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The exercise has just begun when the trainer stops everything. The young players are dissipated, not paying much attention to instructions. The result? A series of push-ups! Between Saturday March 8 and Wednesday March 12, several dozen basketball players from the Pelican's club in Saint-Barth took part in a highly intensive training session (a "camp") on the Saint-Jean court. At the helm was Raoul Ramdine, director of the Stade marseillais université club (Smuc) and, incidentally, coach and trainer.
The program for this "camp", reserved for youngsters aged 8 to 14, includes physical and technical sessions that are as demanding as they are fun. Three hours in the morning and another three in the afternoon on Saturday March 8 and Sunday March 9, then three hours in the late afternoon on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The children see things differently and hear instructions differently," enthuses club president Pascal Peuchot. Even if we tell them the same things all year round, it's not the same. "
Standing in the middle of the pitch, Raoul Ramdine launches the exercises with authority and pedagogy. With, most of the time, a competitive challenge between two groups. "I'm relatively impressed to find such a dynamic club with 80 members in such a small area," confides the coach. It's a club that supplies players to the Iles du Nord national team, and one that has achieved results in the Antilles-Guyane championship. The youngsters are highly motivated. They're always eager and enthusiastic. "Even if their legs get a bit hot at the end of certain sequences! "Even so, we had a succession of training sessions in the sunshine, but they remained enthusiastic," says Raoul Ramdine, who hopes to have succeeded in getting a message across: "Coming from a small territory doesn't prevent you from having big ambitions. "
An experience worth repeating
In fact, as the Smuc manager points out, the Pelican's have two of their former team members at the Marseille club: Mathis Paquet and Clément Peuchot. Who play at the highest level of their age category," he adds. You can't have any complexes. It's all down to the coaches and operations like the one we're running this week. "An initiative that should be repeated.
Indeed, during his stay, Raoul Ramdine was able to meet Magali Maxor, head of the Collectivité territoriale's sports department, and David Blanchard, territorial councillor in charge of sports affairs. "The aim was to find ways of making the experience a lasting one," enthuses Pascal Peuchot.
Other young players were able to benefit from Raoul Ramdine's teachings: the three Pelican's who joined the training center in Saint-Martin. As for those who are still playing in Saint-Barth, championship matches await them soon. With a few new ideas on how to play their favorite sport.
