Throughout this month of August tinged with blue, white and red, we have the chance to follow the backstage of The french team in a mini-series called “Daily”, and whose fifth episode “Stewardship” was recently released. We take a look!
In the long list of things we don’t necessarily think of when we talk about the French team in a discussion, there is stewardship, which is one of the most important aspects but also the least mentioned. And for good reason, imagine our Blues arriving in Germany next September… without belongings or equipment. Complicated to perform in this situation, right? This is precisely the reason why this subject is addressed in “Intendance”, the fifth episode of the “Daily” mini-series which allows us to follow the Blues from the inside until the end of the EuroBasket. Well, what does Vincent Poirier think of this logistics work?
“As a player, you especially want to focus on basketball. You never have to think ‘ah shit I have to take my pair of sneakers, ah I have to think about my tights, oh I have to think about my jersey’. It is also important to find the environment in which you evolve throughout the year and which helps you to be as efficient as possible. –Vincent Poirier
If on the one hand it is therefore normal for this work to be carried out by another, this should not prevent us from talking about it and saluting the latter when it is well done. But then what exactly are we talking about when we talk about “stewardship”? Well here, it will be above all the organization of the transport of luggage but also of medical, video or training equipment in its entirety between the different places of training or matches. Because if, as Boris Diaw reminds us at the start of the video, it was more difficult to travel at the time when private jets were not a must have, this does not change the workload of Théo Gallois, steward, who must each time find a way to hold nearly two tons of equipment on pallets. Hell of a job. Finally, there is also the welcome which is important, because it’s fine to arrive with 2,000 kilos of clothes and gear under your arms, but if it’s to sleep under a bridge, it’s not either the ideal. And for once, it is the assistant general manager Yann Barbitch who explains the importance of this aspect, where nothing is left to chance:
“It’s demanding. It’s demanding but when you stay a week, sometimes ten days, in a place, the players and the staff have to be in the best conditions to prepare for the big competitions. In fact, performance can only be considered over time. And being efficient over time is made up of small details. These aspects, transport in particular, when you add them over an entire six-week campaign… the fact of gaining one, two, three, four days of rest over six weeks is enormous. – Yann Barbitch
Once again, shadow work is honored in this mini-series offered by the French team. It is clear that these kinds of subjects will be difficult to discuss once the competition has started, so we are taking advantage of these calmer days to learn more about how our delegation works, and that’s cool.