On Thursday, the “Section de sports d’élite de l’armée luxembourgeoise” (SSEA) celebrated its 25th anniversary. The army invited to the celebration in Diekirch. Among the guests was Grand Duke Henri.
Since 1997, SSEA welcomes and supports athletes before, during and after their professional career. The sport promotion measure was introduced at the time by former Minister for Sport and the Army Alex Bodry. Athletes must complete basic training, which used to take three months and now takes longer than four. Athletes are not only supported during, but also after their active career in sport. An important point is the social security that professionals receive. “If they get injured, they don’t have to worry,” explains Lieutenant Colonel Guillaume Hansen. “It doesn’t matter if they’re out for six months or a year. We support them. It’s about taking the pressure off them.” In addition to health insurance, the athletes also receive financial support.
National basketball coach Ken Diederich, who was invited to the roundtable, also acknowledges the progress soldiers of the sport have made. Although he was not a member of the SSEA, three FLBB national team players are members of the military: Ben Kovac, Alex Laurent and Ivan Delgado. “You can see that the Army athletes are mentally and physically stronger,” the coach explains. With Joy Baum and Magaly Meynadier, two other FLBB players are part of the SSEA.
Luxembourg currently has 28 elite sports soldiers: cyclist Loïc Bettendorff found on Thursday that he had successfully completed basic training. Nine of the athletes come from classic team sports. “During the basic training you come into contact with people from very different social backgrounds,” continues Hansen. “Strengthen social skills. For many athletes coming from individual sports, team spirit is becoming more and more important.”
The elite athletes present were able to answer questions in the context of a round table. When asked whether core training can negatively impact an athlete’s career, six answered “yes,” while 25 others answered “no.” After all, professional athletes can’t play their sport for four months, so it takes a certain amount of time to get back to the old level. “The four months have not been entirely without problems,” explains former judoka Marie Muller. “I lost about a year before I got back to my level. But overall I enjoyed it. In retrospect, I think I should have lived the time more.
But athletes also help the military. Hansen gave the example that athletes had contacted during the corona pandemic to support the Covid test centers. It should also be noted that athletes at the Military World Games went into service in the army.
The criteria for admission to the SSEA are established by the COSL. The decision to admit an athlete to the Section is taken jointly by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministers of Education, Training and Sport, after consultation with the Federation and with the prior approval of the COSL.
The Army’s Elite Athletes:
Kari Peters (cross-country skiing, joined May 9, 2008), Sarah De Nutte (table tennis/12/18/2012), Christine Majerus (cycling/12/18/2012), Bob Bertemes (shot put/4/19 /2013), Bob Haller (triathlon/ 09/01/2014), Alex Laurent (basketball/08/01/2016), Magaly Meynadier (basketball/22/04/2016), Michel Erpelding (boxing/16/12/2016), Pit Klein (shooting ‘bow/ 12.16.2016), Julien Henx (swimming/December 16, 2016), Ricardo Delgado (football/April 28, 2017), Dylan Pereira (motorsport/January 12, 2018), Stefan Zacchaeus (triathlon/January 12, 2018), Chris Zuidberg (volleyball/January 12, 2018), Tina Welter (handball/ April 20, 2018), Oliver Gorges (triathlon/April 20, 2018), Pit Brandenburger (swimming/April 20, 2018), Eric Glod (table tennis/January 1, 2019), Gabriela De Lemos (football/11 January 2019), Ivan Do Rosario (basketball/12.5.2020), Ben Kovac (basketball 18.5.2020), Alex Knaff (tennis/11.9.2020), Luka Mladenovic (table tennis/11.9.2020) , Mathieu Osch (Alpine skiing/11.9.2020), Victoria Rausch ( Athletics/11 seven September 2020), Raphael Calzi (Tennis/8 January 2021), Gregor Payet ( Triathlon/8.1.2021), Adel Rastoder (handball/8.1.21), Joy Baum (basketball), Loïc Bettendorff (cycling)
Football, cycling, short track or sports-related topics: Pascal Gillen has been one of the all-rounders of the Tagesblatt sports department since his internship in 2017. In 2018 he was the youngest journalist to report on the Tour de France, and a short time later he completed successfully completed his journalism studies. In addition to his activities at the newspaper, he has written for the football magazine 11Freunde, Trierischer Volksfreund, Mental! and also acted as a television commentator for Second League Basketball games. He has been a permanent member of the sports editorial team since January 2020.
