Obviously, this accession does not come out of nowhere. The arrival of the club at the caravelle on the side of the Gaston-Neveur room in 2018 was aimed at this passage in the antechamber of the elite. The marketing, communication and economic skills (non-exhaustive list) of rugby’s big brother should lead basketball not to hang around too much in N1. The signing in the spring of 2020 of Aymeric Jeanneau as general manager will have been the boost.
A matter of time
Came to professionalize the structure in its sporting and economic development, the one who has since become general manager has a vast field of action. A year later, the election of Charles Kloboukoff (also president and founder of the Léa Nature group, a major partner of the club), as resident of the board of directors of SAS Stade Rochelais Basket in place of Dominique Salbreux, further strengthened the organization chart. It was therefore a question of time.
After a 2020-2021 season skipped by the health crisis and finished in 3rd place with hope, 2021-2022 was to be the year of consolidation at the top of the division table. If as soon as he took office Jeanneau had announced “want to have an opportunistic team”, the plan envisaged was indeed a rise during the next season.
A feeling reinforced at the beginning of March when the staff told its trainer François Sence that he would not be the man capable of taking this step towards Pro B. The leaders were building their future workforce for… the N1.
A tour de force
This is why this accession is an incredible tour de force. A human adventure in the first sense of the expression. Thirty minutes after the end of the match, François Sence stopped according to his meetings, the man recognized “mixed feelings” and preferred to pay tribute to his group. “We have experienced so many things with diametrically opposed emotions throughout this season. The workforce has always been able to come back after a defeat. In high level sport, this is often the most difficult. We were then able to move on. What I liked is that we always knew how to be vigilant, even in the euphoria. It is for this reason that all this will forever remain out of the ordinary”.
“Around us, nobody believed in it, admitted Desmond Quincy-Jones. Then we started to string together victories and gradually, something fell into place. »
The negative ratio posted at the beginning of February (10 wins – 12 losses) was then swept away by a memorable series (21 wins – 2 losses). With the high point of a show of collective strength displayed during the final return against Mulhouse.
« Moments rares »
“These are rare moments in a career, continued “DQJ”, who saw his 3rd accession there (after Denain and Saint-Quentin). We discussed it with Arnauld (Thinon), it’s good to go up after the regular phase [comme Angers l’a fait, NDLR] but there the final phases, it is the obstacle course. To finish on the title of champion of the play-off, it is really another adrenaline. »
Since Friday, the nights have become shorter. Celebrated and requested almost everywhere, Clerc and his comrades savor this incredible destiny. “Since Friday, I must be in all 7 or 8 hours of sleep. It’s celebration, party and a little bit of alcohol, laughed Gaëtan Clerc, who on Sunday took part in a barbecue with the staff and his teammates. And the mood around the back indicated that the revelry was far from over.
