- Streetball, and more generally basketball, is booming in Paris.
- It is worn by the town hall, associations and the Quai 54 tournament.
- Renovations and creations of playgrounds have followed one another in recent years.
They did not wait for the arrival of an NBA game tonight in Bercy to take the leap. They are the players in Parisian basketball who for several years have made the City of Light one of the world spots for orange balls, and particularly streetball or street basketball. This rise of Paris was notably made possible by strong support from the Paris city hall. "Over the past three years, including 2020, we have invested almost 3 million euros in the construction or renovation of outdoor grounds," says Jean-François Martins, sports assistant. For example, that of Les Halles or those under the Stalingrad metro that were abandoned. "
The renovation of the Stalingrad grounds, once occupied by homeless people, was carried out as part of a participatory budget project led by the Meltin'Club association. “We knew this field when it was born in 1994, recalls Bakary Sakho, co-founder of the collective and who took his first double step there. It was important to preserve it so that young people could continue to play it. "While carrying out a social project aiming to build" a dynamic of living together, of doing together ".
Lebron James in the 9th
Meltin'club thus became responsible for the management of the site. A relay desired by Jean-François Martins: "The city cannot alone create a basketball court in free access and withdraw. We need local actors to organize events, send messages, in particular the reduction of noise pollution, or simply notify us when a sign is flawed. The collective co-founded by Bakary Sakho promises "tournaments, exhibitions, meeting-debates, concerts", without forgetting the increase in the place of women with reserved space.
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At the same time, private entities have funded the restoration of playgrounds in the capital. "We worked with the big clubs and the equipment manufacturers to seek private funds to make land, not only new, but which also had a bit of style, like the Duperré field in the 9th, renovated with the help from Nike and inaugurated with Lebron James in 2015, details the sports assistant. There was also the ground on rue Des Haies (20th) with Michael Jordan in 2015. ”The mayor of Paris has also for several years established links with the all-powerful NBA, resulting in, among other things, the renovation in 2016 from the playground on rue Charles-Moureu (13th).
The biggest streetball tournament in the world
In addition to this work on infrastructure, the Quai 54 tournament has established itself as the largest streetball event in the world. “We created the tournament in 2003 to be able to have fun with friends, says Hammadoun Sidibé, founder of the event. In 2019, there were 15,000 spectators on the weekend with 160 players on the field. "The success of this urban 5x5 competition was accompanied by the Paris city hall which" trusts us extremely in the development of the event ", rejoices Hammadoun Sidibé. He is now in discussions with the NBA to "find out how the North American league could integrate Pier 54, because every year there are many NBA players who come to attend and play."
The craze for Quai 54 and streetball can also be seen on the Parisian playgrounds. "Despite the current cold, the grounds of Stalingrad are constantly occupied," says Bakary Sakho. There is a very high demand for streetball, a desire to practice outside of academic basketball. "" As soon as you open a basketball court, you know it will fill up. Whenever we renovate or create one, it is immediately full, says Jean-François Martins. There is a surge in basketball in Paris, in all its forms. "
The FFBB on the lookout
And the French Basketball Federation intends to reap the benefits. “Today the 3x3 [directly from streetball] is a priority axis of development of the federation, says Jérôme Prigent, director of the 3x3 Cluster at the FFBB. All Ile-de-France committees organize year-round championships in at least one category. We also have a project to develop tournaments on Parisian playgrounds and activities around 3x3. "
This active policy also exists because the 3x3 has become an Olympic discipline and will be present this summer in Tokyo. And the FFBB has made its accounts while the federations are finding it increasingly difficult to retain their members. "Today there are 2.5 million basketball players in France and a little over 700,000 licensees, so there is a huge reserve of people to go looking for, it is really with the 3x3 that we hope to go win this population in our tournaments and our structures, ”explains Jérôme Prigent. To adapt to a demand more focused on the street than on clubs, the FFBB has implemented Superleague passes for a year and a half which allow for 33 euros, to participate in all 3x3 tournaments affiliated to the federation, without needing to be attached to a structure.
For Jean-François Martins, this boom in streetball and basketball in general in the capital "made it possible to convince the NBA to come to Paris and recover this match for the English, which is always quite pleasant". Certainly, Paris is the basketball capital of the world (at least for this Friday evening).
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