weight room, rooms for equipment, etc. Not to mention that the Department will seize the opportunity to deploy a new station for its trail courses.

6,600 licensees

The place will therefore be the epicenter of Périgord tennis. The discipline is doing rather well considering the figures detailed by Clément Hyvoz, president of the CDT. Since 2020, the number of licensees has jumped from 5,600 to 6,600, spread across 56 clubs.

Clément Hyvoz describes how the center works: “The days will be reserved for training high-level players. These are often young people who are also registered with Cned (2). There will also be students from surrounding schools as well as people with disabilities. »

In the evenings, clubs which do not have covered pitches will take over. And on weekends, they will be able to organize their competitions. The CDT also intends to deploy its numerous activities, youth groups, courses, etc. The same during the holidays with courses focused on specific points: ball collection, refereeing, etc.

Of course, competitions are planned there. The first appears on November 15. A two-week men's open which, “next year, will have CNGT approval”, for National Circuit of Major Tournaments.

(1) Light tennis where two or four players throw a perforated hollow plastic ball at each other with a full-face racket, above a net of a little less than 1 meter. The court is the size of a badminton court.
(2) National distance learning center.

The cost

Project management of the equipment was ensured by the Departmental Council. Of the 3.8 million euros invested, 70% was supported by the State (1.51 million euros), the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region (460,000 euros), the French Federation of tennis (150,000 euros) and the Departmental Tennis Committee (100,000 euros).