What do Tidjane Salaün, Moussa Diabaté (Charlotte Hornets), Pacôme Dadiet (New York Knicks) and Armel Traoré (Los Angeles Lakers) have in common? A clue: Evan Fournier, a former NBAer, went to the same club. Just like Nolan Traoré, Maxime Raynaud and Mohamed Diawara called to more or less certainly join the NBA. Answer: they all passed through Saint-Charles de Charenton. The French (Lahaou Konaté) and Cameroonian (Jérémy Nzeulie) internationals too.
The 94 club takes full advantage of the fabulous Parisian reservoir and knows how to refine talents. Does its president, <a href="https://www.archysport.com/2023/02/victor-wembanyama-the-nugget-of-french-basketball-who-makes-the-nba-dream/" title="Victor Wembanyama, the nugget of French basketball who makes the NBA dream”>Fabrice Canet, who is also the media manager at the FFBB and referee for Betclic Elite, have a trade secret?
“There is no rational explanation other than that we have been in charge of training for 20 years,” he explains to Le Parisien. We have put resources into detection and training, from categories U 11 to U 18 with efficient and demanding supervision. Here the pyramid is inverted compared to the other clubs, even if we are happy to have our first team in Nationale 3 (5th French level), the central team is that of the U 15. » This won the title of champion of France three times between 2006 with Evan Fournier and 2015.
Saint-Charles will soon reach 700 members who play in no less than six gymnasiums. Training players for the NBA is not a matter of money for the Val-de-Marne club, as Fabrice Canet reminds us.
“We only receive a sum of between 900 and 1,200 euros once when a player becomes a professional in France. It’s sometimes frustrating not to have recognition for this shadow work. This is a lack, we should put in place a virtuous circle where the economy would flow towards amateur clubs. We are only beginning to say to ourselves that we should communicate. »
