We couldn’t celebrate 110 years of sport at ASM without handing our microphone to a women’s rugby champion. Before one of her training sessions with “the girls of Romagnat”, we come back with Caroline Thomas on her commitment to this team.
Interview by Emma from Onde Carriere
I would never have said to myself one day: Caroline, you are going to play for the France team. Caroline, you’re going to make a living from rugby.
Caroline Thomas ,30 years old, is rugby player at ASM Romagnat and Quinze de France. She is also studying at the business school for a master’s degree in sport business.
Originally from Digoin in Saône et Loire, the oval ball has always been in the life of Caroline Thomas.
My dad played, my grandpa, my uncle…every Sunday, we went to the stadium to see the matches
But in Digoin, no rugby club for girls. It was when she arrived at university in 2009 that she embarked on this sport.
– Stephane Hourlier
ASM Romagnat seen by Caroline Thomas
Since 2016, the club has the name ASM Romagnat, Women’s Rugby. On the annex field, the cadets and the federal team train. Caroline and her teammates play on the main pitch.
“The club is doing everything possible to ensure that the team progresses, but also puts us in ideal conditions to progress. Jand don’t know if we really realize after the 2016 title that we are champions. _There, we won a title, but we still have everything to prove, I think_. We showed that we knew how to be at the level, but now we have to prove it, that we cannot continue. For us, it especially changed in the 2015-2016 season, the year we won our Elite 2 championship title. That year, we started to have access to the infrastructures of ASM Omnisports, to the the weight room, at La Gauthière. So it’s evolved a bit.”
ASM is increasingly supporting the club. But many things still have to evolve because we are far from professional rugby. The girls are all amateurs in the team. They are three to have a federal contract out of a workforce of 28, 29 players.
“I think what makes a great team, at the top of the table, in fact, is because it does not change and it keeps all its values and everything that animates it. _And_here we are, it’s very family values. We are all very close to the coaches, the volunteers, all the people who help us on a daily basis. We have our feet on the ground and we have to keep them.”
ASM Omnisports seen by Caroline Thomas
“The strength of ASM Omnisports is a club which is family-oriented, in fact, which brings together everyone, from all walks of life. I love going to ASM because when we go there, everyone says hello. We don’t know each other, but everyone claps their hands, whether it’s the youngest or the oldest, whether it’s the football players, the wrestlers, us, rugby, there are the athletes. I think you could sum it up by saying it’s a big family.”
– Stephane Hourlier
ASM on the move, with ASM Omnisports, Onde Porteuse and France Bleu Pays d’Auvergne
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