Hi everyone!
As April is coming to an end, I’m back to tell you more about being a professional basketball player.
#1 Passion
Since I was a little girl, I have been playing basketball with only one goal in mind: having fun. I started playing basketball in order to do a physical activity, but the main reason why I chose this sport is because of its values that I deeply care for, such as team spirit, competitiveness, altruism, etc.
Over the years, practices and games, these values remain the same and I enjoy playing as much as on day 1, if not more! Moreover, I‘ve always said that the day I would no longer enjoy playing, I would stop basketball.
Indeed, as in any job, it is appealing to acquire more and more experience, to develop new skills and to move forward! Plus, the best part for me is to share all of this with my teammates, my coaches but also my family, my friends and relatives. Sharing so many great moments – whether in the euphoria generated by victories or in the pain after defeats – brings us together and creates real bonds!
#2 The team
In the Bourges Basket club, the team is made up of 11 players with different positions, a coach, an assistant coach, a physiotherapist who follows us every day, a physical trainer and sometimes the coach of the training center (the training center is made up of young players who aspire to play at a high level, aged from 15 to 18 or even up to 20 years old. They can come and practice with us when we have injured players for example).
#3 The schedule
As I told you before, we practice almost twice a day every day and have one or two games per week. And in addition to the French championship, we also play in the Euroleague.
So, under normal circumstances (without Covid), we play a game against a European club on Wednesday and one in the French championship on Saturday or Sunday.
In general, in each competition, we alternate home and away games.
For the French championship, we travel with a large bus (we can play from Montpellier in the South to Lille in the top North and from Landerneau in the top West of France to Charleville in the East). This same bus takes us to Paris, from where we fly to European destinations. With all these trips, you can imagine that my bento boxes are very useful! ?
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | |
| Morning | Strength training / individual training | Optional or individual training | Shooting
session |
Rest if game
or and individual training |
Optional or individual training | Shooting session | Rest |
| Afternoon | Team practice | Team practice | Game or team practice | Rest or team practice | Team practice | Game | Rest |
To this schedule, we can also add shooting sessions, strength training or other exercises to work on different, more specific and individual aspects.
To this end, each player can have her own physical and mental trainer to work on different angles of performance that are not necessarily reached on the field, such as: self-confidence, situation management, setting personal goals in addition to the collective ones set by the club and the coaches, etc.
#4 Professionnal contracts
Our employment contracts are mostly fixed–term contracts for one, two or three years with a club. They are established by our agents and the club we are going to play for.
To make it easier for us to focus on our sporting performances, each player has an agent who manages all the administrative aspects. Without going into detail, agents are paid directly by the club an amount equivalent to 10% of our salaries.
Each player has a different contract and therefore different salaries and options depending on the position, performance, experience, etc. Of course, agents and players work hand in hand and the players’ opinion when it comes sporting projects and contractual aspects is always at the center of decisions.
#5 Image and partnerships
As professional athletes, it is our duty to keep our followers and people who support us informed on social media (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.).
For my part, I work with Quan Sport who takes care of my image and partnerships with brands that make sense to me and with whom I share the same values. Combining our images, we can work on innovative and modern projects together.
That’s why thanks to monbento, which has been following me for more than a year now, I really enjoy sharing with you every month aspects of my daily life, as an athlete or as a woman in general, my practices, my diet, always seeking to offer you new content and answering your questions.
See you soon!
Laëtitia