“I learned that the happiness of a day may not pass the night. This tweet written by Frédéric Forte at 4:23 p.m. on December 31, 2017 was sadly premonitory and still resonates in our heads. A few hours later, the former president of Limoges CSP left at the age of 47 with a heart attack when it was time to wake up with his family. What also resonates in our heads is his interception on the last shot attempt of Toni Kukoč, the European star at the time, then sending Limoges into another sphere by gleaning the European Club Cup on April 15, 1993 facing Treviso. In the stands of the Athens Hall, he will fall into the arms of his wife, Céline, after the final buzzer.
In his company, in 2004, he will take over “his” club, administratively demoted to National 1. Thanks to his passion, his unconditional love for the CSP, he will quickly succeed in making Limoges rise within the elite of French basketball. Then, finally, to stabilize him and achieve the double in 2014 and 2015. Player of Caen, Gravelines, PSG Racing, Irakleio (Greece), Strasbourg, Avelino and Scafati (Italy), his image remains however inseparable from that of Limoges, where he was therefore a player (1987-88, 1991-97) coach (2006-2008) and president (2004-2017). His face encrusted on the walls of the Beaublanc Sports Palace where his giant portrait is displayed in front of the entrance as well as his jersey hung and overlooking the room, mean that Frédéric Forte always keeps an eye on his club as well as on Vittoria. , Angiolina, Josépha, her three daughters, and Céline.
Four years after his death, the CSP still maintains the memory of Frédéric Forte and continues his work (photo: Sébastien Grasset)
“The best French trainer of all time”
His disappearance was also a real shock wave in French basketball and especially in the department of Ain. But after months of battling a serious illness, Pierre Murtin (66 years old) laid down his arms on December 31, 2020. Beyond JL Bourg and ASVEL, the two high-level clubs that have marked his career as a trainer, everyone has the orange ball who lost a loved one a year ago. First, the countless basketball players – girls, boys, young people, seniors – who had the chance to be trained by him.
But before delivering his precious advice, this man appreciated by everyone, was first a player. Licensed at SLUC Nancy from 1974 to 1976, after having validated his diploma as an EPS teacher at CREPS in Nancy, he then returned to his long-standing club, that of JL Bourg, until 1991 in the small divisions of basketball French, while training young people and the club’s women’s team. Definitely swapping his shorts for the coach costume, he will take the reins of the pennant team. From 1991 to 1997, he led the National 4 game to the Pro B playoffs for his first LNB season. Not prolonged, he was going to continue the adventure in … Bourg. He then trained all categories for both girls and boys.
Pierre Murtin was appreciated by everyone (photo: C. Aulaz)
This lover of the beautiful game, which inspired many other educators, attracted large numbers of spectators wherever he coached. “Pierrot” had notably led the U18s of JL Bourg to the title of champion of France at the end of the 2018-2019 season and a masterful final against Nanterre. Alain Thinet, his successor in 1997 and current dean of LNB coaches in Saint-Chamond, had called him “the best French trainer of all time” a few months ago. This is to tell you how much this character had left no one indifferent. Besides, the qualifiers did not end with the announcement of his disappearance: “ambassador”, “monument”, “totem” … “A whole and passionate person”, had tweeted Léo Westermann, “A gentleman of French basketball” according to Charles-Henri Bronchard, “A guy who gave everything and asked for nothing” Crawford Palmer said, among the many tributes … His last experience was in March 2020, just before the first confinement, where he had taken the reins of the CTC JL Bourg-Viriat for two weeks in the Women’s National 3. Until the end, he had wanted to coach.
On December 31, the cursed date of French basketball, the editorial staff of BeBasket thinks of these two men and their families.
