Through Pierre Boissonnat
Published on 21 Jan 22 at 7:04
Becoming a high-level sportswoman while studying is often like an obstacle course.
Even more when we aim, like Perrine Saint-Etienne, a brilliant career as a judoka with a view to participating in the Paris Olympics in 2024 Where Los Angeles in 2028.
The young woman from d’Aubevoye, municipality of Val d’Hazey (Eure), who now fights in – 63 kg, has this ambition: “It would be the absolute dream. But there is still a long way to go”.
So when in addition to having to fight to snatch a sports qualification on the tatami mats, administrative obstacles stand in front of you, the temptation to drop everything can arise. But that’s not in Perrine’s character.
“Judo taught me fighting spirit, to work, to get up in case of failure. It also helped me gain self-confidence and manage stress,” explains the woman who put on her first kimono at the Gaillon-Aubevoye Judo Club.
In the French team since 2018
In fact, Perrine forged a fighter’s mind by leaving the family home of Aubevoye to join the Pôle espoir de Rouen at the age of 14 for three years – her sister Maëlys and her brother Merwan will follow the same path thereafter – before to join the Pôle France in Bordeaux for the year of the final year.
After passing through Saint-Marcel Judo, the judoka now fights with Eure Judo. She has built up a fine track record: vice-champion of France by cadet teams in 2016, she won the European Cadet Cup the following year. In 2018, Perrine became vice-champion of France junior and ranked 5th French in her category in Seniors.
After these fine performances, Perrine Saint-Étienne joined theFrench team junior and theNational Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance (Insep), the national factory of future champions. Enough to further feed his Olympic dreams.
Studying to become a dietitian
However, the young woman has her feet on the ground and does not forget to prepare for the aftermath. “A judoka career ends around the age of 30. Even if it’s my passion, I’m well aware that making a living from judo is complicated. This is why I joined an IUT to follow training in biological engineering to become a dietician. »
Perrine therefore follows, in parallel with her training and her competitions, courses at the university of Créteil (Val-de-Marne). “My studies also allow me not to live completely in a vacuum with only athletes”, explains the one who now divides her time between Normandy and the Paris region.
A former sportswoman by her side
To overcome these difficulties, Perrine Saint-Etienne has benefited since September from the support of a manager, Raisy Bantoo, a former basketball player who also passed through the hope center of Rouen. She explains her role with several young European and Norman athletes.
After noting “some shortcomings in the support of athletes” during his career and especially among young people, Raisy Bantoo decided to start: “I help them to train in media training but also in the search for sponsors or more broadly in their daily difficulties. »
She continues: “The goal is to bridge the gap between high-level sport and everyday life, to provide them with solutions to the problems that arise along their paths. »
Carrying out studies and while training for high-level sport, “it’s a real extra mental load. You have to think about and develop two life projects at the same time. A high-level athlete is obliged, at some point, to retrain and think about it very early on, ”she explains.
“If all goes well in September 2022, I graduate. Afterwards, I would like to continue my studies and do a bachelor’s degree and then a master’s, ”continues Perrine.
Facilities with the University removed
Before the reform of the DUT passed in May 2021, an agreement with Insep allowed future high-level athletes to have a flexible timetable and an agreement to validate each year of the course over several years.
“But with this reform, the facilities have been removed. I had to pass my second year in two years. But that’s no longer possible. So I find myself having to do everything in a year. »
Which doesn’t leave many holes in Perrine’s schedule. “I try to organize myself as well as possible, to optimize my time. My days are very full,” she smiles.
But if it was only that. To validate her year, Perrine must complete her seven-week internship in the spring in addition to another eight weeks at the hospital. A dense calendar that jostles with that of the sportswoman: an internship with the French team is planned for this same period. “I’m trying to find solutions, but otherwise, we’ll have to make a choice between the two…”
Administrative mess with the Department of Eure
In addition to these difficulties with theParis-East Creteil University, another tile arrived in September 2021. Due to an administrative mess, the Department of Eure was unable to award Perrine Saint-Étienne the grant it has been granting her for several seasons.
This grant of 1,000 euros completes the aid that the athlete receives from the Normandy Region (1,500 €).
“Judo is not a professional sport, but you still have to finance a season. This aid allows me to buy my equipment but also to cover my travel expenses in competitions. By the end of the month, I have to participate in an international competition in Belgium after the Normandy team championships, ”says the athlete who gives judo lessons, among other things, to balance the budget for his season.
The Department gives its explanations
At the Department, Pauline Gassama, Sports project manager, indicates that a commission must meet soon to decide on a possible catch-up on the subject of the Perrine Saint-Étienne subsidy.
She explains the reasons for the mess concerning the judoka’s subsidy: “The contact person who previously handled Perrine’s file has left the service. The electronic file that Perrine sent us never reached us. We will see how to award him a grant for this season. »
Pauline Gassama indicates that around forty licensed athletes in the Eure are subsidized by the local authority. These are athletes who practice individual disciplines present on the Elite, France senior or young, Espoir lists.
“The Department allocates grants ranging from 300 to 1,000 euros for these athletes who, like Perrine Saint-Etienne, promote the region. These subsidies allow them to complete their season’s budget. They come in addition for athletes who cannot rely on structures with sufficient capacities for this”, specifies Pauline Gassama.
A good start to the season despite the difficulties
Despite all these obstacles and after 18 months truncated by the Covid-19 pandemic, Perrine continues to chart her course. Better still, it is making an excellent start to the season.
After being crowned champion of Normandy, beating her sister in the final, and university champion of the Île-de-France conference, Perrine Saint-Étienne won the Bourges and Épinal tournaments in the senior excellence category.
Recently, with Eure judo, Perrine won the Normandy Team Championships. The club thus qualified for the French Championships.
So many signs that show his unfailing determination to try to achieve his Olympic ambitions.
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