Nice Premium: What are your annual budgets and what percentage comes from public subsidies?
Christian Baldacchino: Budget for SASP + association: €1,900,000, of which approximately €420,000 is public money. The association’s budget is €550,000, of which approximately €330,000 is public money.
NP: What is your scope of activity and the most important aspects of your action?
CB: We have four main directions: elevating team 1 to a high level (pro d2), sustaining women’s rugby, improving the training of our young players to make them a real pool for the main team and moving towards the creation of a training center, and establishing Nice as a true rugby hub by promoting rugby for all (creation of another club in Nice, leisure rugby, etc.).
NP: What is the number of license holders by category?
CB: Around 650 license holders, including 270 at the rugby school, 80 cadets, 60 juniors, 100 seniors, 40 leisure, 40 women, and the rest are educators and leaders.
NP: Do you have a structured training program for the youth and what percentage of your budget is allocated to it?
CB: Training the youth is the core activity of the association, with already very good results at the rugby school level, which is one of the largest in France and participates in the most prestigious competitions with excellent results. Our young players, both in the under-14 and under-16 categories, are frequently invited to departmental and regional selections, almost as numerous as those from Toulon. The budget should be around €300,000.
NP: What is the ratio between the number of first-team players and those from the club’s training program?
CB: It’s difficult to answer this question due to the disruption caused by the downfall of Racing, but we can say there are about a dozen players.
NP: What are your regrets and satisfactions during this season?
CB: We stayed within our objectives: no good or bad surprises. What satisfies us the most and reassures us is the support from the city hall. It is up to us to live up to it and earn their trust.
NP: What are the priority objectives for the year 2010?
CB: Strengthen the club in its structures and resources. Improve training so that our best young players are less tempted by the opportunity to join other clubs and aim to have more competitive youth teams at the highest level. Be capable of attempting an adventure in women’s division 1, if the women achieve promotion. They are capable, given the matches they play. As for team 1, we all dream, of course, of promotion to pro d2.
