Tag Archive for: rugby

Interview with Anne-Cécile Ciofani, named the world’s best women’s rugby sevens player!

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As part of Women’s Month, we had the opportunity to interview Anne-Cécile Ciofani about the role rugby plays in her life, women’s rugby, and her Cameroonian roots. This young woman is a shining example of success and resilience for our girls at the Serge Betsen Academy. We thank her for her time and wish her a speedy recovery as her season was unfortunately cut short due to a full ACL rupture.

  • Can you tell us about your journey and how you became passionate about rugby?

I’ve been involved in sports since I was little. I did athletics throughout my youth until I was 18. That’s when I discovered rugby at university. I was studying sports science, and rugby was mandatory. My professor convinced me to give it a try, and I never looked back. Five years later, I joined the French national team, with whom we became World Silver Medalists in 2018 and Olympic Silver Medalists in 2021. That same year, I had the honor of being named World Rugby Women’s Sevens Player of the Year.

  • How do you prepare for competitions? What are your ambitions?

We train several times a day. We also do a lot of video sessions to study our opponents, find ways to beat them, and improve ourselves. Our goal is to win a world championship.

  • In your opinion, what are the strengths of the French women’s XV ahead of the Women’s Six Nations?

Their determination will be their greatest strength.

  • What are you most proud of in your life?

The titles we’ve won, and the fact that we’re helping a women’s team shine in a sport like this!

  • You’re of Cameroonian origin. How does that shape your identity and the values you believe in?

I’m proud of my roots. I hope to one day trace back my maternal lineage. The values passed on by my mother and grandmother push me to want to learn more.

  • How did you discover the Serge Betsen Academy?

I discovered the SBA through social media. I’ve followed what’s happening there through the various videos and photos posted on Instagram.

  • Do you have any advice for the girls at SBA Cameroon who play rugby?

My advice would be to hang in there and fight to defend and embrace who they are. Rugby teaches so many values and helps you discover yourself.

  • What do you think about the recent growth of women’s rugby? What’s your dream for the future of the sport?

Women’s rugby has grown significantly in recent years. My dream would be for every club to one day be able to offer players professional status, with a salary and employment contract, so they can make a living from it and help the sport grow even more.

And finally, here are some flashs questions:

Thank you Anne-Cécile!

SBA : 2023 achievements and prospects

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Discover the association’s major achievements in 2023 and the projects that remain to be financed by the end of 2024!

Join the Agence Française de Développement (French Development Agency) as well as our partners and donors to enable us to strengthen our positive impact on the lives of our disadvantaged children in Cameroon and Mali.

We are looking for new partners to implement our projects in education and training, health, and rugby, and allow our young people to integrate socially and professionally in Cameroon and Mali.

If sport has the power to change the world, your support can change the course of our children’s lives!

Read our report “Serge Betsen Academy – 2023 achievements and prospects“, and contact us:
contact@sergebetsenacademy.org
www.sergebetsenacademy.org

2024: An Olympic and festive year for the Serge Betsen Academy!

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The Serge Betsen Academy (SBA) will celebrate its 20th anniversary in March 2024 and on this occasion we will be organising various events to celebrate our actions and to introduce our plans for the future. 20 years old is a golden age when one has lots of energy, and it’s perfect because we have many plans.

 

Over 20 years, the Serge Betsen Academy has supported more than 9,000 disadvantaged children both in Cameroon and Mali, using rugby as a vector of social integration. The mission of the association created by Serge Betsen, former international rugby player, is to give them access to after-school academic support sessions, medical care, meals and rugby training. It is thanks to the generosity of our partners and donors that the SBA has been able to create six centres over the last 20 years and that it has had such a positive impact on the lives of its young people through its various programs.

 

Serge Betsen and the entire association would like to invite you to discover our events (see below) and to contact us would you wish to participate in them and to turn these events into unforgettable moments, in support of our children!

 

– Match Biarritz Olympique V Rouen Normandie Rugby

Date & Venue: Friday February 16, 7:30 p.m., Parc des Sports Aguilera, Biarritz

Match dedicated to the Serge Betsen Academy association

Kick-off by Serge Betsen

 

– Dinner for the 20th anniversary of the Serge Betsen Academy in Lyon

Date & Venue: Friday March 15, 7 p.m., Grand Refectory of the Grand Hôtel Dieu in Lyon

A dinner with 200 guests among sports legends, in a beautiful venue, on the eve of the France-England game of the Six Nations. Cocktail, seated dinner, auctions and musical entertainment will be on the menu!

Details here.

 

 

– Rugby & Art: evening of emotions near Lille

Date & Venue: Thursday March 21, 6 p.m. in Marcq-en-Barœul France (59)

An extraordinary evening organised by Thetechicy, combining artistic expression through contemporary art and the passion for rugby, with the Serge Betsen Academy. On this occasion an auction will be organised, selling 40 works of art. Part of the sales will be donated to the association. This event will be dedicated to art lovers, sports enthusiasts and charitable spirits!

Details here.

 

 

– Gala match: Football – Variétés Club de France vs Serge Betsen’s team

Date & Venue: Saturday March 23, 2024, 2 p.m., Stade Nelson Paillou – 2 Rue Jean Walter, 92110 Clichy

Program: Football match between the Variétés Club de France and Serge Betsen’s team, made up of sports legends, physiotherapists and masseurs (OKM) and football players from the Clichy club (USAC). To be followed by a cocktail-party at 4 p.m.

For the benefit of the Serge Betsen Academy

 

– Gourmet dinner in a secret place in London to support the Serge Betsen Academy and to celebrate Paris 2024

Date & Venue: Thursday March 28 at 6 p.m., London

This will be a spectacular evening, during which a sumptuous 3-course dinner will be served to you in a legendary building in London, where musical entertainment will enhance your evening, where special guests will make it unforgettable and where various fundraising activities will take place for the benefit of our association.

Please email mailys@sergebetsenacademy.org for further details

 

– Women’s and men’s rugby and basketball tournament, Yaoundé & Douala, Cameroon

Date & Venue: 10-13 April (TBC), Yaoundé and Douala, Cameroon

A tournament to enable young people to compete against each other while playing rugby. This event organised at the initiative of the French Embassy in Cameroon will bring together different charities, including the Serge Betsen Academy and will be an opportunity to talk about important themes related to sports, health and gender equality. There will also be an initiation to rugby and basketball.

 

– Dinner to celebrate the 20th anniversary of SBA Cameroon, in Yaoundé

Date & Venue: Thursday May 30, 6 p.m., Boun’s Hotel, Yaoundé, Cameroon

We will gather with the SBA team members and our faithful partners to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the charity and raise funds for our future projects. A delicious buffet will be served and there will be various entertainments.

 

We look forward to welcoming you soon to celebrate our 20th anniversary! 

 

Translation : Katy Birgé-Wilson

 

Event: Special World Cup Legends’ Dinner, September 11, 2023, Toulouse

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The evening before the WRC France vs Namibia match, a Legends dinner was organised by Karim Ben Amar and the team of his Escale Borely at Sport Beach, Marseille. It was a fund raising initiative, as 100% of the profits from the evening were to be donated to the Serge Betsen Academy.We would like to thank all our guests who attended this dinner and also the rugby initiation led, during the afternoon, by Serge Betsen himself for the young people of the Stade Marseillais Université Club (SMUC). It was a pleasure to share this moment with the legends: Yann Delaigue, Marc Andreu, Sebastien Bruno, Bakary Meïté, John Tuilakepa and Virginie La Porta, as well as all those who were present for the Legends match the next day.

Thanks to Karim BEN AMAR and his Escale Borely team for the organisation as well as to Romain Canuti, at the Sport Beach restaurant and Alain Michaud Bonnet for their welcome, to Stéphane Tollet from the SMUC, to the Association of Traders of the Escale Borély, to Oxyne, Kaporal and Château d’Astros, Ovale Beach Rugby Five Marseille, as well as TotalEnergies for their support.

 

Translation : Katy Birgé-Wilson

Event: Rugby 7s exhibition tournament on June 3 at the Bangangté municipal stadium

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The Serge Betsen Academy (SBA) association is organising a 7-a-side rugby exhibition tournament on Saturday June 3 2023 in the morning, in Bangangté. On this occasion, we will exceptionally bring together our four adult rugby teams from Cameroon at the municipal stadium of Bangangté and a women’s match will close this morning of sport.

We will have the honour to welcome H.E. Mr. Thierry Marchand, Ambassador of France to Cameroon, Mr. Yann Lorvo, the Embassy’s Counsellor for Cooperation and Cultural Action and Director of the French Institute in Cameroon, Mrs. Virginie Dago, Director of the Agence Française de Développement (AFD – French Development Agency) in Cameroon as well as two members of the AFD delegation, Mr Eric Niat, Mayor of Bangangté and Christiane Niat, Director of the Black Platinium Agency. Our President, Serge Betsen and Sylvie Ledard, our Project Manager will welcome their guests of honour and show them around our Eau Claire centre in Bangangté. At the end of this visit, the guests will attend the men’s rugby tournament and the women’s rugby match.

Thanks also to the Agence Française de Développement (AFD – French Development Agency) for its support of the association as part of the “Academies” program in collaboration with PLAY International and the Diambars Institute.

We would like to thank our distinguished guests for coming to Bangangté in order to attend this exhibition tournament organised in their honour, as well as Boissons du Cameroun, which is sponsoring the drinks, and the Town Hall of Bangangté, which is supporting us. This tournament is also possible thanks to the Agence Française de Développement (AFD – French Development Agency), which supports the SBA as part of the “Academies” program led by PLAY International and the Diambars Institute, and of which we are the lucky beneficiaries.

The objective of this morning is to give the SBA players the opportunity to meet on a rugby pitch and to develop their competitive spirit, to strengthen the players’ rugby spirit and the feeling of belonging to the same association and to assess the level of players from the Serge Betsen Academy (SBA).

Good tournament to all!

 

Translation : Katy Birgé-Wilson

 

Event: The first ever Bangangté inter-school rugby tournament! Congratulations to the winners of the four Trophies!

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Wednesday, April 26, 2023 will remain an important date for the young people of Bangangté. It was the very first time that they defended their school colours during a rugby tournament organised by the Serge Betsen Academy (SBA).

Around 216 young people, aged 6 to 14, divided into 18 teams, got together during the whole day at the Collège Saint Jean Baptiste stadium in Bangangté to take part in our Bangangté inter-school rugby tournament. There were young people from the Bamena technical high school, the Babou classical high school, the Saint Jean Baptiste college, the Eau Claire centre of the Serge Betsen Academy, the Group 1A school, the Group 1B school, the Group 2A school, the Group 2B school and the bilingual school.

Honouring us with his presence, Mayor Eric Niat kicked off the Tournament. Throughout the day, the atmosphere was incredible, and seeing the young people having so much fun on the rugby pitch, fighting for every ball, and then proudly brandishing their certificate and their trophy, we felt a lot of emotions.

Our congratulations go to each and every one of the participants for their rugby spirit during the tournament and for their combativeness on the pitch. And we would especially wish to salute the four teams for their victories during the first edition of the Bangangté inter-school rugby tournament. The big winners are:

– For the SBA Primary Girls Trophy: the bilingual school

– For the SBA Primary Boys Trophy: public school group 2B

– For the SBA Secondary school Women Trophy: Saint Jean Baptiste College

– For the SBA Secondary school Men Trophy: Saint Jean Baptiste College

 

We would like to thank the Saint Jean Baptiste College for their welcome, our guests of honour for their warm presence and their support towards the association, as well as our sponsors and partners without whom this event would not have been possible:

– Société Générale Cameroun

– Arno Group Association

– Town Hall of Bangangté, one of whose missions is to promote sports for young people in the municipal area

– Mayor Eric Niat

– The Black Platinium agency for their help in communication.

Thanks also to the Agence Française de Développement (AFD – French Development Agency) for its support of the association as part of the “Academies” program in collaboration with PLAY International and the Diambars Institute.

Last but not least, a massive thank you also to everyone involved in the organisation of the Tournament at the SBA, it was a great day of rugby, we could not have done it without you!

You can view the Tournament album here. We owe these beautiful photos and videos and also the above montage to Person Company, Baudouin Tchamegni and Rodrigue Azonfack and we thank them too.

 

Translation : Katy Birgé-Wilson

 

Event: Thanks to Ovalies UniLaSalle for their support of 16,666€!

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The Serge Betsen Academy would like to convey a massive thank you to Ovalies UniLaSalle and all its partners for all the support! This 50,000€ check to be shared with two other great associations, “Une ballade pour Justine et Lou” and “L’Arche à Beauvais ” will change many lives!

 

Remise du chèque des Ovalies UniLaSalle 2022 !

 

Our President Serge Betsen was delighted to participate in the Ovalies adventure this year and to represent the association on 6 and 7 May in Beauvais, these are his words:

 

“It is always a real pleasure to participate in a rugby event and watch brilliant students practicing my sport! Congratulations to all the participants of the Ovalies UniLaSalle and the PURPAN School of Engineers (VII female and XV male), LéoRugby (VII male), VetAgro Sup (Pompom) for their respective wins.

It is wonderful to see young people participating in this project which combines sport, solidarity and sharing by helping associations such as “Une ballade pour Justine et Lou”, “L’Arche à Beauvais ”, and the SBA.

A big thank you also to Dimitri Yachvili and Fanny Horta for their time and to all the curious people who came to our stand to find out more about our actions in Cameroon and Mali. It was a real pleasure for me, and Charles-Edouard whom I thank for his help, to meet you.

Many thanks too to the Ovalies team, Paul Vincant and Albane Tenneson for their warm welcome and support. Thanks to Coucou Hibou and Paul-Louis de Juglart for supporting the SBA through its collection of Olympia jerseys.

Congratulations to all for the success of this great charity tournament of students’ rugby.”

 

Translation : Katy Birgé-Wilson

Mali : A fantastic donation from the legends at Hornets Women’s Rugby

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The children of the Serge Betsen Academy in Mali received another fantastic donation thanks to our friend Dan W., this time from the legends at Hornets Women’s Rugby in the United Kingdom. There were rugby balls, divers rugby equipment, water bottles and jerseys! Regarding the rugby equipment, they will be very useful during our sessions, and the adult jerseys have been offered to our coaches.
Everything was gratefully received particularly by the girls who were inspired to receive kit from an English ladies team. Massive thank you to Lindsay Pilgrim and Rachel Allchurch for pulling it together. It will make a real difference to our girls.
It is always a great pleasure for our coaches to be helped by Dan W during the sessions. We want to thank him deeply for his presence and his help to meet the needs of the centre and his efforts to encourage donations from rugby clubs in his home country.
Thank you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Donation: The SBA Mali thanks Fairford RFC for its support

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The children and staff at the Serge Betsen Academy Mali (SBA Mali) were very pleased to receive a generous donation from Fairford RFC. The donation consisted of many matching shirts, which have helped the children look and feel like a team as well as some much needed boots and shorts. There was also a substantial amount of rugby equipment such as balls, cones and bibs which the charity has quickly put to use to enhance the training they are able to deliver to the children. A number of adult shirts have also been donated to the Bamako Hippos XV team.

Fairford RFC is a small community focused rugby club based in Gloucestershire, England who have men’s, women’s and junior sections. They discovered the SBA when one of their players who is currently working in Mali reported back on the great work that the SBA was doing for young children, particularly girls, in Bamako. The club was instantly eager to help and organised an impressive collection and within 2 weeks had a large amount of equipment on its way to Mali. Fairford RFC head coach Danny Briggs said “As soon as we heard about the SBA the whole club was keen to get involved. Rugby is a family united by our love for the game and its values. We are very happy to be able help our rugby brothers and sisters in Africa and thank the SBA for the opportunity to do so.”

The SBA thanks Fairford RFC for its generosity and support, they are a club that truly represents the community spirit and values of rugby. SBA President Serge Betsen added “Many thanks for your support to the kids in Bamako, I am very proud that the rugby family supports others in need.”

 

Bangui: A third mission carried out in the Central African Republic as part of the TRAUMA Project!

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All good things come in threes! It was on July 24, and not a day later, that the coaches of the Serge Betsen Academy (SBA) Cameroon had the pleasure of heading for Bangui in the Central African Republic as part of the TRAUMA Project. This project, whose funding organisation is the Crisis and Support Centre of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, is led by the Francophone Institute for Justice and Democracy – Institut Louis Joinet (IFJD) and implemented and carried out by the Serge Betsen Academy in partnership with the Central African Rugby Federation. Idriss Tcheumkeu Ketcha was, on this occasion, accompanied by Loïc Zeutsop Kenfack, another experienced coach from the association. Always driven by the initial objectives of the TRAUMA Project, namely the reconciliation of the Central African people through the values ​​conveyed by rugby, our coaches had the following objectives during this third mission in Bangui:

  • Continue to verify the achievements of local coaches since the 2nd mission while continuing their training on ever more technical subjects.
  • Organise a week of inter-establishment matches in order to test the feasibility of the major final tournament scheduled for November 2022 in the Barthélemy Boganda sports complex, which can accommodate 20,000 people.

Idriss Tcheumkeu Ketcha, head of the technical committee and Loïc Zeutsop Kenfack, head of the refereeing committee wanted to benefit from more time on site to better prepare coaches and players. So they stayed there for a month. The sequence of inter-establishment matches took place after the departure of the coaches of SBA Cameroon. This requirement which characterises the coaches of the Serge Betsen Academy coupled with the formidable work of the Francophone Institute for Justice and Democracy – Institut Louis Joinet (IFJD) which is the project leader and our partner, the Central African Rugby Federation have allowed the children to participate in these very successful matches. Indeed, the eleven primary, secondary and higher education establishments involved were able to take part in these matches, which all took place in a warm atmosphere. In addition to the quality of the game and the investment of all, this week allowed the implementation of the values ​​of rugby. No incident and no conflict were to be deplored. There were smiles galore, even for the losers who will be able to take their revenge on the pitch in November!

 

Photos © IFJD – Institut Louis Joinet

After an intense month of tuition, organisation and rugby training, the coaches of the Serge Betsen Academy returned to Cameroon at the end of August with the feeling of accomplishment to enjoy some well-deserved rest.

Thank you to the Francophone Institute for Justice and Democracy – Institut Louis Joinet (IFJD) for the trust placed in our association within the framework of this Project.

 

 

 

Article écrit par Nathan Barbier

Translation: Katy Birgé-Wilson