This Wednesday, August 30, OGC Nice Côte d’Azur Handball officially launches its championship with the reception of Saint-Amand at 8:30 PM. Clément Alcacer, coach and manager of the club, reflects on the preparation and the upcoming season for the occasion.
“It’s all well and good to train, play friendly matches, but now we all really want to play games. The girls are eager to start. That’s the prevailing feeling among all the players right now,” confides Clément Alcacer. On the eve of the championship’s resumption, the Nice coach takes stock of his group’s preparation. “We worked in full throughout the preparation. We’ve made good progress on the game plan and in creating the group. It’s a pretty good prep. Now, it’s just a feeling; we have to win matches,” reveals the general manager.
The off-season has been busy for the Aiglonnes: “We’ve renewed the squad by almost 50%. There were a lot of moves during the off-season. It was a real challenge to recreate group dynamics, automatisms,” explains the coach of OGC Nice. The squad has gotten younger, with the arrival of Croatian Tena Pekita and Spaniard Nicole Wiggins. Both players are from the year 2000. “They are both internationals. They have potential in their respective countries and come here to play in a championship that allows them to progress,” highlights Clément Alcacer about them.
“We are determined to do better than last year”
To continue its development, the club sets several goals to achieve. “In terms of sports, we are determined to do better than last year. In the sense that we can approach it from several sporting aspects,” argues the coach. He then adds: “remain the best club in the southern region, win more matches than last season, but it could also be winning more home games than last year or being better in statistics.”
This year, OGC Nice competes in a new season of the Butargaz Energy League. This is the first professional division in women’s handball. “We are fortunate to be in one of the most interesting championships in the world. We have quality teams. More and more, real international stars are joining the championship. It’s a real strength,” estimates the manager and coach of the Eagles. Clément Alcacer confirms that the overall level of the league keeps increasing in recent years.
“One of the major goals of the club this year is to try to make ourselves known in Nice”
The club also aims for the ambition to develop its visibility in the Nice city. “We chose to develop sportingly and to develop at the club level. One of the major goals of the club this year is to try to make ourselves known in Nice. We want to enhance our spectator capital, get closer to the people of Nice, meet them in the city, and bring them to the gym,” ambitions Clément Alcacer.
The Aiglonnes’ coach expresses his regrets about the lack of visibility of women’s handball in France. “The only downside to the championship is that no one knows about it. Whether it’s women’s handball in France or just OGC Nice handball. In Nice, some don’t know that there is a women’s handball team at this level in the city. It’s a bit of a shame,” laments the club’s general manager.
See you this Wednesday, August 30 for the start of the championship. OGC Nice Côte d’Azur Handball hosts Saint-Amand Handball at the Charles Ehrmann Sports Hall for the first day of the league. Kick-off at 8:30 PM.
