Basketball: Céline Dumerc, icon of the Bleues, joins the staff of the federation

Text by: Farid Achache Follow

Former player of the French women's team, Céline Dumerc, 37, has already returned to the Bleues three years after having retired from her international career. She was appointed general manager of the women's selection of the French Basketball Federation.

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Céline Dumerc is the newcomer to coaching women. The former captain of the "Braqueuses", silver medalist at the London 2012 Olympics, will become general manager of the women's selection. "  Céline is one of the successful examples of French basketball for everything,  " comments Valérie Garnier, the coach of the Bleues, who was also extended until 2021 and who finds her former player in Bourges between 2011 and 2016, then in the France team, from 2013 to 2017.

262 selections with girls

Céline Dumerc will only take up her full-time duties in a year, because at 37, she wants to play a last season as a player with her Basket Landes club .

“  The French team gave me the best moments of my career. Sharing my experience with the youngest is pure happiness,  ”said the playmaker, European champion in 2009, whose future responsibilities remain“  a little vague  ”. “  These are things that will emerge after discussions with the staff; it will come together very slowly. I'm going to be a player and I'm not going to be completely free at first,  ”also said the holder of the selection record in blue (262), forfeited for the Rio Games in 2016 after an ankle injury.

At the start of the twentieth season of her professional career, Céline Dumerc still intends to have fun with her Basket Landes club. Since the London Olympics, its popularity has remained intact.

The young woman born in Tarbes to a tiler father, an accountant mother, knew the top of the basket by playing two seasons in Russia in Yekaterinburg (2009-2011). At the time, she made a lot of money - $ 500,000 a year - and thought about her future. "  I love playing so much, I hope I will realize when I have to stop,  " she told Liberation in 2015. She may have seen herself coaching and had already had the opportunity to pass the necessary diplomas.

A new challenge awaits me! Thank you to @ffbasketball for their confidence in assigning me this role. Excited and Honored with the desire to share my experience as well as possible! See you soon for new adventures! 🏀🇨🇵 https://t.co/v0GrMj3C6x

Like Tony Parker, Céline Dumerc, nicknamed "Caps'" (de "capsule"), holds a prize list that has won her distinctions such as the 2012 Player of the Year Award (FIBA Europe). The whole being crowned with the Knight Medal of the Order of Merit. With Bourges, in thirteen seasons, she conquered six titles of champions of France and a European title. And she remains one of the main ambassadors of French female sport.

She feeds on the energy of others

“  When people talk about me, I always associate my teammates because I know that without them and without my coaches, I would not be there. When I see my teammates who are in good shape, it gives me courage. I feed on their energy,  ”said Céline Dumerc in the columns of the daily Le Monde .

The federation's proposal to integrate the staff of the France team will allow it to materialize the handover, and after career. The year 2021 will be particularly busy for women, who will compete at the end of June for Euro 2021 in France, the final phase of which will take place in Paris-Bercy, before tackling their Olympic objective from July 23 to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo.

“  Will I live up to the expectations of the FFBB? I have not signed a job for life. I haven't made too many plans on the comet, I just want to start the experience, this new challenge to see if I have the capacity, what I can bring and then we'll see  ”, she asks in the columns of L'Équipe . With an incredible talent, humility and love for the tricolor jersey, Céline Dumerc should quickly find her role.

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