“When did you get your first phone?” » The question makes Pape Gueye, the Olympique de Marseille midfielder, smile. “At the age of 13, to call my parents from the training center,” replies the professional footballer, standing on the lawn of the Blanc-Mesnil Sport Football field of honor (Seine-Saint-Denis), this Wednesday at the end of the day. In front of him, several children are laughing. They got their first mobile almost four years earlier.
On the occasion of the “Orange football amateur” initiative, the native of Montreuil, who started playing football at the age of 6 on these same Blanc-Mesnil fields, came to meet the young shoots of his former club. Together, they debrief the exercise in which they have just participated: an arranged version of a chicken-fox-viper, ball at the foot.
In the center of the field, the “cyberstalkers” try to hit as many “navigators” as possible, who are circulating around them, using their balloons. Finally, the “accomplices”, located outside the field, can return the balls to the front runners. A fun and educational presentation, aimed at raising awareness among young people about the issues of online harassment.
If the majority of the contingent of forty young people know the number 3018 to listen to young victims of harassment and digital violence, many of them are much more hesitant about the question of who to turn to in the event of cyberharassment. ” The police ? » dares a first. “Yes, but you can talk to lots of other people about it, even your football coach,” adds Rémi Truchon.
Six clubs concerned in the department
Sponsoring project manager at Hopscotch Sports, he has been providing this type of workshop in French amateur clubs for several years: “We manage so that there is always a playing phase, then a debate phase. And we emphasize to young people the right attitudes to adopt and how to use their phones properly,” he explains.
This support program for French amateur clubs, launched in 2019, aims to support a total of 200 clubs in France this year. In exchange for the commitment of sports associations to organize workshops like this, dealing with digital issues, Orange supports the club via a donation of sports equipment. This Wednesday, two junior teams, one male, the other female, will leave with the jackpot: two complete kits, twenty balls, five ball bags and thirty bibs.
For Le Blanc-Mesnil Sport Football, this is the first year of a partnership set to last until 2026. Across Seine-Saint-Denis, five other clubs have chosen to join the program: AB Saint -Denis, FC Coubronnais, FC Montfermeil, FC Bourget and Le Raincy Football.
“In this club, I was given a lot, now it’s up to me to give”
“It’s important for us to talk about cyberharassment. Here, almost all young people have a cell phone,” notes club president Pascal Chomik. For the man who has managed this club of some 1,100 members for seven years, this is substantial assistance which will enable the next campaign of his two teams to be launched: “Each year, the club provides equipment for the players. But many young people tell us that two is optimal with training. »
For all the football enthusiasts present this Wednesday, the event still remains the arrival of “the child from our region”. Around a hundred young licensees, installed in the stands, waited all afternoon, braving passing storms, to see their local star Pape Gueye. This is the case for Enzo, 14, who has been playing at the Blanc-Mesnil club since he was 3: “I was able to take a photo with him last year, during the Coupe de France. Here, we all know Pape Gueye,” he says, just before taking another selfie with the footballer.
For the latter, who regularly returns to Blanc-Mesnil, in the city of 212, the experience is worth repeating. “I hope to do several more operations here. In this club, I was given a lot. Now it’s my turn to give. »