The Beaublanc Sports Palace is just 40 years old. Inaugurated on November 28, 1981 opposite ASVEL, it was the scene of numerous feats of arms by Limoges CSP. Today in 100% CSP, former captain Yann Bonato opens his memory box. Before making the Palais des sports vibrate and taking on the role of captain and hero of the people of Limougeaud, Yann Bonato uncovered Beaublanc in the skin of the opponent when he started with Antibes: “the 1st impression is that it breathes basketball, it stinks of basketball. It’s noisy because it resonates with this wood. There is an acoustics which is very particular compared to all the venues in France“.
We know we’re gonna enter the arena
If Yann Bonato signed for the first time with the CSP in 1995 at the age of 23, Beaublanc’s fervor had something to do with it: “it makes sense. When we play in other rooms, it is sometimes a little bland, a little lukewarm in terms of the atmosphere. There, we know that we are going to enter the arena. We know we’re going to play for an audience. For a basketball player, it is also an engine“. Yann Bonato, nicknamed the vine then captain Flam during the famous 2000 treble, has many good memories. impossible for him not to evoke this crazy year. While the club was not sure of being able to survive until the next match, it was able to federate until success in the Korac Cup, in the Championship and in the Coupe de France.
His greatest memory, the Marseillaise before each match in 2000
An epic in which Beaublanc’s audience was able to make them fully love the Marseillaise. “Objectively, it never elated me more than that. Before the matches with the French team, I didn’t necessarily sing it. There, when we were in a crisis, it was quite a strange thing. The people here who are passionate, supporters, behind us, before all the matches, it was a bit of a rallying thing, people sang the Marseillaise half an hour before the match. Beaublanc filled up half an hour before the match, it’s already not every day. And during this episode of 2000 where it was always the last match, to galvanize oneself, to reassure oneself, to commune, people sang the Marseillaise“says Yann Bonato still moved.
Talking about it, I still have chills. The guys were in a trance before the game
– BEP / FRÉDÉRIQUE AVRIL
“I discovered this feeling of power and sharing of the Marseillaise. Talking about it, I still have chills. This Marseillaise there, sung like that, with sincerity and authenticity, it was a galvanizing thing. The guys were in a trance before the game. We were ready to go into battle. When we turned around – laughed – it was not worth warming up any more. We are marked for life globally“tells in his small office decorated with stories of his exploits the one who, like so many other former players, decided to stay in Limoges after his career.
Beaublanc can also become a hostile place
But these exceptional moments do not make Yann Bonato forget that Beaublanc is also somewhere the games of the circus. “Beaublanc is very demanding. Beaublanc is also the arena. When things aren’t going very well and when we lose matches, objectively there are times when you don’t really want to go. It really is the arena. It can be the most wonderful place to play basketball. When things are not going well and you hear the whistles falling, it can also get hostile. One should not idealize but in any case, there are always emotions in Beaublanc“recalls Yann Bonato.
Is this enough to have a European ambition tomorrow?
When in the future of Beaublanc that the town hall will modernize, it is shared. Yann Bonnato is both happy to see this mythical place continue, but without knowing whether the new sports center will be sufficient to satisfy the overwhelming ambition of the regulars of the place. “It is a historic and magical place. Today, can it be part of the past and the future of Limougeaud basketball? I haven’t seen the plans. It will be modernized. Is it feasible? Surely. Is this enough to have a European ambition tomorrow? I do not know. We hope so for the Limougeauds“.