This season, the Men’s Ligue A Championship will have 13 clubs.
At the end of the regular season, the clubs ranked from 1st to 8th will compete in the Play-Offs to become the Champion of France in LAM. No club will be relegated to LBM at the end of the season.
Tonight at 8 PM, Nice Volley-Ball begins its season on the field in Rennes. A new season for the Nice club in the Men’s Ligue A with new objectives.
Having finished 9th last year, the Nice club begins the 2018-2019 season with ambitions. Finishing the season just outside the top 8, only 3 points away from the play-offs, left a slight bitter taste for the people of Nice last season. Almost 6 months later, as they return to the fray, the team has changed significantly, as have their expectations. The declared goal is participation in the play-offs.
Nine departures and nine arrivals during the Nice pre-season. Noteworthy is the departure of the captain, former French international Yoan Jaumel. He is replaced by Zeljko Coric from Bosnia as captain. The former player from Ajaccio brings his high-level experience to the setter position. He also oversees a younger squad, being 30 himself. He will serve as the relay for the coach, Mladen Kasic, on the field.
The arrival of many players changes a team and the game. With a larger squad and superior passing quality, the team can aim higher.
“Our goal is to play well; there’s no relegation this year, so that takes some pressure off us. We’re focusing on playing well, and if we realize we can go far, we will,” says the new Bosnian captain.
He continues, “Joining a new team? It’s volleyball, there are a lot of movements, so it’s normal. It will take some time to find automatons, but it will come quickly; we are working well here. Furthermore, in our sport, communication is very important, and everyone speaks French here, so that’s already one less job to do.”
A young team with talent is what Nice needs to establish itself more firmly in the national landscape.
Pierre Ferrand
