D-1 before the return of the Vinci Cup. This weekend is taking place at the Marcel Bec Sports Complex in Meudon, the fifth edition of this event. Created in 2016 at the initiative of Paris FC and its partner Vinci, this competition dedicated to U15s brings together teams of young people from the largest training centers. “Today considered as the benchmark event for future champions, this tournament takes on a new dimension this year by integrating women’s teams for the first time”, specify the organizers.
So on the occasion of this 5th edition, from August 28 to 29, seven professional clubs will take part in this competition. “It is a unique opportunity to promote women’s football and to discover new nuggets of French football”, ensures the organization.
The VINCI “mixed” CUP was born
If the 2020 edition had to be canceled due to the health crisis, Paris FC and Vinci wanted to include women in this gathering. “With this first mixed tournament of high-level training centers, they are thus affirming their societal commitment by promoting parity with an equal number of committed teams of boys and girls engaged in the competition”, specifies the press release. This event brings together for the first time at the highest level in the category, the women’s (U16) and men’s (U15) teams of the same club in a common transversal competition. “
“The VINCI Cup, now firmly anchored in the football landscape, holds a special place among the actions carried out by VINCI and Paris FC within the framework of the sporting and socio-educational partnership that unites them. Beyond our common performance ambition, it perfectly expresses the culture of training and learning that VINCI and Paris FC share – playing every summer, since its creation in 2016, a role of revealing talents in a climate of exchange, inclusion and openness. Our wish to develop the tournament in mixed competition this year responds to our desire to promote ever more diversity and equal opportunities in professional careers, at a time when sport, like the world of work in general, is abounding. of female talents, who ask only to express themselves fully “, commented Pierre Coppey, Deputy CEO of VINCI and Chairman of VINCI Autoroutes.
The president of Paris FC greeted him “this diversity project to include women in this new edition of the VINCI CUP” who “totally fits into the DNA of Paris FC.” Paris is indeed strongly committed to women’s football, and in particular since the merger with the Juvisy club in 2017. The workforce has grown from 150 to 400 young girls who play football in the club in the capital. “This makes us the 1st Women’s Training Center in France and we dedicate more than 10% of our overall budget to it. We are also the Club which obtained the greatest number of selections for the French team last season and our coach Sandrine Soubeyrand is the record holder “, Pierre Ferracci congratulates again.
A talent projector
Like Eduardo Camavinga, participant of the first edition, the Vinci Cup helps to highlight the talents of tomorrow. The Rennes player started in Ligue 1 at only 16 years, 4 months and 27 days, less than three years after his participation. “This is the toughest tournament I have participated in. It allowed me to gain confidence and realize that I could reach the professional world. I came out of it grown in sport but also in human terms. After the tournament, everything then happened, I wore the jersey of the French team, signed my first professional contract and played in Ligue 2. When you have the chance to face excellent teams, we necessarily raise our level of play, which makes it an extraordinary tournament ”, remembers Ousmane Camara, now a professional at Paris FC.
On August 28 and 29, nearly 280 young players from 7 training centers in France who will try to dazzle the competition with their talent. Several recruiters will also be present at this event. This meeting at the end of August will also allow the U15 male and U16 female teams to assess each other before the start of the season.
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