Par
Florie Cedolin
Published on
Jan 21, 2025 at 5:52 p.m.
” Yeah !!!!!” The inhabitants of Chesnay-Rocquencourt (Yvelines) invited for the coming of Victor Wembanyama in their town, and especially the youngest, were euphoric this Tuesday January 21, 2025.
The most famous French player of the NBA was at the Pierre-Curvat gymnasium to inaugurate two outdoor Basketball courts (3×3 and 5×5), financed in part by the foundation of the San Antonio Spurs, its American club.
During a visit to Chesnay-Rocquencourt, in the summer of 2024, the player had in fact expressed the wish to help the town create basketball courts in open access for the entire population. It is now done.
“What happiness, what emotion to be here. It was a dream for me to have a quality open court to practice on when I was little. Children, it was you who motivated this project. »
Basketball courts built in just a few months
In the invited audience, many children. Because this equipment is aimed at them. “Victor had this idea, then started drawing everything he wanted on a board,” says Brian Wrightgeneral manager of the Spurs. This act speaks a lot about Victor as a player, but also as a citizen. »
“A project which was able to see the light of day in a few months, despite the lack of land, the presence quite close to the castle and all the other constraints. »
“Offering these two fields demonstrates the desire to transmit the values of team sport,” believes the elected official. The Spurs give foundation has supported us a lot, and not just financially. »
-The American franchise is currently in France for the NBA Paris Games. San Antonio will play two regular season matches against the Indiana Pacers, Thursday January 23 and Saturday January 25, 2025 at the Accor Arena in Paris.
“We introduced him to basketball”
For Philippe Pham, the president of the ELCV78 (Entente Le Chesnay/Versailles), receiving the Spurs in Yvelines is a “pride” and Victor “as an emblem is a great opportunity for the city, the clubs and basketball”.
The ELCV78 has nearly 1,200 members, making it the leading club in France. The new courts, added to those at Versailles inaugurated a few months ago, will allow the club to develop 3×3 basketball. “It’s a fairly recent discipline. If we want to develop it, we need more infrastructure. »
President of the club since 2006, Philippe Pham knew Victor in the baby category. “From 5 to 9 years old, he was with us. Then he was trained by Nanterre. It’s very rare, in general it’s around 14 years old. His large size – 2.21 m – was quickly identified by professional clubs. We introduced him to basketball, Nanterre trained him! »
“It’s a dream!” »
As for the childrenthey were able to meet their idol. “It’s a dream!” », testifies Megna, student in the basketball section of Clagny college, in Versailles.
Other Spurs players accompanied Victor Wembanyama and did not hesitate to slip into the ranks of the children to pose for selfies and give numerous autographsbefore exchanging a few balls in the Curvat gymnasium.
Other projects to come?
Basketball has a bright future ahead of it at Chesnay-Rocquencourt, especially with a sponsor like “Wemby”who seems to want to continue the adventure: “There is no reason for this to be the last dream to come true,” smiles the NBA player.
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