2023-09-26 16:12:39
Abdel is 13 years old and has agile feet. On this synthetic pitch in Bobigny, with his green and white Fennecs jersey – the nickname of the Algerian national team – he sends a ball without difficulty towards a threatening sky. The boy is used to it. He is licensed to Espérance Paris 19e, a football club in the north of the capital. “ I would like to become a professional”, he slips. But it was an oval ball that he kicked that day.
The teenager is taking part in an introductory rugby course organized by the Pantin Olympic Rugby (ROP) on this field made available to him by the neighboring town. He experiments with the art of passing by hand, without knowing the rules of this sport, nor the slightest name of one of the players of the French XV involved in the World Cup. “I prefer football, I grew up with it, I’m “addict”, but I wanted to try rugby, he said. I was intrigued. The ball spinning when you pass is stylish. »
Animation workshops
Abdel was tempted during animation workshops set up in his Pantin district, at Parc Diderot, a green space surrounded by buildings. Despite the reluctance of his parents, who do not really have a taste for this exotic discipline in their eyes. “We had to negotiate, it was Lucas who convinced them by telephone”he continues. “We’re really going to look for licensees, especially in these neighborhoods”notes with a smile Lucas Gabourg, who runs these sessions in the heart of popular areas of the suburban town.
Aged 22, this “child of the ROP” is today one of the employees, after having played as a third row. The young man, who himself lives in a large complex in Pantin, is used to sharing his passion. “When I started, with friends, we were taken for UFOs, he says. Here, the children are more into football, but they like the combat side of rugby, it’s not a hindrance, on the contrary. »
The obstacle of rules
This is more so for parents who worry about seeing their offspring end up face to face in the grass. “Sometimes you have to go to their house to reassure them and tell them that it’s not dangerous”, Lucas continues. We must also overcome the obstacle of ignorance of complex rules. “I like rugby, but football is better, it’s easier to understand”slips Hamza, 13 years old, another trainee.
The ambition of the facilitators is not, in any case, to have the thirty or so of these 10-15 year olds gathered for this course sign a license. But the operation helps to spread the message that handling an oval ball is also an option in Seine-Saint-Denis, the poorest department in mainland France.
For Samuel, 10 years old, this is no longer a subject of debate. After practicing judo, kung fu and athletics, he discovered rugby last year and today he is a real fan. What he likes ? “Playing as a team, passing each other, sharing the ball”, he answers immediately. Tackle doesn’t scare him, despite his small size: “Tackling is first and foremost a fight against yourself. »
This schoolboy lives in Courtillières, a large group of buildings close to the usual Olympic Rugby facilities in Pantin, currently under construction. “Rugby is a little complex at first, but when you master the rules, it’s easier”, he assures. He who grew up far from the South-West is capable, without hesitation, of mentioning the name of his ” favorite “ within the XV of France, « Thomas Ramos »or to evoke the historic semi-final of 1999, won by the Blues against the All Blacks.
A very mixed club
The anecdote makes his mother, Sylvia Macaire, smile, who has become the volunteer manager of a mixed rugby school, like the Pantin club, which has 40% women among its 350 members. “This diversity is an asset for girls, both to help them progress and for social reasons, she emphasizes. Rugby helps them gain self-confidence and independence. I often hear parents say that they are not bothered in their neighborhood. »
Cadet meeting at the end of training. In total, 18 players from three clubs in Seine-Saint-Denis form “the Entente”, a collective which operates at the national level. / Valentin Caball for La Croix
At the age of being cadets, these players can play at the national level with “the agreement”, the team formed with neighbors AC Bobigny 93 Rugby and the Sporting Club universitaire de France (Scuf). Aïssetou, 15, joined her during the year. She also comes from Courtillières, like many young rugby women from Pantin, and it was at college that she began to score tries. “I found it hard, a sports teacher forced me a little”she explains, without seeming to regret it.
Here she is now watching videos of devastating tackles on TikTok, while waiting for training at the Henri-Wallon stadium in Bobigny. Next to her, Shaïma, 16, smiles. “Those are tackles that should not be made”, she recalls. This other cadet, who lives in Aubervilliers, has more experience. She is in her sixth year of rugby and participates in running introductory courses, preparing for the certificate of aptitude for facilitator functions (Bafa).
Local heroes in the spotlight
Sway, 14, joins the conversation. Her athletic silhouette predisposes her to play with the forwards. She also discovered rugby at school. What she likes ? ” All “, she says. Aïssetou, who has known her for a long time, laughs: “Yeah, you especially like to hurt. » The room in which they wait before this collective session at the start of the season is decorated with posters honoring the glories of Dyonisian rugby, the third row of Montpellier Yacouba Camara and other internationals like Cameron Woki and Coumba Diallo.
Mayssa isn’t there yet, but she aspires to be. She passed tests to join the national cadet selection. A final year student and aged 17, this opening half is today part of the Aulnay-sous-Bois hopeful pole, which brings together the best players in her age category in Île-de-France. She believes in a “identity 9-3” of rugby. “Girls from the south of France, they play more by hand and on speedshe says. We play more on aggression, we like to get into it. »
Most of the cadets gathered have been playing rugby for several years now. Front: Sway, 14, is a member of the Pantin Olympic Rugby. She has been playing rugby for five years, following in the footsteps of her brother and sister. Bobigny, August 22, 2023. / Valentin Caball for La Croix
Daughter of a Tunisian footballer father and a cyclist mother of Spanish origins, Mayssa joined Bobigny to progress, after starting to play rugby at the age of 5 in Blanc-Mesnil, another town in Seine-Saint-Denis. She follows in the footsteps of her big brothers. “I didn’t want to do classical dance like all the others”, she laughs. She flourishes in a mixed XV which mixes tacklers in short shorts and go-getters with hair covered with a veil: “When we win, we are happy together. And when we lose, we are sad together. »
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3,500 licensees in Seine-Saint-Denis
Île-de-France is represented at the highest men’s level by two clubs: Racing 92 and Stade français. Among the women, two teams are among the elite: AC Bobigny and Stade français.
The Ligue Île-de-France brings together 30,000 players and 5,000 managers. It is the fourth region in number of licensees, the first being Occitanie (69,000). But it is only ninth in terms of the share of licensees in the population (2.8 licensees per 1,000 inhabitants, compared to 4.7 per 1,000 in France).
Seine-Saint-Denis has 3,500 licensees and 19 clubs, against 6,000 licensees and 35 clubs in Hauts-de-Seine, the department where rugby is best established in the Paris region. The two territories have an equivalent population (1.6 million inhabitants).
The proportion of women made redundant is higher in Seine-Saint-Denis (17.4%) than in Hauts-de-Seine (10.3%) and in France as a whole (11.1%).
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