The official Nîmes Olympique store opened, Mickaël Gas opens up before the match against Hyères, the OAC group to face Fos, the Nîmes students have their Olympic Games, at 43 Mouna Chebbah still dominates women’s handball, and a final match for RCN.
Nîmes Olympique
The Nîmes inaugurated. Last night, Nîmes Olympique fans gathered on Boulevard Victor-Hugo for the official opening of the Le Nîmois store, nearly five months after its opening. A ready-to-wear store offering t-shirts, sweaters, and caps from the Le Nîmois brand, founded by forward and captain Clément Depres, as well as Nîmes Olympique jerseys. “I am very proud of what is behind me. For me, this is one of the most beautiful stores in the city center, if not the most beautiful. I am very happy that Clément told me about his project a few months ago, in turn I told him about mine, and right away we said: our projects go together, it was very smooth. These two brands come together in this beautiful setting, it is a great success,” highlighted Thierry Cenatiempo, club president. It had been a long time since the club had its store in the city center. “Today, we are the only place where you can find Nîmes Olympique jerseys, what a journey,” praised Clément Depres, a former Nîmes player and Nîmes Olympique academy graduate, who immortalized this partnership with a plaque designating Le Nîmois as the official store of the first Gardois club. Among the personalities present were former manager Alain Gazeau and former player Mathias Verschave.
“More intensity.” After the home defeat against Saint-Maur last Saturday (1-2), the Crocodiles have almost no room for error. Third, with one point behind the leader Cannes (who will visit Antonins next week), Nîmes must bounce back against Hyères tomorrow. So, this week, the Nîmes staff has raised the intensity level in training. “We need to restart the engine, we may have slowed down, and we were managing the game. We play as we train,” confirms Mickaël Gas. But the weekend match does not seem like a walk in the park against Hyères, currently 6th in the group and who drew twice against Cannes (1-1 and 3-3) and lost to Nîmes in the first leg (2-0, goals by Dramé and Orinel). “It’s a team that gave us a hard time and is resilient. But what is certain is that we must be much more motivated than this Hyères team,” added the Nîmes coach. In terms of injuries, Salamone, who trained yesterday, as well as the absentees from the beginning of the week, Bennour (ill), Touré (stiff neck), and Sylla (calf), all are fit to play tomorrow. Martinez and Caoki are the main absences.
Olympique Alès in Cévennes An attacking match. This Saturday at 6 p.m., Olympique of Alès in Cévennes will travel to Fos-sur-Mer, at the Parsemain stadium. A match that will see the two best attacks in group H of the championship face each other. With 44 goals scored for OAC and 43 for the Fos team, both teams have the best goal difference in the group, level at (+19). These impressive statistics should please the spectators on-site, hoping that the game scenario from the first leg does not repeat itself, as the match was dull with few opportunities, mainly due to a defensive Fos team. This match will be even more crucial for both teams with four days left, as if the Cévenols win in Fos, they would only be one point behind their opponents. Fos will then face La Duchère and Bourgoin, the first and second in the standings.
The likely starting XI: Bourdelle, Larcier, Chaveriat, Hamard, Traoré; Maurin, Cabezas, Benezet; Bouraja, Ekra, Fournel or Baptiste. Substitutes: Fontaine, Peyrard, André, Coulibaly, Poleri.
A 100% women’s tournament. For the second time this year, OAC and Daudet College in Alès have partnered to organize a 100% women’s tournament. This Friday, thanks to a special day, 95 volunteer female students from Daudet College took part in a futsal tournament in the college gymnasium. Led by Loïc Benoît, a sports teacher at Daudet College, supported by the Alès club, 12 teams of 6 to 7 girls faced off all morning. “The goal is to fight against stereotypes, and the college fights against these inequalities,” said Marie Quinsac, an English teacher in charge of equality issues at the school. The college, which has achieved level 1 in these fights, now aims for level 3 to be a reference in the Alès area. This women’s tournament will also be used to recruit about ten girls to join the football section between Daudet and OAC for the next academic year.
Multisports
The Antonins Games. Throughout the week, the Marcel-Rouvière stadium hosted the fourth edition of the Antonins Games, bringing together over 1,000 CE2 students for a sports Olympiad to highlight collective performance. Half-classes from different neighborhoods competed in various sports disciplines including athletics, rugby, fencing, and also parasports with the discovery of boccia, blind football, and wheelchair basketball alongside students with disabilities to strengthen inclusion. “Today, you will win, lose, but the most important thing is that you will meet other classmates. There will only be winners because in sports, we respect the law, the rule, and the opponent,” emphasized Bruno Ferrier, deputy mayor for Sports in Nîmes, accompanied by Pierre-Edouard Detrez, deputy mayor for Education, before the last day of sports competitions.
USAM Nîmes Gard
Chebbah doubles up. Already awarded in the season opener in September, Tunisian pivot of USAM Nîmes Gard Mouna Chebbah wins the Player of the Month trophy for March in the Women’s Division 2. Currently the top scorer in the French second division championship (149 goals, 71% efficiency), the Gard resident, who will turn 44 in July and has extended for another season, particularly stood out in the three games in March, scoring a total of 23 goals with 66% efficiency, and earning a spot in the Best 7 of the 16th round of the Women’s Division 2. She will have another opportunity to shine this Saturday in La Roche-sur-Yon for the last match of the season in the championship with a final to fight for to keep the fifth place. Bouillargues, guaranteed to finish at least third, also plays against last-placed Bègles. In the men’s division, USAM travels on Sunday at 5 p.m. to face Istres in the 24th round of the Starligue, hoping to end the six consecutive league losses and bounce back after the elimination in the Coupe de France semi-final on Wednesday, as the Green team, 11th, has nothing to play for in this end of the season.
Rugby Club Nîmes
A last match for nothing. This Sunday at 3:15 p.m., RCN visits Fleurance for the last match of the regular phase and the season for Nîmes. In fact, even with a bonus-point victory in Fleurance, and a win for Aubenas against Genève without a bonus point, Nîmes can no longer hope to secure the sixth place, the last one qualifying for the playoffs. A run of three consecutive defeats, including the last one at home against Mâcon, has ended Nîmes’ chances, after reaching the championship finals in the last four years, their season now ends prematurely. The club’s management will certainly draw consequences from this failure.
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