Where will it take place this Friday, December 27 at the Futuroscope Arena for the “Grand Derby” between Alterna Stade Poitevin and Tours Volley-Ball?
At Lawson-Body, on match nights, Cédric Enard is used to following the matches in the extension of the visitor locker room corridor, a few meters behind the Poitevin bench. By intensely experiencing almost all the points of the duels fought by the Stadists. “I like being left to my own thing, not talking to me”he smiles. A paradoxical situation for this man of dialogue, who likes to exchange with others.
“My return is not an outcome”
His life simply changed in 2024. Because Cédric Enard returned to the Poitevin volleyball club where he was trained as a player and which he left in 1999, in a new role: that of manager general. “I always had in the back of my mind the desire to come back and work for the club I loveexplains the 48-year-old Vouglaisien. I feel a bit like I've come for a loop. » Without it being closed.
The manager also prefers to speak of a ” path “ to summarize the last twenty-five years. And for this man so attached to his territory, they all lead to Poitiers. It was only a matter of time before he came “home”. He did not lose it to train and build himself. As a technician, first in Toulouse (2004-2017), then in Tours (2017-2018) and in Berlin (2018-2023).
As a man too. “All these experiences have allowed me to become who I am”sums up the man who was also assistant to the French team, and number 1 coach of Estonia, Croatia and Turkey. It is a training path. “ And at one point, it was time to return to Poitiers to my childhood, adolescence and heart club and give it back everything I was able to learn in different roles in different structures. » With key people, such as Philippe Lecouls, Stéphane Faure, Éric Daniel, Marc Francastel, Philippe Blain, Laurent Tillie and Kaweh Niroomand, the president of Berlin, with whom the links went beyond the strictly professional framework.
“He inspired me a lot on the way of seeing things, of managingsummarizes Cédric Enard. He is a very important person in my career, a remarkable man. » There were also two others: Gino Brousseau and Éric Ngapeth, whom he had worked with during the 1999 French championship title season at Stade Poitevin.
As a symbol, it was by signing, in mid-September, the double Olympic champion and eldest son of the former coach of the Stade club, Earvin, that Cédric Enard achieved the biggest blow ever achieved by a volleyball club French. “Maybe I could have retired after that”laughs the manager who is following the renowned training course at the Limoges sports law and economics center.
This would have been a shame for the Alterna SPVB which was able to rely on him to relaunch a training center whose opening is scheduled for the start of the 2025 school year and organize, among other things, the first match in its history at the Arena Futuroscope , this Friday. “It’s a washing machine but I suspected thathe describes. There is a lot of work, so much to do. It's very rich and interesting. Signing is one thing, but my return is not an outcome. » The year 2024 simply marks the beginning of a new story…
