ASPTT Montpellier Métropole is giving itself the means to succeed in developing the practice of women’s football

L'équipe U15 de l'ASPTT Montpellier Métropole ASPTT – ASPTT

En plus de son équipe fanion au plus haut niveau régional et de son école de football à la pointe, le club montpelliérain organise un tournoi national à la fin du mois de mars.

At ASPTT Montpellier, the best team is made up of female players. Engaged in Regional 1, the equivalent of the fourth division, it is currently second in its group behind the Montpellier HSC reserve and ahead of that of Toulouse FC.

If the club is evolving at this level, it is the result of around fifteen years of work to develop women's football in Montpellier. "We only started with a senior team, explains president Dominique Pomaret. And it took so well that we currently have around a hundred licensees out of a total of 340. At the start, we didn't know what it was going to give, today, we are the second club in the department behind the MHSC."

Pomaret : "Offering girls what we did with boys"

If the neighbors of AS Lattes play in the third division, ASPTT makes the difference with its football school: "We have implemented an operating method similar to what  rsquo;we were already doing it with the boys, continues Dominique Pomaret. We said to ourselves that we needed to train players, so that they get used to playing at the club and then join the first team. We wanted to offer girls what we did with boys."

Above all, the leaders of the ASPTT have surfed on a strong demand mixed with a change of mentality. Thus, the Montpellier club presents teams in U11, U13, U15 and U18. "I can count on 26 players in U15 and I had to refuse around ten, says Thomas Viala, coach of the category. We also see that there is emulation, parents follow us everywhere to watch the matches. From U15 onwards, we play 11 against 11 on a large field, this is the time to work on tactics and also to integrate physical preparation. We train three times a week."

A partnership with the MHSC

Since this season, the ASPTT, based on the grounds of the Domaine de Grammont, has developed a partnership with the big Montpellier club: "The girls who play at the MHSC have the opportunity to come to us, at a smaller level, to progress, rejoices Zahir Bouchekhchoukh, technical manager. Conversely, four ASPTT players joined Montpellier Hérault. We also do joint internships."

If, for the moment, the youngest categories are mixed, due to a lack of a sufficient number of players, the ASPTT has proven that it is possible for a club to rest, in terms of level as well as number of licensees, on its players. And as football is now played by everyone on the field, the next major step will be to see women en masse occupying roles as educators and leaders.

A national U15 U18 tournament on Easter weekend

The first edition of the ASPTT Montpellier tournament will take place on Saturday March 30 and Sunday March 31 on the four courts of the Domaine de Grammont. Sixteen U15 and eight U18 teams will compete over two days during this great football festival. Montpellier. Clubs from all over France will be present such as MHSC, TFC, Rodez, Albi, Montauban and Maubeuge. Refreshment bar on site, free entry.

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