Home » News » Grand Poitiers aims higher

Grand Poitiers aims higher

Promoted to men’s N1, Grand Poitiers Handball unveiled its ambitions in a project called Cap Arena 2023. Riding in Pro D2 and advancing Saint-Eloi and then the Arena are among the objectives.

To stagnate is already to regress. While its male team has just reached the N1, the Grand Poitiers Handball club wants to beat the iron while it is still hot. Born in 2016 from the merger of PEC and Valvert (Jaunay-Marigny and Saint-Georges-ls-Baillargeaux), the structure thus moved in a few seasons from the Prnational, the highest regional level, to the third French level.

The growth and progress are spectacular. But the leaders want to continue and support this development. The N1 is just a tap. We must now add a new floor to the fuselage. Place the ambitious Cap Arena 2023 project. Merger of the different entities of the club, accession to Pro D2 by 2023, desire to move more often to the Jean-Pierre-Garnier Saint-Eloi hall, then the brand new Arena Futuroscope are the main detailed announcements by President Jean-Marc Mendes.

When the PEC and Valvert still existed, why did you decide to include them definitively in a single structure within Grand Poitiers Handball?

We wanted to join forces. We realized that between the CEP and Valvert, especially among young people, especially among those under 15 and under 18, we could work together to do something coherent in order to bring us to the highest level . The territorial aspect was also important. We couldn’t all stay in our corner. We had to unite across all categories, as could have been the case with senior girls and boys.

Was the idea easily accepted?

There are always steeple wars, especially for those who experienced the first separation between the PEC and Jaunay-Clan. However, several leaders, and I am one of them, did not experience this period. We focused our handball project on the desire to move forward.

On spray
7 matches out of 11
Saint-Eloi
next season

You aim to access the Pro D2 by 2023. Is the objective to place Poitiers in the French handball landscape in the long term?

All the assets are gathered around the city of Poitiers to lead a project focused on handball in order to take him to this level. We have worked on the economic environment through partnerships. There is a dynamic role. The arrival of the Arena Futuroscope, a large hall (note: around 6,000 seats) is also an important element. If we want to help develop spectacle sports, we will need these tools and think about something other than offering a simple match. The soil exists and it is favorable.

You played in a pisodic way in the Jean-Pierre-Garnier room, Saint-Eloi, the usual lair of Poitiers Basket. Would you like to fly there more regularly?

We want to compete there as many meetings as possible. We are too limited at Bois d’Amour. We have a maximum of 700 places there. We have 500 licensees and 200 places reserved for our partners. If all our licensees and all our partners come, I no longer have the capacity to bring in other people. However, I am convinced that we can accommodate 400,500 more spectators. We could easily reach a gauge of between 1,000 and 1,200 people. And, if the results are there, we could reach 1,500 1,800 spectators, which corresponds to a full hall in Saint-Eloi without the stands at the back. We would have an additional budget with the entrances and the bar. We hope 7 games out of 11 Saint-Eloi next season. We are waiting for the new teams of elected officials to set up to discuss with the community and Poitiers Basket in order to find solutions that will suit everyone (see box). As for the Arena, it should allow us to push the idea of ​​spectacle sport. But everything will depend on our sporting development. The idea is to give us a course. A structure like ours cannot exist without clear objectives.

Have you already approached Poitiers Basket?

It is not the first time that we have changed on this subject. We didn’t necessarily have legitimacy before. Our accession to National 1change gives it. Listening should be different and more balanced. But above all I want dialogue. We can share a lot with Poitiers Basket. Not just a room. It can also be medical staff, communication staff. We can move forward and build together and limit certain costs for both. We must carry out a real reflection accompanied by the town hall of Poitiers and the Departmental Council.

You are counting on 450,000 500,000 euros of budget in L1. How must this sum evolve to pass a new course?

If we want to play in N1 Elite (note: to aim for accession to Pro D2), it takes between 650,000 and 700,000 euros. For the Pro D2, it’s 700,000 euros. We must continue on the partnership. Regarding our public subsidies, they remain relatively limited with a total of 80,000 euros. If we want to move towards Pro D2, Poitiers, the agglomeration of Grand Poitiers and the Department will have to make a real commitment. But we will also be able to generate additional resources with partners, entrees and recipes from the refreshment bar.

What will be the place of women, whose team is in N2, in this project?

It was a real discussion. We all agreed that they should have a real place. Today, we want to maintain the pennant team in N2 and reserve it for the National. But we must also work on our training sector. We will only be able to accelerate if we manage to build at the level of young people, as has been the case with the boys. It is more complicated because there are fewer licensees in France.

After training PEC / JC when the men’s team was in N1, Jean-Pierre Igoulen finds the staff. Why and in what role?

Jean-Pierre Igoulen was already known by former club members. He was available and wanted to join a project. When we met, we saw a common desire. His expertise, experience and networks will help us reach the top level and continue our development. He will be the assistant to Christian Latulippe. In N1, he could no longer be alone on the bench. It goes faster, there are choices to be made and you need a minimum of perspective to take them. They have a different but complementary profile. Finally, Jean-Pierre Igoulen will also be our technical director in order to push our training logic. Christian Latulippe remains general manager with a global view of the club, while providing administrative costs and partnerships.

learn more

Poitiers Basket 86 open to dialogue

Just read the co-president of Poitiers Basket 86 with Dominique Poey, along with vice-presidents Eric Pinaud and Sbastien Gurin, Philippe Lachaume wants to be constructive. It is still too early to speak of the room. But we are open to find synergies between the clubs. Earlier, during the press point announcing the new governance of PB 86, he said: We are not the only sports club to have Poitiers ambitions. We wish everyone success. And, intelligently, we can work together.

Collected by Pierre Samit.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.