The Elite handball tournament in Saint-Affrique, high level and guaranteed spectacle

US Ivry players and coaches (in red) with Thibault Vaquerin (right) and the Istres Provence team. DR

Joueurs et entraîneurs de l’US Ivry (en rouge) avec Thibault Vaquerin (à droite) et l’équipe d’Istres Provence. DR  DR

Two D1 teams and two D2 teams are facing off in a friendly match tonight and tomorrow at the 12 étoiles.

The third edition of the Élite La Vie Claire tournament is taking place today and tomorrow at the 12 étoiles gymnasium. It is organized by Saint-Affrique handball (SAHB). Four high-level professional teams are participating. Two are in D1: US Ivry and Istres Provence. Two are in D2: Club Cournon-d'Auvergne and Frontignan Thau.

“We call on sports and handball fans from the entire region, from Aveyron and neighboring departments, and even the curious from Saint-Affrique, to attend these matches, declares Damien Solassol, co-president of the SAHB. These will be committed matches. This is high-level sport in Saint-Affrique.“

“I really liked the organization during the first tournament and the level of the teams is high, declares Gilles Derot, the coach of Istres Provence, who played for a long time in Nîmes. During each summer preparation period, we are fond of these tournaments." 

On their first day of the championship, the Provençaux will play against Ivry. And three days before, they will meet Frontignan Thau in the Coupe de France. Hierarchy « Cournon is a team that is growing every year, that is very active and that does good work, also underlines Gilles Derot. Also, they are perfect teams for the end of preparation. There have been quite a few changes in our group, with quite a few set-ups and work on consistency. » Istres leaves Saturday evening after the matches. The second club in D1 is US Ivry.

For the past month, the assistant coach has been a local boy. He is Thibault Vaquerin. Aged 31, he is the son of Franck Vaquerin, one of the organizers of the eponymous rugby tournament. Thibault Vaquerin fell into the “pot” of handball, with the SAHB, at the age of four.

After his baccalaureate in Saint-Affrique, he completed a degree and a master's degree in Staps in Montpellier. There he met Jérôme Diaz, head of Montpellier Handball, who brought him into the club as a youth coach. Then came the national under-18s and then the Pôle Espoir Occitanie. Thibault Vaquerin crossed the Atlantic in 2022 to work as technical director of the province of Quebec. Then he returned to France in 2024. He is assistant to Didier Dinart, “ a handball giant, five times world champion as a player and coach and two times Olympic champion. I am extremely happy to be back on the court that made me want to love this sport and make it my job. I am happy to see the people who taught me the first fundamentals again."

The Ivry team is in its fifth week of preparation. “The game plan is really understood, says the assistant coach. The goal is to transfer everything we saw in training to matches through collective performance. We played two friendly matches at home with varying degrees of success. One against PSG and the second against Tremblay-en-France. We hope to win against the D2 teams to respect the hierarchy. We hope to play in the final during a tough match with great intensity against Istres.” The two D1 teams still need to qualify. Ivry's second goal is to play in a new environment, far from its fans.

Schedules

The matches take place at the 12-star gymnasium. Today (Friday, August 23), at 6:30 p.m., Cournon plays Ivry. At 8:30 p.m., Frontignan Thau meets Istres Provence. Tomorrow (Saturday, August 24), at 5 p.m., match for third place. The final will take place at 7 p.m. and the trophy presentation at 8:30 p.m. Prices: under 7s, free. From 7 to 14s, €5 per day and €8 per person. the two-day pass. Over 14s, 10 &euro per day and 18 &euro for the two-day pass. Online ticketing on the website https://www.helloasso.com/associations/saint-affrique-handball. During both evenings, refreshments and food on site.