Serge Langis, basketball coach for over 30 years in New Brunswick, gives a heartfelt cry. He calls for the return of a basketball team to the University of Moncton and the discipline at the Acadia Games.
Today a teacher at the Cité des Jeunes A.-M.-Sormany in Edmundston, Serge Langis believes that the potential is there to recreate a team but it is just the desire that is missing. He also believes that it is time to restart the machine.
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The Jaguars from Center scolaire Samuel-de-Champlain before their game on February 25, 2024 at TD Station in Saint-Jean, New Brunswick.
Photo : Radio-Canada
Last month, two Acadian teams came close to making history and becoming the first French-speaking teams to win a provincial school basketball title in two different categories.
The Jaguars from Center scolaire Samuel-de-Champlain in Saint-Jean and the Castors from École Sainte-Anne in Fredericton were beaten in the final, but these results are very encouraging according to the coach.
Keeping Francophones in the province
He believes that having a university team would meet a need and would help keep young French-speaking people in the province because it is not easy for Acadians to break through elsewhere.
Those who would like to continue studying in French are looking towards Quebec but the step is high for athletes. They have sports studies, they also have CEGEPs which give them a great advantage. And then the universities [québécoises] Don’t look too much outside the province either, believes Serge Langis.
He believes that young French-speaking people are turning to the English-speaking system to be able to continue playing, due to the lack of a French-speaking team at the university level.
There are five English-speaking universities in New Brunswick that have basketball teams. Four of the five are not as big as the Université de Moncton. I don’t understand why there isn’t one in Moncton.
It would give hope to young people to find a place, continues the coach. The Université de Moncton has already had teams in the past in the 1980s and 2000s.
Due to lack of money, the programs had been cut. The establishment had justified its decision by saying that it wanted to concentrate on fewer sports to avoid dispersion.
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The coach believes that recreating a program would meet a need for young French-speaking people.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Frederic Cammarano
When contacted, the University of Moncton did not respond to our questions.
Serge Langis also wonders why basketball is no longer on the Acadia Games program when the interest is there.
According to him, putting basketball back on the program of French-speaking competitions would improve the quality of the game.
According to a report by François Leblanc
2024-03-04 17:00:58
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