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Le Tableau du Dimanche Playing in clubs and tournaments: rules, licenses, rankings

Nîmes and dedicated clubs: pickleball gets its own venues

Published 29 October 2026 Revised 29 October 2026 4 minutes to read

The editors of Le Tableau du Dimanche.

Front of a sports hall with indoor pickleball courts, doors open.
A dedicated club. In Nîmes, a club devoted entirely to pickleball was announced as the first in the South. This model is different from tennis clubs that add a pickleball section. It shows the growing interest in the sport in France.

Pull up a chair in front of the file "Nîmes and dedicated clubs: pickleball gets its own venues," where every piece has been cataloged. You'll learn what a dedicated pickleball club is, through the example of Nîmes.

In short: with the single license, annual licenses tied to just one sport are being dropped; the discovery and school licenses remain available. FFT pickleball tournaments are open to FFT license holders with a multi-racquet license or a pickleball license (2024-2025 season rule). The price of the FFT Club license (€33 adult, €23 youth) matches that of the multi-racquet license for the 2025-2026 season.

The case studied

First basic principle: the single license leaves players free to choose, combine or alternate sports, and it simplifies management for clubs, leagues and committees. Compare this with the source cited.

On the numbers: a pickleball court measures 6.10 m by 13.41 m, and four courts fit inside a standard tennis court.

On the numbers: of the FFT's roughly 7,000 clubs, 850 offered pickleball when the delegation was announced in January 2026.

Terms you need to know

Turn to these vocabulary entries whenever a word stops you.

Double bounce rule

The double bounce rule requires the ball to bounce once on each side before volleys are allowed.

Here's a case we noted for the occasion: the receiver lets the serve bounce, then the server lets the return bounce before they can volley.

You'll find the reference entry by following this link: Règle du double rebond.

Dedicated pickleball club

A dedicated pickleball club is a facility devoted entirely to this sport.

Example on file: in Nîmes, a club devoted entirely to pickleball was announced as the first in the South.

A whole entry is devoted to this term: Club dédié au pickleball.

Points to weigh

The list below sets out the points of comparison to look at.

  • The FFT pickleball ranking counts tournaments whose end date falls within the last 12 months.
  • The FFT Club license gives access to all the federation's sports (tennis, padel, beach tennis, pickleball and real tennis), for casual play and competition alike.
  • Every sanctioned tournament requires a tournament referee (JAT1, JAT2 or JAT3, depending on the tournament category) on site throughout the competition.

What is a dedicated club?

On texts and regulations: under the delegation, the FFT has to develop pickleball from the grassroots to the elite level, organize the French championships, build the elite pathway (national teams) and define and apply the rules of the sport.

On texts and regulations: the minimum deadlines for filing a sanctioning request before the first day are 2 weeks for a K25, 3 for a K100, 6 for a K250 and 8 for a K500 or K1000.

Consider this case: other federations, including the Fédération française de badminton, were mentioned as possible overseers of pickleball before the ministry chose the FFT.

Why is this model appearing?

As a documented illustration, in Nîmes a club devoted entirely to pickleball, announced for the end of March 2026, plans 5 indoor courts and 2 outdoor ones.

Consider this case: a club in Nîmes (174 rue du Pied Ferme), presented as the first in the South of France devoted entirely to pickleball, was announced for the end of March 2026.

According to the text cited, Padel Magazine reports that the FFT can now set the official sports rules, organize national competitions and issue pickleball licenses.

Other pieces in the file

As a documented illustration, the FFT wrote pickleball into its statutes in January 2024, well before the ministerial delegation of 2026.

To wrap up

The sections we've gone through were filed like this: the case studied, the terms you need to know, the points to weigh and other pieces in the file. Keep the archivist's habit: read, date, cross-check, and only then conclude.

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Our sources

The federal framework for pickleball in France has been changing since the 2026 delegation: check licenses, fees and regulations on the FFT website before you sign up for anything.

How this article was checked

This article draws on 8 sources: 6 reference organizations and 2 news articles.

The facts were checked against their sources on October 15, 2026.

The method we followed: Sources et vérification.