With France shouldering the responsibility of hosting the 2024 Olympics, the French Hockey Federation (FFH) has taken some solid steps to reflect on the country's proud history in the sport and build its National side as a power to reckon with.
Inspired by the Belgian team’s success, FFH launched a robust project — ‘Ambition 2024’ — involving sponsors, players and other stakeholders “to give hockey the place it deserves in the French sports heritage”.
Comprehensive plan
Under the comprehensive project, FFH, which will celebrate 100 years of French hockey in 2020, will stage international competitions and high quality leagues.
FFH, which has assigned the supervision of the project to a steering committee headed by former goalkeeper Henri Lohmme, aims to see the men's team achieve a top-five finish and the women's side a top-10 slot in the Paris Olympics.
“FFH wants us to be among the top of world hockey teams because we have the Olympic Games in 2024,” France captain Victor Charlet told The Hindu .
Charlet expressed satisfaction over France's preparation for the World Cup. “We had tough preparation for one year. We played several friendly matches before coming here. We are more professional now.”
Under pressure
Charlet admitted that France, which is playing the World Cup after 28 years, was under pressure and lost its first Pool A match against New Zealand 2-1. “The pressure of the World Cup is different. If you lose, the impact is much more in a World Cup. If you lose a friendly game, it does not matter much because it is a friendly match.”
Charlet said having World and Olympic champion Jerone Delmee as coach was a blessing. “Delmee is a legend and he knows all about professional hockey. We are fortunate to have a man like him. When he speaks, you listen and improve on the pitch,” he said.
