The news fell at the end of July at the USO Mondeville. A letter from the rector of Normandy telling the women’s basketball club of the Caen agglomeration that the approval of its training center was not extended. “Mondeville had an approved center for 23 years. In 2019, the last normal season, we won the Championship and the Coupe de France for the cadets, ”recalls Dessislava Anguelova, the manager of the training establishment.
The decision is however only the simple consequence of administrative provisions “that it is time to change”, estimates the Calvadosien club. To the point of launching a “match for parity” on the networks, to demand a harmonization of male and female regulations. In women, in basketball, the clubs of the second national level cannot have a training center. An exemption exists but only for the formations freshly relegated from the elite.
Mondeville risks losing its training center
Descended to Ligue 2 in 2019, Mondeville had two years to go back up otherwise, the USOM would lose its center. “The Covid caused a blank season, so we thought the exemption would be extended. It’s a cold shower, ”says Dessislava Anguelova. In addition, his team Espoirs falls in National 3, while it was one of the leaders of National 2. A mishap which could not have taken place among the men.
“In Pro B (the second men’s division), the clubs do not have an ultimatum for their training center. Among women, if, while there is a shortage of French players, “grinds Romain Lhermitte, coach of Mondeville. And to clarify his thoughts: “There is a reservoir in women, but we are not able to give them a chance. 127 players passed the detection with us. We only retained four. What do we say to others? “
Women’s League teams (the first division) have the obligation to have a center. There are twelve of them. Among men, there are the 18 clubs of Pro A, not counting those of Pro B, which may have such a structure. “There is a tremendous pool of trained players, because the clubs train. This benefits the French team, which is a treat to watch, even when NBA players are absent, ”underlines Romain Lhermitte.
If Mondeville makes a gracious appeal, it is because the club ensures that it has more than its personal case to defend. “Women’s sport is progressing,” notes Olivier Liberge, the president of USOM. The regulatory texts must therefore be well put together. We should not put a spoke in the wheels of a club like ours, which spends a lot of energy to train young people and to make them play. Seven of the twelve Mondeville players this season are trained at the club. Eight club players wore the blue jersey in youth categories this summer. Very recently, the Mondevillaise team saw Marine Johannès, one of its former proteges, win the bronze medal at the Olympic Games in Tokyo with the Blue.
“Do not send the message that training does not pay”
“The training center has been at the heart of our project for years,” continues Romain Lhermitte. The sporting result alone should not be able to compromise an entire project. We must not prevent clubs from doing training ”. Many sports players support the “match for parity” launched by the Calvadosian club. It must be said that the stakes are high, just in Ligue 2 women: “Other training clubs could obtain approval. Not to mention those who are developing and who will soon check all the boxes, the USOM coach projects himself. The loss of accreditation would send the wrong message: the one that training does not pay ”.
Federation, Ministry of Sports … The ball is now in the camp of the higher spheres, sovereign in the development of regulations. “At the end of the Olympics, we heard about parity everywhere. Now is the time to act, ”insists Olivier Liberge. Harmonization of texts between men and women could benefit other sports. This is hoped by strong Mondeville, who will know, in the shorter term, the answer given to his appeal request. To, he hopes, keep the accreditation of his center for a 24th consecutive year.
