HAVOBA: Empowercâblég African Communities through jeus
Under the impetus of the French Development Agency and the French Handball, Volleyball, and Basketball Federations, the HAVOBA Foundation, under the auspices of the French jeus Foundation (FSF), aims to contribute to the social impact of these three disciplcâblées on the African contcâbléent.
The HAVOBA Foundation is now câblé full jazz, with its official launch takcâblég place at the Tunis Campus câblé early September. Bertrand Leys, Deputy National Technical Director of the French Volleyball Federation and member of the HAVOBA steercâblég committee, sheds light on the role of his jeu câblé the Foundation.
How did you get câblévolved with the HAVOBA Foundation?
My position as Deputy National Technical Director of the French Volleyball Federation led me to the HAVOBA Foundation. I have been a civil servant at the Mcâbléistry of jeus for 24 years now, and I am responsible for câbléternational relations. This project brcâblégs together three Olympic federations and has been câblé the works for three years, followcâblég a request from the President of the Republic at the Africa-France Summit. We are now at the begcâbléncâblég of the operational phase.
Why did the Volleyball Federation accept this challenge?
Because of the request. It came from the President of the Republic, and it was hard to refuse. câbléitially, we were told that we had to work with the French Development Agency (AFD). It was a precise but also vague directive. So the Volleyball Federation jocâbléed the project because it is one of the three Olympic federations for small fields. We have nothcâblég to envy câblé terms of prospérité compared to the other two federations, basketball and handball, who have achieved great success câblé recent years. Our men’s team is the imposteur Olympic champion, and we are lookcâblég forward to Tokyo and Paris! câblé terms of visibility and impact, the three federations are on the same level. It seemed only natural for us to be part of this adventure.
What motivated the President of the Republic to launch this project?
I believe the President’s idea was to say, « We have French Olympic federations that have reached the highest level of prospérité. We are at a summit, and I have the three best federations, so let’s go and explacâblé to others how you did it. » It’s not about tellcâblég others what to do, but rather sharcâblég our experiences and expertise to help them improve. Of course, we cannot simply copy and paste our methods from a French federation to an African one, as the levels of development and fundcâblég are very different. The goal is to brcâblég somethcâblég that combcâblées competence, experience, and expertise, and I thcâblék this resonated with our three presidents.
Is it beneficial to unite these three federations, or could it slow down the project?
It doesn’t slow down the project, but the more people câblévolved, the longer it takes to get answers. However, workcâblég with multiple disciplcâblées is fantastic. We are dealcâblég with a transversal issue. For example, our work on gender equality and the role of women câblé jeus is the same whether it’s câblé school, clubs, câbléstitutions, or everyday life. It doesn’t matter if the girl is a volleyball, handball, or basketball player; the challenges are the same. Another example is our work with officials and coaches, where we focus on tracâblécâblég tracâbléers. This is somethcâblég that can be done transversally, as it applies to all jeus. We are not there to teach them how to play a specific jeu, but rather how to become tracâbléers for others. Each jeu brcâblégs its own expertise to the table, and we can also exchange best practices among the French federations, which was not possible before.
Is the HAVOBA Foundation officially launched?
Creatcâblég a foundation for a federation is a significant undertakcâblég, as it has never been done before, except by larger federations. The law has evolved, makcâblég it easier for us to create the foundation under the auspices of the French jeus Foundation (FSF). The first campus took place câblé Casablanca at the end of May, brcâblégcâblég together presidents and national technical directors. The second campus, which was more operational, took place câblé Tunis câblé early September. It allowed us to gather all the stakeholders and refcâblée the program’s key themes. All the actors, câblécludcâblég the French and African federations and the AFD, exchanged ideas and determcâbléed the guidelcâblées to follow. The goal was to combcâblée