People

Real African Mission – Team Amadonsa

By CSNDecember 23, 2009

What is team Amadonsa? Alain Schirmann speaks about this interesting slalom community.

What is team Amadonsa?
Amadonsa is an international canoe team under non profit organization status which has two main goals: build a self sustainable slalom development programme in Africa by helping kids in disadvantaged area and also provide high performance programme for world class athletes.

Who founded it?
It was founded by Jean-Jérôme Perrin (French coach) and Cameron McIntosh (South-African medical doctor, paddler qualified for Games 2008). However, the project is constantly evolving. Amadonsa member brings the group up and all of us are concerned for the future of the team. It is our strength!

To celebrate Christmas in the township or just to share a session with them are memorable experiences.

Why was team Amadonsa founded?
This Project was born in South Africa and has developed around its national team. In order to improve, Africans needed training-partners and athletes whom it concerned by sharing their experiments. It came down (In 2005) at crucial moment when ICF and IOC gave only 1 slot by nation for games. This argument did change lot of things in the training strategy for Olympic paddlers! It becomes harder to train everyday in his national team and share technical aspect along the year with his first opponent whom could defeat you during trial! It’s a suitable for many athletes but other one needs peaceful ambiance to perform. At this moment we fought that probably some good athletes will be interested to train in international group whom could provide the same concentration of WC athletes than you could have in your own national team. Boukpeti for instance really plays well with this statement.
Nicolas Peschier and South African paddlers were the first to come mainly. Perrin has been coaching Peschier since 10 years so it was normal. I and the other came little bit later. Last one was Ciaran Heurteau. Jean-Jérôme Perrin was very relevant because we are today primarily a group of friends and we often see each other, even outside of the boat.

Who are members of Amadonsa?
We are 12 international (8 nationalities) athletes:
2 Austrians: Violetta (K1W) and Helmut Oblinger (K1M),
2 Frenchs: Nicolas Peschier (C1M) and Raphaël Reveche (K1M),
2 Greeks: Maria Ferekidi (K1W) and Benoît Peschier (K1M),
2 South-Africans: Siboniso Cele (C1M) and Cyprian Ngidi (C1M),
1 German: Christian Bahmann “Muh” (C1M),
1 Irish: Ciaran Heurteau (K1M)
1 Swiss: Alain Schirmann (C1M),
1 Togolese: Benjamin Boukpeti (K1M).
Then we have to add all the kids in our African clubs in South Africa and Togo, so around 50 persons. We have a full-time coach and an osteopath (Maxime Cousin – FRA) who accompanies us each time that he can.

How can you get to the team?
Well, it is a good question. Until 2012, I do not think the group will evolve because our resources are limited and we don’t want to take any risk. Friendship and solidarity are the core of our system and we need carefulness. We are conscious of our fragility and I think the first thing to join the team is to give something that can benefit everyone. Although we are still looking on it and we hope that everyone can reach it, the individual performance is the last selection criterion! Ciaran was a partner athlete last year and now he’s in the normal team because we think his personality can give something to the team.

The development is really important for the team and we really take care on it.

Where are you training and who is your coach?
We train in different places because we live far from each other, but we try as possible as we can to be in group. Winter time is usually spent in SA. For an “Amadonsa” is a bit like coming home. Most of us had spent several months there. The venue is beautiful and we have our habits. It is also very important to spend time with kids at the local club. Their enthusiasm is contrasting with the surrounding poverty and, if we teach them how to paddle, it is undoubtedly them who give us the best life lessons. To celebrate Christmas in the township or just to share a session with them are memorable experiences. It is not use our spare time; it is sharing experiment with person which became our friends. The development is really important for the team and we really take care on it.

Photos: © Nicolas Peschier

What are your plans for winter, how is going to be your winter preparation?
Six athletes are going to Australia (Nico Peschier and Raph Reveche, Benjamin Boukpeti, Ciaran Heurteau, Violetta and Helmut Oblinger). Maria Ferekidi and Benoit Peschier are going to Greece and I’m going to South Africa to coach the Dihlabeng club. I will find there Siboniso Cele and Cyprian Ngidi, our two South African athletes.

What are your plans for next season?
The World Championships in Tacen are obviously our main goal and focus the bulk of our efforts. There is also the World Junior Championships in Foix (France). We hope to bring there a large delegation of South African athletes. Some of them have never gone from their countryside, even outside the township. Athletes such as Benjamin Boukpeti or Benoit Peschier will be there to supervise the junior team and we are all eager to experience this event.

About our development programme, we just got a big support from “Peace and Sport” which is one of the biggest foundations in the world. This sport organization created by Albert II of Monaco is now helping us in our programme. It’s a huge confident in the job that we’ve done and it makes us proud of it.