After defeating Bordeaux in the semifinals, against all odds, the young women from Nice are in the final facing the giant from Nancy, who have won 10 titles in 11 years.
Elie Carreau, the coach of ONN, is very pleased with his girls’ season, which had aimed for the playoffs.
They have already secured a spot in the European competitions next year with their 2nd place finish in the league and will thus play for the title as underdogs without pressure since from now on it’s all a bonus.
The team is mainly made up of players who are French champions in the cadet (4th title) and junior categories (2nd title), complemented by 4 “veterans” who were already French vice-champions in 2000 and 2001: Anne Gaelle Miry (ONN captain, French national team), Marie-Pierre Arnold (French national team), and the Desmartine sisters, Sandra and Clio.
Elie Carreau is preparing the team for an intense match.
A daily routine of 2 training sessions in a full-size pool and matches against the club’s young male teams are the basis of the preparation for the women from Nice.
After playing all their matches at the Jean Médecin swimming pool, they will host Nancy at Jean Bouin for a big evening of water polo that will conclude the season since the men’s final, in the form of a Final Four, will be held in Marseille the following weekend.
So, join us on Saturday, May 20th at 8 PM at the Jean Bouin swimming pool to help the women from Nice reach the top of the national podium.
President Jean Monnot:
“From the beginning 7 years ago, we focused on training for the women’s team.
It was an ambitious and challenging endeavor.
The investment in human resources, equipment, and finances is heavy and long-term. We cannot just train for the sake of training.
There needs to be a return on investment for the players and the club for it to work.
I believe that we will soon succeed with the women’s team.”
Sports Director Erick Lefert:
“We still have significant room for improvement even though we are already in the final this year, which bodes well for the future.
Our training system can be compared to that of a France hub, in fact, three of our young players, Elise Lefert, Margot Rossi, and Eugénie Pirat are in the junior French national team.
More and more girls are coming to water polo from young ages, which is a good thing, because we were a bit behind in this respect compared to other team sports in France.
It may be the Olympic effect.
It was in Sydney where women’s water polo was featured for the first time, and we hope to see the young girls from our club participate in major global competitions in the future.”
General Director Richard Papazian:
“Being in the final is the reward for work well done over the past few years.
It is also a first step towards European aspirations.”
Coach Elie Carreau:
“The players are very young, and for most of them, this is their first final.
We are therefore working so that they know what they have to do both as a team and individually so that they can just enjoy playing well, which will help relieve the stress caused by the unknown of the situation.
Technically, it’s our ability to manage our defense for 4 periods and a better control of our Zones + that will allow us to play well.”
Team Composition: Roxane Lefert, Loriane Sudre, Sandra Desmartine, Clio Desmartine, Marcha Van Den Heuvel, Eugénie Pirat, Elise Lefert, Aurélie Arbiturer, Virginie Mozdzierz, Adélaïde Pope, Anna Gaelle Miry (captain), Marie-Pierre Arnold, Vanessa Merlet, Sarah Horvath, Charlotte Armessen, Margot Rossi.
