The 14 action-packed days of Olympic hockey had been an exquisite commercial for the game, with greater than 340,000 followers attending in individual and video games broadcast world wide. The sporting legacy is usually raised when the most important sporting spectacle leaves city.
Positioned simply outdoors the principle spectator entrance, the Hockey Initiation Zone supplied guests the prospect to study extra concerning the sport. Younger and outdated alike had been in a position to decide up a stick and a ball, with numerous enjoyable challenges and inflatable rinks offering nice leisure.
Many previous and current gamers had been available, together with Irish goalkeeper Ayeisha McFerran, Argentine legend Delfina Merino and gamers from the French males’s and ladies’s groups that competed on the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium.
The largest identify was Argentine famous person Luciana Aymar, the eight-time FIH Participant of the 12 months and one of many best gamers of all time. She careworn the significance of the Hockey Initiation Zone and her duty in selling the game. “As former gamers, now we have an essential position to play wherever we will,” stated Aymar. “This can be a nice technique to introduce folks to hockey and produce it to households as a result of hockey is a household. I’m at all times making an attempt to develop and promote the game that I’ve beloved a lot.”
A sentiment echoed by France’s males’s ace Timothée Clément, who beamed with happiness all through his go to to the Hockey Initiation Zone. “It’s essential to come back right here and play with the children,” stated the winner of the 2021-22 FIH Hockey Stars Younger Participant of the 12 months Award. “Once I was younger I beloved doing these items, enjoying and assembly worldwide gamers. I really feel it is crucial for me to do the identical, particularly right here on the Olympics in my residence nation.”
Except for the essential promotional work accomplished by the Hockey Initiation Zone – which welcomed greater than 25,000 folks over the 14 days of the event, a lot of whom had been making an attempt the game for the primary time – Clément spoke brazenly concerning the alternative to introduce his sport to new audiences.
“It was very cool to play in France, as a result of so many French followers got here out to assist us, though they don’t know a lot about hockey,” stated the 24-year-old attacker, who scored 4 targets in 5 video games at Paris 2024. “I hope that folks get extra interested by enjoying this superb sport. I imply, it appears like folks have actually loved coming right here and being part of it.”
His sentiments had been echoed by French ladies’s workforce gamers Paola Le Nindre, Victoire Arnaud and Eve Verzura. “We normally play in entrance of 100 folks. To have 10,000 folks chanting our identify and singing ‘Allez les Bleues’ in a pleasant ambiance was superb! Above all, we launched hockey to France and many individuals thanked us for that,” they stated.
The Gory household we spoke to within the Hockey Initiation Zone had been one in all many French sports activities followers who purchased hockey tickets on a whim. After making the practically six-hour journey from their residence in southwestern Dordogne, they advised us they had been drawn by the fascinating historical past of the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium – the venue that hosted the 1924 Olympics and plenty of different iconic sporting occasions.
“We purchased tickets for my dad as a result of he is aware of a lot about this stadium,” stated Lilian Gory, as she kicked a ball round together with her father, Philippe, and sibling Solène. “It’s so thrilling to be right here on the Olympics and it’s cool to try to watch one thing like hockey, which is totally new to us.” They had been one in all numerous French households getting their first style of hockey, and whereas their groups didn’t carry out as hoped, it was clear from the deafening noise that they beloved each second of the motion.
It might be a few years earlier than we all know the true impression of Paris 2024 on hockey participation in France, however there’s already a really actual legacy for Timothée, Paola, Victoire, Eve and their fellow French gamers. The gleaming new stadium constructed to host Pitch 2 matches at Yves-du-Manoir is ready to grow to be the brand new residence of the French Hockey Federation (FFH), offering a central base for many years to come back.
“We have now by no means had a house for hockey earlier than, so that is implausible for French hockey. We’ll play our French league finals there, and hopefully another large competitions after that. It’s such a superb factor for us, loopy for the game in France,” stated Timothée.
