Always with a smile on her lips, she does not hesitate to get involved to allow young people without a diploma to build their future as a trainer at the second chance school (E2C) in Fréjus.
At the age of 33, Camille Catala is already on her second life, having swapped her French international soccer cleats for notebooks and pens.
The young woman no longer inspires so much by her touch of the ball as by her involvement and her caring gaze. Despite everything, a vocation that arrived late. Like football, by the way.
“As a child, I was always immersed in sport. My father was a PE teacher and my mother competed in trail running. I was more into athletics and tennis. At that time, football was not part of my life except, as for many children, in the playground. It must be said that my parents wanted to protect me from the flaws of this very masculine environment.
Then, the breakthrough came at the age of 16, when the Cévennes native joined a 100% female and intergenerational team in Saint-Christol-lez-Alès.
“My first experience of club football. To take me to training, my parents traveled a lot of miles because although today the women’s sections have become more democratic, it was rare in 2005”.
Camille then bets everything on this sport, embarked by “the power of the collective”. And her performances quickly earned her recognition.
“From the first year I joined the Languedoc-Roussillon team to play in the national cup and it turns out that we won this competition. It opened the doors to sport-study for me in Saint-Etienne where I I passed my Bac S. I was very careful not to compromise on studies even if I didn’t yet know what I wanted to do.”
“It made me addicted to this sport and its emotions”
Barely arriving at the Greens, she was selected to join the French under-17 team (U17). Enough to turn the head of those who were aiming for participation in the Olympic Games in athletics a few months before.
“It made me addicted to this sport and its emotions. I wasn’t the most talented but maybe I wanted it more than the others. With Saint-Etienne, we went looking for performances where we weren’t really expected.”
In the years that followed, Camille was titled European champion with the French U19 team in 2010, won the Coupe de France under the Saint-Etienne jersey and finished off the podium at the Universiades the same year.
Because when she is not on the lawn, the young woman spends her time on the benches. Not those on the sidelines but at the university where she obtained her degree in sciences and techniques of physical and sporting activities.
The year 2011 also marked her first selection for the France A team. In 2012, she moved to FCF Juvisy, now Paris FC, where she finished fourth with the French team at the London Olympic Games, arriving the year afterwards until the semi-final of the Champions League and the quarter-final of the Euro.
“We dreamed of titles but not money”
An exceptional journey but one that does not allow Camille to make a living from her passion. “We had some match bonuses but even the best teams were not professional. We dreamed of titles but not money. It’s simple, there wasn’t any. Everyone worked during the day and went to train The evening.”
What does it matter! Camille has, in any case, a “double project” in which she finds “a precious personal balance”. She thus obtained a Master’s degree in teaching, education and training and was accepted in the competition for recruitment of school teachers at the Versailles academy where she taught.
“It was a bit of a struggle because there aren’t many high-level athletes at the first level. And given the strong needs, national education has difficulty providing part-time work to continue the sport. During my first assignment, when I left for the French team, I was not replaced and that posed a problem for me. Fortunately, through fighting, I found inspectors recognizing the interest of one. high-level sportswoman”.
Ending her sporting career in 2021 due to a knee injury, Camille then turned to Fréjus, where her grandparents live.
The national education scales do not allow her to be transferred but she then joins the educational support project of the second chance school.
“When I stopped playing football, what was complicated was no longer having, every morning, a well-defined objective. With E2C I found objectives that I set with the young people so that they can get back on their feet and find their way I am convinced that these young people with a chaotic path, who still find the strength to try to get out of it, are real gems behind the lack of academic success.
But as sport is never far away, Camille now practices futnet where she even “taken in the game of competition”. She will also participate in the next Estérel futnet cup, which will take place on Place Coullet next July. Now wearing the FC Fréjus – Saint-Raphaël star jersey.
“He who never crashes has no chance of growing”
If you were a place?
Dramont or Cap Roux. It was by discovering these places that I told myself that it would be difficult to do better than living here.
If you were a quality?
Benevolence in my current work and self-sacrifice during my sporting career.
If you were a fault?
We have the qualities of our faults, behind the self-sacrifice there is a stubborn and stubborn side.
If you were an animal?
I would say the wolf, who needs a pack, but who can also be a lone wolf. Maybe a wolf because I also like taking care of others.
If you were a sport?
Besides football, running and hiking have always been a part of my life. It regenerates me and helps me clarify my ideas.
If you were a dish?
It doesn’t matter what’s on the plate as long as the people who matter are at the table.
If you were music?
To write by Charles Aznavour and Grands Corps Malade. Writing has always been part of my life and this text is very beautiful.
If you were a film?
The last one I went to see, A little something extra.
If you were a book?
Again I read a lot. The latest, The salt of life, by Françoise Héritier, lists the moments that add spice to life. It’s a feel-good book.
If you were a smell?
The sea or the pine forest.
If you were a motto?
“He who never crashes has no chance of growing.” It is displayed at E2C and I like its double meaning with the idea of sowing to grow but also that failure is part of the path.
