Basketball 3 x 3, scholarship students… What we know about the future Tony Parker Academy in Saint-Ouen

Its opening is eagerly awaited in Seine-Saint-Denis. But what will we find in the second Tony Parker Academy? At the end of a new working meeting organized in Lyon (Rhône), the project, aimed more broadly at redeveloping the island of Vannes, at the southern tip of L’Île-Saint-Denis, is becoming clearer. About 170 students (from college to post-Bac) are expected there in 2025, with numbers that will gradually increase to 440 after five years.

Basketball, but not only

This is already the case in the first “TPA” of its kind opened in Lyon in 2019, where you can specialize in basketball but also in “e-sport (electronic sport)” or in chess. In Saint-Ouen, six disciplines should be offered: 3 x 3 basketball, climbing, padel, breakdance, e-sport but also musical training. “We wanted there to be a complementarity with the disciplines offered in Lyon”, slips an actor of the file. 5 x 5 basketball should therefore not be offered in the 93.

35 to 50% scholarship holders

It was a will of the elected officials of Seine-Saint-Denis. In Saint-Ouen, an endowment fund will be set up to allow patronage to finance the course of 35 to 50% of scholarship students. “We decided to put a very big emphasis on social issues because we want to create opportunities to change the lives of young people in this area,” confirms Tony Parker. In Lyon, the cost of a year of training amounts to 25,000 euros.

“This will allow young people from the working classes, very talented, to be able to enter the Tony Parker Academy”, congratulates the mayor (PS) of Saint-Ouen, Karim Bouamrane. “This is a project that will be adapted to our territory and our population”, also greets the mayor (SE) of L’Île-Saint-Denis, Mohamed Gnabaly.

A footbridge?

Saint-Ouen (Seine-et-Marne). Visual of the complete redevelopment project of the Île des Vannes, where the Tony Parker Academy will be located, with in particular the footbridge project which would connect the Docks of Saint-Ouen to the southern tip of the Ile-Saint-Denis. Associated Realities/Ithacha Group

Another novelty, a pedestrian footbridge is currently under study, in parallel with the complete redevelopment of the complex on the island of Vannes. Its funding, which will be around 15 million euros, has not yet been finalized. Its inauguration, which will allow the inhabitants of Saint-Ouen to reach the sports complex and the public park in a few minutes, is expected after 2026.