As the end of the calendar year approaches, we contacted Jean-Baptiste Ripoll, president of the Hockey Club Amiens Somme, president since 2021, to give us his views on the latest results as well as the club's ambitions.
A few months after the start of 2024, the end of the season came and the U17 Excellence lifted their second French championship title in as many years. A success which is enough to delight the president of the HCAS, Jean-Baptiste Ripoll: “It’s always a nice memory when you achieve a double, so it’s satisfying. » After the summer, the skates were put on again, and in numbers! Since the HCAS now has nearly 500 licensees, from the youngest to the most experienced, both men and women. A richness and diversity that confirms “a very good thing: there is a real enthusiasm for hockey, with more and more young peoplewhich corresponds to our objective of having a solid base, particularly in U7″ adds Jean-Baptiste.
Until then, if the U18 Espoir and the U20 registered in the French championship are having an unhappy start, the women's team and the youngest are doing well. The women's squad of the Gothiques d'Amiens rose, in mid-December, to the rank of runner-up in the elite championshipwith only one defeat in five matches. A section which progresses from year to year and which rewards a desire to make women's hockey shine. For the president, the objective is clear: “go as far as possible in the Coupe de France (where they qualified for the second round, after beating Dunkirk 16-0, editor’s note) and reach the playoffs in the championship. » On the U15 side, the two existing teams are to date almost undefeated in the first phase of the championship and are preparing to compete in the play-off phase. The ambition here: reach the quarter-finals or semi-finals. As for the first mentioned in this paragraph, the oldest members of the team are undergoing the new reform of the championship which has forgotten the U17 category to make way for the U18s. As a result, this category concerns an age group of three years, which is not very profitable at the moment T, for the HCAS.
The association's ambitions are not limited to sporting results, far from it. What gives Jean-Baptiste Ripoll the greatest pride is discovering the names of his licensees on the national selection lists: “Players like Edouard Moyon, selected for the French U16 team, demonstrate the success of the local team. » Beyond locally trained players, the association is fortunate to be able to import other promising players to offer them the support they desire. This is the case of Aaron Lamboley, who will be 15 years old this month, who was detected by the former goalkeeper of the Gothiques professional team Henri-Corentin Buysse and who started several times in U18.
When we think of HCAS, we think of training, except that the association's mission does not stop there. The N4, which includes the president, also represents the colors of the club. Within it, many players who wish to play at a reasonable level are so numerous that demand exceeds supply. So far, this team has one victory and one defeat, but is only at the beginning of the 2024/25 season. Para-hockey has been the subject of a lot of talk lately at the level of the French Ice Hockey Federation, which wants to shine in the discipline at international level. An ambition that echoes within the clubs, such is the case of the HCAS which, this year, opened a specific niche for the practice. To date, six interested parties have taken up the game and meet on Mondays from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. to rediscover ice hockey, this time on a sled and inclusive in terms of disability and gender. If the squad is still thin, the HCAS would like to enter the French championship in the short term and when the number of players is sufficient.
Only good news which leads us to believe that Amiens hockey is in good hands within an HCAS which never stops dreaming.
Kevin Devigne
Photo credit: Kevin Devigne – Gazettesports.fr
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