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"It's important not to forget where we come from," says Evan Fournier, inaugurating a playground

2022-08-22T19:19:17.594Z


Two days before a playoff match for the 2023 World Cup, four players from the France team attended the inauguration of a t


Suddenly, Kalvin is overwhelmed, swallowed up, by dozens of euphoric spectators.

The 20-year-old has just scored the winning basket.

Thanks to this shot in extra time, the hero of the day allows his team - the "Paris Playground" - to win, this Monday afternoon, the final of the Parisian basketball tournament "Joue-La Playground", organized by the City of Paris and the French Basketball Federation.

A sweet madness invades the Léo-Lagrange sports center located in the 12th arrondissement.

The two tennis players who hit the ball at the same time on the neighboring court do not understand this sudden popular enthusiasm nor the presence - numerous - of the media and the police.

Guest stars have slipped among the spectators of this final.

Olympic vice-champions of Tokyo last year.

Two days away from facing the Czech Republic on Wednesday at the Accor Arena as part of the qualifiers for the 2023 World Cup and, above all, ten days from launching the EuroBasket in Germany, Evan Fournier, Vincent Poirier, Guerschon Yabusele and Timothé Luwawu -Cabarrot were present to attend the match and the inauguration of the completely renovated basketball court with a design imagined by the collective of artists Small Studios and Hypermur.

Kalvin, the hero of the day, is entitled to the congratulations of the Blues of basketball.

“They even jumped on me, assures the person concerned.

I want my photo with them and above all to play against them”.

“I would have loved to play on a pitch that was renovated at the time”

On the refurbished ground, we can see the new name of the land “Léo”, for Léo-Lagrange.

The neighboring playground - called "Chacha" like Charenton - was renovated a few days ago.

A renovation carried out as part of the legacy of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games and co-financed by the City of Paris and the Basketball Federation and supported by the Caisse d'Epargne and the National Sport Agency.

The cost is around 50,000 euros per plot.

“Thanks to the Olympic and Paralympic Games, we were able to accelerate the renovation of the grounds, explains Pierre Rabadan, sports assistant at the Paris town hall.

We have renovated 15 this year, the objective is to renovate 19 in 2023 and to reach fifty after the Games.

And thus to allow better access to outdoor sports, especially in working-class neighborhoods.

It gives a sense of pride to belong to these neighborhoods because all the lands have a unique signature.

It is both useful and beautiful.

»

This moment is also a bath of youth for Evan Fournier.

The new captain of the Blues indeed frequented the grounds of the younger Léo-Lagrange center.

“It's important not to forget where we come from, I played here as a teenager, smiles the New York Knicks player, who grew up in the neighboring town of Charenton.

We came here because there were always people and we were sure to find opponents.

I would have loved to play on a renovated pitch, at the time it was not like that.

It's a great initiative.

»

Source: leparis

All sports articles on 2022-08-22

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