A guided helmet, thick gloves and a funny butt, rather short, with a small net at the end. Here is the little Norman troop ready for her Lacrosse training on the Colleville-Montgomery stadium (Calvados), near Ouistreham. The Vikings Lacrosse Caen are the first Norman club of this North American sport of Native American origin, which borrows “hockey, American football and hunting for butterflies”, sneer Timothy and Raphaël, two 15-year-old cousins who are part of the dozen licensees.
Charles, the passionate president, had already tried to create a club a few years ago. His second attempt last year was the right one. The Vikings will join the French championship this season.
Lacrosse has been talked about by finding himself on the program of the next Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028. In his hexagonal format, the one who will find himself at the Olympic Games, take two teams of six players equipped with sticks, including a goalkeeper with special protective equipment. They compete for four eight-minute quarters each.
The idea, to put it simply: mark a rubber ball (a chouïa smaller than a tennis ball) for a purpose by means of the butt. “There is a lot of rhythm, but it is also a precision sport. You have to have the right gesture, ”notes Jérôme, who got back to sport with Lacrosse.
“We progress quickly”
In this sport at 200 to 300 licensees in France, Caen and the other clubs have pioneers. The two cousins discovered it thanks to a video … Parisian. Amy, 19, had the click in front of the American series Teen Wolf. As for the club president, the flame came on on the internet, six years ago: “It was hard to find equipment. I trained against the wall. I had the will to found a club to find other players and share passion. »»
Bingo. His flocks come from Dives-sur-Mer, from Jurques, from Argentan in the Orne and even from Rouen (Seine-Maritime). Despite the kilometers, the group is motivated and progressed. “At first, it’s a bit complicated on passes, receptions. But we progress quickly. It is also a contact sport, but, with the protections, we get used to it, ”says Timothée, who does not hesitate to rush into the duels to tear the ball from the ground.
Once this ball is captured in the net at the end of the butt, you have to dose your gestures to send it to its teammates, who must receive it with agility. And if the passing solution is blocked, then it is necessary to move forward, by the feints and the power, by managing to keep the ball in the butt despite the opposing pressure.
“You have to be lively and fast,” comments Amy. “We quickly take it in hand, but you need rehearsal. She who was looking for a club in Brittany took advantage of her move in Normandy to try and be stung by passion.
No JO effect yet
The discipline is mixed at this stage, in France. “There are contacts but it remains accessible and friendly,” nuances the player. Like her comrades, she was able to taste her first meetings, friendly. Four games, four successes. Vikings learn quickly.
This season, Caen will therefore join the Court of Grands alongside teams based in Bordeaux, Grenoble, Lille, Orléans, Montpellier, Paris or Toulouse. The small Caen team will travel and try to “make a name for itself”, smiles Yves, a friend of Charles. “We are happy to be part of the pioneers. There is a strong feeling of a team. For us, it will be important to be able to win matches. »»
The effect of the Olympic Games is not yet noticeable. Charles says “put [son] personal money for equipment ”. The first licenses grant additional means. For everything else, it is the passion that delights in Vikings open to new recruits, and ready to repeat their instinct of conquest across the country.