Forced rest since March due to the pandemic, the amateur championships will finally return to the field.
Football was the first to start the ball rolling with the Coupe de France last Sunday before the regional championships next weekend.
But while cases of Covid-19 are revealed every week and disrupt the professional world, how will these small clubs adapt to this uncertain health context?
Football in the starting blocks
It's back to school for amateur football in the Ile-de-France and Oislands.
A comeback "unlike any other", for Philippe Tettamanti.
"It's the big leap into the unknown but it's still better for kids than staying at home playing PlayStation!"
», Says the sports director of Mée-sur-Seine (R1).
Covid 19 requires, the clubs had to respect a protocol labeled by the Federation.
"We implemented these measures as soon as training resumed on July 16," explains Pascal Antonetti, president of Torcy (R1), which has nearly a thousand licensees.
These measures are very close to federal recommendations.
But they come at a cost.
“At Mée, we spent € 1,200 on hydroalcoholic gel.
In the Oise, last week, a case of Covid 19 was revealed in Longueil-Annel (R3).
"I am worried about the coming season," says President Sylvain Castets.
She shouldn't start.
"In other clubs, we show ourselves to be a philosopher:" We have no particular fear, launches Mickaël Guffroy, president of Cires-lès-Mello (D 1).
I'm not a doctor, we don't have to judge this protocol (
Editor's note: wearing a mask and barrier gestures
), you just have to apply it.
"
Rugby has adapted
As with the professionals (where positive cases have been revealed), the amateur clubs which evolve at the national level have adapted to the imposed standards: “We put hydroalcoholic gel everywhere, we make sure not to go into the locker room all. at the same time, says Esteban Devich, forward coach at Beauvais (promoted to Federal 1) and "Covid referent" of his club.
For training, those who live in Beauvais shower at home.
I only open the showers for those who live in Compiègne, or when training at noon for those who go to work afterwards.
But no more than 4-5 people at the same time.
"
Concretely, so that, every Sunday, the competing teams take their showers, arrangements will be made: “The reserve match will be brought forward to 1 pm, then the changing rooms will be disinfected for the 1st, specifies Benoît Larousse, the coach of Pontault (Fed. 2), also called “covid manager”.
We are also considering setting up a barnum.
People on the sidelines will be masked and the handrail prohibited.
"" I note all attendance from the beginning in the event that we have a case, continues Esteban Devich.
The French federation does not require us to take the test, but we have already done it twice.
Now we stop psyching, we work.
"
In handball, a stop to the championships under study
The health conditions to be respected for the clubs have been defined by the Federation.
"In training, we are asked to clean the equipment after each use," explains Michel Garel, president of Lagny-Montévrain (N2), who will resume competition on September 19.
During the year, if a case is found to be positive, everyone will have to take a screening test again.
“Recommendations have therefore been made to facilitate any postponement of matches, with an adapted formula.
Each group was thus split into two parts each comprising six teams, which first meet alternately in a round trip phase.
A second phase will then follow, where each club plays a first leg against the other six, then a third with return matches if the championship comes to an end.
"At Lagny, we have a small fear that it will not go to the end," warns Michel Garel.
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Basketball and volleyball still in the dark
The time has come for the small basketball and volleyball clubs to resume.
And it promises to be complicated.
"The protocol is quite restrictive and it is not obvious for some, confides Kevin Bosi, president of the departmental basketball club of Lésigny (Seine-et-Marne) which has 156 members."
If screening tests are not imposed for amateur championships, the training protocol is the same as for the pros: temperature measurement before each session, mask compulsory except in the event of physical effort, equipment disinfected after each session.
For the changing rooms, the clubs are subject to the decisions of the municipalities.
"At the beginning we did not have access, this is no longer the case but we must respect a free space of 4m² per player, so no more than 5 players at the same time in a locker room of 20 m²", details Julien Hervy, manager at the Rueil basketball club (Hauts-de-Seine).
In the event of suspicion or a confirmed positive case, the referent must report it to the ARS, which launches an investigation, and list the people in contact with the suspected case. “It makes even more work for the volunteers… says Bosi, but it's worth being serious. We all want to play again. "If the clubs have received the instructions to be followed for the resumption of training, on the other hand, nothing has yet been recorded for the championships. "We will release the protocol as close as possible to the resumption of the championships to be as precise as possible, we are thinking about a formula that would not come to an end," explains the Volleyball Federation, which will communicate the protocol at the beginning of next week. .
