Patricia Petchy is one of those volunteers who give their all for their club. She is responsible for the football school and general secretary of the Junior Stars club. This woman devoted to her favorite sport is also president of the Women's Commission of the League of Saint-Martin. This is our first portrait dedicated to sports volunteering.
Faxinfo: Can you present?
Patricia Petchy: “I am 55 years old and mother of three children aged 27, 25 and 22 today. I arrived in Saint-Martin as a school teacher in Quartier d'Orléans, just after the devastating passage of Hurricane Luis in 1995. After having held various positions in several schools on the island, I returned to Quartier d'Orléans as director of the Omer Arrondell school, a position of responsibility that I have held for four years".
FI: How long have you been involved in sports?
PP “Oh, for a very long time! Since my early childhood, I practiced swimming at a high level before transmitting and sharing this first passion with the young people of Guadeloupe. It's only since my arrival in Saint-Martin that I've discovered football with my CM 2 class from Quartier d'Orléans. At the time, we participated in inter-school meetings organized by the Municipal Sports Office (OMS). It was there that I met many people involved in football in Saint-Martin, in particular Lou Baly, Jean-Louis Richards, and a certain Roland Morville, a club coach and speaker in schools, who passed on his passion for football.
Many children had a lot of fun during these friendly inter-school matches. My children included! So much so that Charlène, Jean-François and Lucian wanted to sign a club license. With several moms, we decided to create a female Attackers-Junior Stars-Attackers agreement to play matches against the Dutch side. It was super nice, these are very good memories. My sons signed for Juventus de Saint-Martin before joining Junior Stars three years later.
FI: How did you live your first steps as a coach?
PP “I first accompanied my two boys to each weekend meeting. From the stands, I also took the opportunity to correct my copies until the day when Patrick Mocka, educator at Juventus then at Junior Stars asked me to join the staff in U 13 and U 11. I accepted and I I climbed the ladder over the years by passing the diplomas required for the supervision of young people (initiator 1, CFF2, CCFA 4, CFF3).
Since my arrival at Junior Stars about 12 years ago, I take great pleasure in training young people, all categories combined. It's a lot of work but when the passion is there, nothing can stop you. As a volunteer, I am proud to accompany young people and thus instill in them the values to which I am very attached: team spirit, solidarity, surpassing oneself, respect for the adversary and many other values that we share in everyday life".
FI: What advice would you have for women who want to follow a career in football?
PP: In life, anything is possible. Just believe it. If they decide to jump in and go, they have to keep earning that experience. But above all, you have to dare! We must dare to show our skills and the expertise that we have on a daily basis.
Women's football has been booming for many years, including in Saint-Martin. I was elected president of the women's commission of the Ligue de Saint-Martin. It is an honor for me to promote women's football on the island. More and more young female footballers from Saint-Martin are playing football. This is a great reward for all the educators in the clubs. From a personal point of view, football brings me a lot of joy and enthusiasm on a daily basis. Now I'll be the happiest coach to one day see a player from Saint-Martin join a professional team”. _AF
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