In almost daily contact with the stars of handball and football, Jean-Claude Blanc, deputy director general of PSG, is not proud to see his handball section, of which he is the executive boss, become one of the references in France and in Europe, in particular thanks to the work of the association.
How do you view the evolution of PSG handball since 2012?
JEAN-CLAUDE BLANC. Today, PSG is one of the best clubs in Europe because of its results, but also its number of licensees (Editor's note: 703) . In France, the only one we can compare it to is Montpellier. The public especially sees the superstars and the trophies won on the field. But behind it, there is a coherent architecture with game foundations and common values. The more this work is done in a qualitative way, the less we depend on an architecture of big players. We also see the mutation begin with the pros with the replacement of experienced players by young people from the training center. This is the mechanics that we wanted to implement.
What does it mean to have seen all your first teams, from U11 to professionals, remain unbeaten until the winter break?
It's a lot of pride for me, as for the whole club. We work to win matches and titles. But this culture of winning, which exists among the pros, must descend among the young. These results prove that the teams and the supervisors work well. Even if among young people, the priority is also to be efficient, it is above all to progress. We are proud to succeed in these two things, knowing that as a club, we also have the mission of making our young people men far beyond the field.
What is the recipe that makes it work?
The planets are remarkably aligned because there is background work that has been done for 6 or 7 years. Being a training club, in a world city (sic) like Paris, obliges us to have results. But execution is difficult. Each level requires very good level trainers, competent coaches, quality supervisors. Without rushing things, we helped the association and its volunteer members to professionalize. The agreement between the association and SASP (Editor's note: professional sector) , we did not create it, but we solidified it by signing an agreement over ten years. We didn't do it for the gallery, but because we have a well-defined sports strategy.