By Doug Reed @DougReedFutsal

French League runners up, FC Erdre, participated in the Kuwait Mini Club World Cup in July. Despite disappointing results in the competition the club has a very promising future, with the senior team showing progression every year and it is embedded in its local community.

The club was founded eleven years ago by current President, Mathias Juve, alongside two other friends. In this time the club has developed enormously to arrive to where it is now. The first notable success was in 2007 when the Mens 1st team finished 2nd in the national cup out of 1400 teams, before a national league existed. This was a catalyst for the development of the club as Juve explains; “From this moment we tried to improve everything, to organise the club. I think the top level was not so far.”

The progress of the club was aligned with the progress in French futsal. In 2009 France would have its first national league and with FC Erdre showing promising results they were one of the 24 teams selected to participate in the inaugural edition which was split into north and south sections. Juve recounts their early experience of the league; ”We played the two first years in the north group and now the third and fourth years in the south. In the first two years we finished 4th, we were in 2nd position last year and the 1st position this year so we played the final against Sporting Paris and lost.”

Their results have been very good but the real success has come off the court. They have huge youth and women’s sections and are the biggest club in the country in terms of numbers of players. Juve explains ” We have just over 300 players from the very young people; because we have a section called baby futsal, from three and half to five (years old). Then we have all the categories up until elite competition. We also have a women’s team.”

Further they are very active in their local community. Juve told us “We have 300 players in the club but we are doing many actions outside the club as well. For instance every week we are doing sessions in prisons, one for young people and one for others. We go into primary schools, high schools and a university. We make sessions in disadvantaged areas. We make sessions every week with people with disabilities, especially mental disabilities. In one part we have 300 players in the club and another part we are working with 150 other people each week as well. So we make sessions for 450 people each week in all our activities.”

Returning to the first team, there is a very strong Spanish presence in the ranks. The coach is French but moved to Spain before he reached his teenage years and played futsal in Spain’s top division. He was the first foreign coach in France and Juve explains why he brought him to the club ” It is very difficult to find a coach with the skills speaking French because we have no culture or history for futsal in France. So having the skills, competence and language is very important for us and he is working hard. He is coaching the 1st team but also teaching all the coaches of the different categories in the club.”

On the playing side, half the team is Spanish. As there are no youth futsal leagues in Spain it is difficult to find the players with the ability to play at the top level. Juve admits “To be competitive we have to have players from outside.” The number of foreigners meant it was very difficult for Erdre to put a team together for the tournament in Kuwait as they had only one month’s notice of their participation and many of their players were on holidays in their home country. Their squad’s first training session together was in Kuwait. Half the team flew in from Paris and the other half from Madrid, meaning this was the first time many of the players had met each other.

Their results reflected this unfamiliarity and also the fact that they had never played an international tournament before. Juve says “We have never played the UEFA Cup and most the European teams participating are of this level. And the others from other continents have played these types of tournaments as well.” They were not expecting to qualify before coming but after their games they were disappointed. ”We never thought we had an option to qualify before coming but now we think we could have qualified.”was the reflection by the club’s president.

However they have found it a worthwhile and valuable experience. Juve highlights some of the things they have taken from the tournament; “I think, like everybody, it is a fabulous tournament. It’s a geat opportunity to discover futsal from all the world, strong teams, to know what is our level at this level. I think we will get many important things. I think this tournament is going to grow next year. So it is a great experience at all levels. I just think we will have regrets.

Another benefit comes from the fact that they organise their own annual tournament and will take many ideas back to improve their own event. Their tournament has been running for seven years and features teams from several different continents. Finally it will provide good preparation for the upcoming season which will be more competitive with a new league structure put in place. This season French futsal will have a national 1st division consisting of the teams that finished in the top 6 in the north and south regions last year. It seems like futsal in France and FC Erdre both have a bright future.







Posted by Doug Reed -@DougReedFutsal --> info@futsalplanet.com