A seven in a row to lift the trophy. The University of Caen football team won the title of French university champion on June 9, on the grounds of the FC Sochaux-Montbéliard training center. After six successes in as many games throughout the year, the Caennais did not tremble in the final against Marseille (3-1).
“I’m retiring this year and it’s the best gift they could give me,” smiles Christian Hestin, the professor responsible for football at the University of Sciences and Techniques and Physical and Sports Activities (Staps) in Caen. . The teacher “knew the potential and the energy” of a “very autonomous” group. This is what I have been trying to do for ten years: let young people manage themselves, unlike clubs where they are very assisted. There they took care of the preparation, coaching and logistics. They have great maturity. I told them it would help them in life.
The 21 players of the team study in Staps and play in clubs in the region, at the regional level. Like defender Émilien Hédou, 21, in Granville: “I remember the course and everything we built. We are a real group of friends”. A group whose adventure began with victories against Orléans and Rennes in December. “Rennes was one of the most difficult matches, remembers Emilien Hédou, who sees it as a founding moment. We were down 1-0 before overturning the score in the last ten minutes. We said to ourselves that we could no longer take anything lightly”.
Caen continues at home against Rouen and Nantes in front of a large crowd on campus. In mid-April, the students got rid of Lille (3-1) to reach the final four in the Doubs. Neither Nanterre (2-1), nor Marseille, therefore, can resist the team in the purple jerseys. “We really wanted to create a surprise,” says Benjamin Briand, the 21-year-old coach. I felt it through the big investment, training at the French Championships”. The Staps sophomore, fresh from a ruptured cruciate ligament, was offered the coaching job by Christian Hestin. “It allowed me to discover the profession and to forge myself”, explains the one who considers “to have grown up” in this epic.
“A great ephemeral happiness”
Every Tuesday, a dozen or so players managed to free themselves up to train. What to perfect the Norman collective, composed of individuals of a very homogeneous level indicates the supervising professor: “Titulars as substitutes have the same level. Despite the changes during the matches, the team remained strong unlike others, like Marseille in the final, where it was more uneven”. From the defense, Emilien Hédou testifies to a game “very different from club football. I don’t think we’ve made much progress in football. But humanly on the other hand, it was strong. And by managing everything ourselves, we grew”.
This title is “a great ephemeral happiness”, says Christian Hestin. Half of the team will fly under other skies at the start of the school year, like its young defender, leaving for Canada: “I would like to continue my studies and play in a university team there”. He may mention in his CV the title of French university champion. “It’s a good thing to note in our career,” confirms coach Benjamin Briand. In addition to the sporting aspect, this victory testifies to the involvement and state of mind of these students.
The University, too, sees this coronation with a positive eye. The courses being finished, the campus did not ignite for the exploit of his. But “this kind of success has an attractive power, describes Christian Hestin. This can affect the choice of young people to come to Caen for their studies. Sport has a certain weight”. While waiting for a generation of successors, the champions of France will continue their course, in Caen or elsewhere, all linked by an adventure rich in more than a trophy.
