Retirement will wait. If Benjamin Monclar hung up his player's jersey at the end of last season in Antibes, he very quickly put on the role of assistant coach, still with the Sharks.
At 36 years old and after seventeen years of career – including eight seasons at ADA Blois – the fullback has decided to retire from sport: “Physically I was fine but I was mentally tired. »
In transmitting his experience
And it didn't take long for the conversation project to present itself to him. “When I told the club that I wanted to quit, they immediately offered me to join the staff, explains Benjamin Monclar. I am in the process of getting my coaching diplomas, I have already obtained my first one which allows me to be an assistant. » Since this season, he has been JD Jackson's second assistant, in training, alongside Antoine Mantey.
In this trio where everyone has their responsibilities, the neo-coach is mainly in charge of individual and pre-collective work, in other words offensive. Obviously, his seventeen years of experience as a player can only help him in this area. “I learn and I try to give what I have learned. »
It is with great hindsight that Benjamin Monclar approaches this new chapter in his professional life. “It’s something that I have matured over the last years of my career and the opportunity presented itself here in Antibes with this staff so I jumped at it. »
However, Benjamin Monclar assures him, he did not “no career plan at all” : “I don’t necessarily want to be a coach behind. I really like what I'm doing at the moment. Then, we will see the opportunities that present themselves to me”.
A relationship of trust with the players
From player to coach in the space of a few months, and moreover in the same club, the former Blésois quickly adapted. “It happened quite naturally. There are players I played with so we know each other. I am not here to sanction them or yell at them but more to help them, help them progress and listen to them. There is a relationship of trust between us. »
Above all, Benjamin Monclar is delighted to remain in his favorite field: “It’s cool because I’m always around the court, watching basketball, talking basketball”. From time to time, he even has a training session to replace a player.
About basketball and the Pro B championship, he is used to talking about it regularly with his big brother Julien Monclar, general manager of the ADA, or David Morabito, whom he has known since he was 10 years old. “But we didn’t talk too much before this week,” jokes Benjamin Monclar, who will return to his old club under its new status this Friday, December 27.
Blois – Antibes, this Friday, December 27, at 8 p.m., at the Jeu de Paume.
