Hockey in Nice does not have a very long history, barely existing for about thirty years. It was in 2003 that Mickaël Medioni, president of NHCA, took over the club after filing for bankruptcy following the 2002-2003 season. “Our goal at the time was to have a stable club, with a good reputation and a clean image, far from the excesses the club had known before…” By implementing a very structured policy, Nice Hockey Côte d’Azur has managed to rise to the challenges it faced. “The last five seasons have been very positive, we are happy but we know it’s the end of a cycle. The arrival in division 1 will be a new turning point for the club…” Aware of the work accomplished, Mickaël Medioni remains, however, cautious about the upcoming season: “We have just reached a level we are not familiar with, our goal is to maintain our position. If we finish between 8th and 12th, we would be satisfied, but relegation is not in the plans, that would even be a disaster…”
In order to ensure the longevity of the club, NHCA places a lot of hope in its training policy: “Our training objective is set over ten years, in addition to the playful spirit we teach the youngest, we also try to teach them the basics, the foundations of the professional environment. Ultimately this policy will bear fruit, we are thinking of integrating one or two young players into the senior team quite quickly for this season. Our main advantage, compared to other clubs, is that we have the only ice rink in the department, which allows us to recruit, particularly among the youth over a large area…”
A major problem remains for Nice Hockey Côte d’Azur in increasing its ambition, the cost of facilities for practice: “Our annual budget is around 400,000 euros, of which 150,000 euros is just for renting the ice rink, in the long term this might harm us. We have met Gilles Veissière, who is very aware of the situation, and we feel that he is concerned about our fate, just like the mayor. For now, the municipality does not have the major directives of the future project, but we are giving ourselves an additional season to meet them and present what the club will be like in the next five to seven years…”
Nice Hockey Côte d’Azur:
– Annual budget: 400,000 euros
– New recruits: Erik Broman (östersund), Tobias Carlsson (mörrum), Jens Eriksson (surrahammars), Mickaël Mahaut (cergy), Remi Perronnard (nantes), Daniel Reiss (hanover), Sylvain Roy (annecy), Cyril Selin (la roche).
– For any contact:
Headquarters: 89 boulevard las planas – 06100 Nice
Website: nicehockey.com
Phone: 04.93.98.67.16
