What memories do you keep of your visit to Chartres?
These are still good moments because it was the best season the club has known with a play-off final lost to the “belle” against Roche Vendée. We had a great group. We would have liked it to end with a title and a rise in the Women’s League …
An elite championship that you discovered two years later after passing through Spain …
After Chartres, my goal was to play in the 1st division in France and I was contacted by the Gerona club. It was a great opportunity because the club was playing the Eurocoupe (note: the 2nd European competition after the Euroleague) and it was an opportunity to take another step in my career. This first visit to Spain allowed me to progress and return the following season to France and to sign at Villeneuve-d’Ascq.
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“Bourges is the benchmark in France, the most successful club, so obviously it is a pride to have arrived there.”
Magali Mendy
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What is left of your first season in the Women’s League with the northern club?
Unfortunately we did not make a great performance in the league (note: 9th and no European qualification) but it allowed me to discover the Euroleague (note: following the club’s 3rd place the previous season, Villeneuve will finish at 5th place in its Euroleague group and will be transferred to the Eurocoupe). I’ve made a little more progress …
Magali Mendy (center), in 2017, after the (lost) play-off final, received in Chartres town hall with her teammates, Joelly Belleka and Milena Marjanovic.
Then return to Spain, without a proposal from French clubs?
Yes, but not the ones I was hoping for, but I didn’t have many either. So I went back to Gerona to a club that had matured, won the Spanish championship and qualified for the Euroleague. And when the championship ended with the coronavirus crisis, we were one point away from the first. On the European level, transferred to the Eurocoupe, we had to face Venice in the quarterfinals. It was a good season on a personal level …
“I hope to return to Chartres …”
And days ago, you signed in Bourges. What does this club represent for you?
Bourges is the benchmark in France, the most successful club, so obviously it is a pride to have arrived there. It’s a great reward to join this club and to be able to progress even further by competing in the Euroleague next season.
And with Chartres, do you still have contacts?
Yes, of course I have kept some, with Joelly Belleka and other girls. And I hope to come back this summer to animate the summer camp that we have to organize in July. Hoping that the crisis is over …
Her career in brief:
Born February 6, 1990 in Choisy-le-Roi (Val-de-Marne). 30 years. Rear (1.75 m).
Its clubs: Reims (L2, 2009-10), Pleyber-Christ (L2, 2010-11), Voiron (L2, 2011-12), AB Chartres * (L2, 2013-15), Keltern (German D1, 2015-2016), AB Chartres (L2, 2016-17), Girona (Spanish D1, 2017-18), Villeneuve-d’Ascq (LF, 2018-19), Girona (D1 esp., 2019-20), Bourges (LF, 2020- 21).
French team : 2 selections.
Awards: best defense of L2 (2014, 2015 and 2017) best player of L2F (2016-17, AB Chartres), winner of the great Spanish Cup (2020).
* Sign in Chartres after a white season following a rupture of the cruciate ligaments.
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Jean-André Provost
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