During the FCE anniversary evening focused on sharing experience, Lou Mataly, at the age of 30, retraced her journey as a high-level basketball player, a journey strewn with pitfalls and twists and turns.
Coming from a family of basketball players, Lou hated her first training at the age of 1: “I preferred to opt for athletics until I was 5 and then I chose basketball.” At 10, the Toulouse native was one of the 14 best players of her age in France and Overseas: “I was selected to join the French under-30 team and I joined INSEP (central Parisian training course for great basketball athletes, editor's note). At the end of her second year where the criteria for staying are particularly strict, Lou was excluded from the course: “But I was asked to participate in the first edition of the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in 15”. The experience was incredible for the young professional athlete, she discovered another world of basketball. Once back in Toulouse with a Baccalaureate in sports studies in her pocket, Lou Mataly, 19 years old and without speaking a word of English, flew to the United States, to Pittsburg, with a scholarship covered at 100 % by the university: “I managed to adapt despite the language barrier, the American state of mind forces you to surpass yourself, there is a different dynamic, outside the French dimension”. In the 4th year (Senior Year), Lou had to put her basketball career on hold due to a rupture of the cruciate ligaments in her knee, a common injury among high-level athletes: “I did rehabilitation for 8 months and a year later, again, same injury, the pain after the operation, the rehabilitation process with the coach for 6 months in France, the return to racing, you have to rebuild your place.” Perfectly bilingual, Lou obtained her Bachelor's degree and returned to Toulouse to play semi-pro and obtain her diploma as a teacher of studies, which she failed. At the end of August 2020, the basketball player arrived in Saint-Martin and took the school teacher competition again, which she passed with flying colors: “I teach at Sandy Ground and thanks to Charles-Henry Palvair, I coach the U13 and U11 in basketball and I am part of the staff of the Center of Excellence and Education through Sport (CEES).” His U13 basketball selection also won the GuyMarGua tournament in Martinique, to the great delight of Lou Mataly who concluded his speech with this message which resonates with his own journey: “Each failure opens a new door”. _VX
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