There are smiles in the words spoken by Lukas Demar, with this little touch of Central European accent, which gives a little more color to the pleasure of being here again. Five years after a last visit to Cambrai, which punctuated the young receiver-attacker’s time learning French volleyball, Lukas is back on the lands of France which raised him and made him grow.
Ward of the CNVB, nourished with the first grains of Nantes, at the NRMV in 2016-2017, under the uncompromising paternal gaze of Martin, his first coach among the pros, Lukas returns to the French championship, five years later, in a completely different outfit. That of a 28-year-old player, more mature, more confident in himself, particularly in blocking and receiving, with experience that has taken him from Germany to his Czech roots over the last five seasons . “I have progressed a lot in my head”Lukas admits. “I have gained confidence, I am a little calmer on the pitch. It came a little with experience, especially in certain aspects where I didn’t have confidence, like reception, blocking. Now, I take these things differently. I have more confidence in myself, that helps a lot. I know that if I make a mistake, I will be able to come back to the next point. Before, this wasn’t the case. When you are a young player, you think about your fault, you always ruminate a little. In Liberec, where his father coached him again for two seasons, Lukas even has the feeling of having fully embraced the contours of the role. “In Nantes, under my father’s orders, I was young, it was complicated, I couldn’t get the message. In the Czech Republic, on the other hand, things went very well. We were both surprised that it went so well!”smiles the son.
From now on, Lukas is moving forward with serenity, launched into a nice challenge with AS Cannes, back in the first professional circle of French volleyball, after his title of LBM champion last spring. Especially since he is not experiencing this adventure alone. In the tumult of Covid in the years 2020-2021, his exile abroad was also guided by the desire to get closer to his family, in the Czech Republic, and especially to his partner, Adela. This summer, he therefore did not return to France alone. With him, his partner, and wife for a little over a year, embarked on the adventure! Adela Demar, also a professional volleyball player, signed with Voléro Le Cannet. And the newlyweds live this start of the season intensely in mirror image, going to support each other, when each person’s match schedule allows it. “It was the first time she left the country. When she arrived, it was a little difficult at first. Now she has acclimatized, everything is going well. It was important for me to show my “second life” to my wife. It’s magnificent”slips Lukas, in a tone full of emotion.
Between the French lessons, which he gives in the interstices of each other’s training sessions, Lukas is focused on this very encouraging start to the Dragons’ season. After two initial successes, the defeat at home against Chaumont did not scratch the intentions or the promises seen until then. For Lukas, this team has heart and character. “The start of the season is good, even very good”he confirms. “No one expected two victories from the start, especially when playing Saint-Nazaire. For the moment, from what I see, we have to fight hard on a field. Team spirit is important. We have to leave everything on the pitch. Some players among us transmit a lot of emotion too. As soon as we have that, we defend a lot more balls. We are a new team in the championship, we logically ask ourselves the question: Do we have the level or not? We have to be in the fight all the time.”. With maintenance as a reasonable horizon, but without forbidding ourselves from looking further afield. “As a player, I would like to be in the Play-Offs”smiles Lukas, before going to challenge the undefeated Montpellier, in Hérault on Saturday. “We have to enjoy these matches. These are good matches, we have to put our heads together, not be in defeatist mode”proclaims the neo-Cannois, happy to remember the good memories of France.
