After taking the IHF Men’s World Championship trophy to his place of birth back in March for a tour, France’s men’s national team Head Coach Didier Dinart returned to Guadeloupe this past week as part of the ‘2017 Corsair Hand Caribbean Tour’.

 

Running for the third consecutive year, the tour – sponsored by Corsair International, a French tourism company who fly to the French overseas ‘department’, part of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean – sees a global handball team of 16 megastars descend upon the country for a week to play matches, coach, conduct visits and inspire those to take up the sport or push for further excellence.

 

2016 IHF Male Coach of the Year Dinart, who won the world championship on home soil in his first tournament since becoming head coach, was born in Pointe-à-Pitre in Guadeloupe and over his whole career has regularly returned to help promote handball in the country, which is affiliated to the French Handball Federation.

 

The 2017 team consisted of multiple World, European and Olympic Champions and featured Aurélien Abily, David Balaguer, Raphaël Caucheteux, Vincent Gérard, Eduardo Gurbindo, Demetrio Lozano, László Nagy, Wesley Pardin, Gonzalo Perez de Vargas, Bertrand Roiné, Alvaro Ruiz Sanchez, Rudy Seri, Cédric Sorhaindo, Kamil Syprzak and Alexandre Tritta.          

 

Based at Le Gosier in the centre of Guadeloupe, the players took part in various training sessions and two mixed matches featuring local young players - on 23 June at the Rivière des Pères gymnasium (result 38:37) and four days later, on 27 June, at the Palais des Sports Paul Chonchon (38:32).

 

They also celebrated ‘Olympic Day’, playing handball with local primary schoolchildren, amongst a crowd of around 800 involved in a variety of different activities at the Stade René Serge Nabajoth stadium in Les Abymes.

 

A wheelchair handball session featuring young people from the ‘Medical Educational Institute’ (Institut Médico-éducatif IME) also took place with an association from Guyane who look after young people with physical and mental disabilities.

 

Dinart also met with new French Minister of Sports, and former French fencer with five Olympic medals, including two gold, Laura Flessel-Colovic, who was on a tour of the islands. Born in Pointe-à-Pitre, like Dinart, they discussed a number of topics around sport in the country, handball and future work.

 

The training sessions saw the global superstars matched with players in their fellow positions on court so they could discuss skills and tips to improve and further understand their game.

 

It was not all about handball though, with two rest days including a visit to a rum factory, local food and the Eco Museum of Guadeloupe. The week of handball ended with a celebration on Sainte Anne beach.

 

“Didier and I were both born in the Caribbean,” said former French teammate of Dinart, Cedric Sorhaindo, who was born in Martinique. “We never had this opportunity to see top players, to speak with them, to play with them and to receive advice from them, so we want to give this opportunity to the young players to become great, quicker than we did.

 

“We asked all the top players here to be the same, to share their experience and help the young players and they did it even if they don't speak the same language,” continued the London 2012 Olympic gold medal winner.

 

“I also like to show the Caribbean culture to all these top players and to show our rules, which are to be a gentleman, to share opportunities and to help other.”

 

Hungarian international and Telekom Veszprem player Laszlo Nagy was also happy to mix business and pleasure in the tropical islands. “When Didier asked me to come I was happy to be part of the project because I have known him for a long time and have lots of respect for him - it’s a really good event with lots of great players.”

 

For FC Barcelona and Spain national team goalkeeper Perez De Vargas, aside from enjoying the natural beauty of Guadeloupe, was excited to work with up-and-coming young players and a legend of handball.

 

“The young players of Guadeloupe are physically strong and can play in good clubs but they have to learn about tactics to improve,” said the 26-year-old. “I like to help other players and they were asking a lot for advice about shooting and moving and what they can do better.

 

“We had some days to discover the beautiful islands and we all shared in this together as players. When I was younger I looked at Didier on television and then played against him. He comes to Barcelona sometimes to see the French players and to do something like this with him is really exciting.”

 

For the man behind the tour, he could not have been happier with its success in just its third year. “It’s a lot organisation,” said Dinart about managing the week-long event. “But every year it's easier because players know this event now and they know that everything will be organised for them and they can have a nice holiday with their family.

 

“This event is about sharing the experience of top European players with young players of Guadeloupe and I want to give back to handball what it has given to me during all these years – we are in our third edition now so some players are really near to becoming professional and I am very proud of that.

 

“This adventure began five years ago and we will do one event every year to help handball in these islands – it's like a dream for me.”

 

Photos: Stéphane Pillaud