Valenciennes players in full effort. - VAFC screenshot

  • Like all football supporters in France, VAFC fans have not seen their players since the end of the championships in March.
  • In order to stay in touch, the club has established live muscle building sessions on the Internet.
  • Fun and useful, this initiative could quickly make a splash in other sports clubs.

It took us three weeks of confinement to realize that videoconferencing software - now ranked in the top 3 favorite hobbies of the French behind the massive storage of toilet paper and the denunciation of joggix (the Footix of jogging) on social networks - could be used for something other than a drink with friends. First news ! And it is to the Valenciennes club (Ligue 2) that we owe it.

Since Monday, the club has in fact allowed its fans to follow live on Youtube a muscle building session with the professional staff, his coach and his physical trainer. Thus, for 45 minutes, they were able to benefit from the advice of Emmanuel Vallance, performance manager at Valenciennes, while taking news of their players with whom they no longer have any connection since the end of the championship and the beginning of confinement, last mid-March.

Thanks to 1,777 brave people for following us this morning for this #VAFCWorkingFromHome.
What do you think ? We put that back ? # TeamVAFC # RestezChezVous # ConfinementJour22 #StayHome #StayHomeChallenge #VAFC pic.twitter.com/5gyO74r1LI

- Emmanuel VALLANCE (@ManuVallance) April 7, 2020

Reconnect with supporters

"The supporters are happy, we have had good feedback so far," says the fitness coach. It is complicated for our supporters not to see their players as is usually the case when they come to matches or training. The idea is to reconnect with them. And then it's nice, they see the somewhat "private" side of our players since everyone is filming live from home. "

Before the start of the session, once the group is full, coach Olivier Guégan takes the floor to invite those who wish to "sweat a little" with the players. There follows a multitude of physical exercises to perform at home with the means at hand. “These are exercises accessible to everyone, sometimes with everyday accessories so as not to leave anyone on the side. We did some exos with a chair, toilet paper, bottles of water. I'm trying to make it fun and accessible to everyone, ”says Emmanuel Vallance.

Great session followed with @VAFC players this morning with @ManuVallance the PP. Thank you to the club and the staff for this sharing. pic.twitter.com/BLxuA3T3ax

- Sébastien DECROIX (@ SbastienDECROI2) April 7, 2020

If he is first of all a fervent supporter of the neighboring LOSC, Sébastien still very much appreciated the Valenciennes idea. Sports instructor in life, and "always looking for new things" for his sessions, he salutes "the excellent initiative of the club" and promises to follow the next session on Friday. Question of difficulty, this Lille fan had no trouble keeping up with the pace: “As a sportsman, I knew how to hold the session without any problem. It was quite intense but I find that it is still quite suitable for a novice audience. "

The idea spills over

"We did not change the session compared to what we usually do between us," explains the physical trainer in charge of the session. Afterwards, I obviously adapt my instructions according to the level of the people behind their screen. When we ask our players for example to hold 45 seconds on such or such exercise, with 15 seconds of recovery, I will tell the novices who watch us to rather leave on a duration of 30 seconds per exercise and 30 seconds of recovery. "

Beyond the fun side of these meetings of a new type, Olivier Guégan, on the initiative of the project, sees in this solution "a way to keep the players alert and under pressure". “In addition to the individual sessions they perform three to four times a week, I found it important to maintain a strong bond between the players and the staff in the first instance, and between the players and the supporters in the second. time, he explains. And then the players are very demanding. It allows them to meet, to communicate (in addition to the WhatsApp group that we opened), to laugh, to roam, and it also allows the young people of the training center to piggyback on the session. It is also a way to show our supporters that our players are not inactive and that the club does not forget them ”.

With close to 1,800 people connected live during the session (the video has since been seen nearly 4,000 times), success seems to be there. To the point of giving ideas to others? "Yes," replies Emmanuel Vallance. Other clubs are starting to look a little at what we have done and it is not impossible that they reproduce it on their side. I believe in particular that the Lyon rugby club [the LOU] is considering the idea of ​​setting up something similar. »Until your heart club takes the train on the way, you can always follow the courses in Valenciennes. History of eliminating aperitifs online and sweating like a pro.

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  • Sport
  • Containment
  • VACF
  • Valenciennes
  • Ligue 2
  • Soccer
  • Coronavirus