Ersen Kara makes the Avenir Foot Lozère Football school shine

Ersen Kara has been the head of the Avenir Foot Lozère (AFL) school for more than two years. At the age of 23, he coordinates 160 children aged 4 to 11. “At the beginning it was very hard. I took the problems too much to heart.”

The educator has it from the heart. “I really like children, they are naive and adorable. This job also means a lot of love towards them.” For him, no 4-4-2, but around thirty educators to guide, hundreds of parents to inform, and numerous problems to resolve. “To do this job, you have to be passionate. I eat football in the morning, afternoon and evening.”

“It’s often 7 days a day”

Serious and meticulous, the young man sometimes puts on the jersey of club steward, coach, or even sports teacher at the Mende remand center. If he has a fault, it may be that of“want to do everything”. Because when he's not taking care of others, he's the one training. The footballer plays with the club's Departmental 1 team. “My schedule doesn’t allow me to play at a higher level.” Because, yes, to be at the head of the football school of the biggest Lozère club, you don't have to be the type to like polishing the bench.

“It's often 7 days a week, between Sunday emergencies and tournament days where I stay on the phone all day, and tremble every time for fear that there will be injuries.”

After obtaining his Staps Adapted Physical Activity license, it was towards his lifelong club, the one that has seen him grow for almost twenty years, that his heart turned. Born in Lozère, he is one of the rare children of the club, since he has been licensed since he was four years old.

“Family” spirit

Although football seems to take up all the space in his life, the manager does not hesitate to affirm that it is his family that he attaches the most importance to. “I put family above everything else.” And it is this spirit “family” that the football lover seeks to recreate within the football school.

It was his parents, his family and his Turkish origins who built him. “Since I was little, I wanted to do appropriate physical activity. I told myself that I was going to help people in difficulty, because I saw my great-grandfather very ill. My father always told me to help people. people, to do good around me.” And it feels: “When I go to Turkey, I see the differences there are and the luck we can have, here, in France, that some children don't have. It gives me strength and a source of motivation .”

Values ​​inherited from his parents

Suffice to say that Ersen Kara has his feet on the ground. With children, his tactics are simple. More than the three points, what it aims first can be summed up as follows: pleasure and well-being, intellectual and physical progression, and “above all, above all, education. It is a value that we develop and which bears fruit.”

He explains that he holds these values ​​above all from his parents, Gulseren and Ilyas Kara. When his childhood dream may have been to become a professional player, his father quickly reminded him that his education was the priority. “Today, I have no regrets. I thank him. I know he was right.” The enthusiast also holds the Football Instructor Certificate.

Best Educator of the Year

In his position, the Beşiktaş supporter is more than invested. It was he who created the club's table football section, in the second year of his mandate. It also developed school holiday courses, offering educational interventions and various non-football activities. At Christmas, it doesn't just stop at distributing candy. “We rent a room, we give gifts, we invite parents and Santa Claus to have a snack together.” It is not for nothing that the young man was named best educator of the year by the Lozère departmental football branch last season. Since he has been in charge, the club has gained more than 80 members within the football school. Coincidence?

From Zidane

Humble and discreet although everyone knows his first name at the club, the Zidane fan does not hesitate to seek advice from former football school officials to progress. “It's not because it's me in particular, but as leaders I think we are examples for children, he admitted, embarrassed. I try to stay at the same level as my educators, so that they maintain all their credibility.”

However, anyone who does not like to put themselves forward does not lack ambition. In the distant future, he would not say no to getting closer to professional clubs, or to returning to the adapted sports sector.