Bickering, laughter, grimace contests with their heads glued to a window, children running in the corridors, others organizing a battle of miniature dinosaurs. Everyone seems to be enjoying a beautiful late afternoon, Thursday April 7, on Cergy’s Leisure Island.
A common room like so many others, with the exception of the number of drawings bearing the colors of the Ukrainian flag, also present at the entrance to the accommodation center, behind the flowering prunus. Since arriving in the middle of the night a month earlier, there are 33 refugees living in the town of Val-d’Oise, twelve women who have come with their sixteen children, and five unaccompanied minors. All fled Ukraine because of the war led by Russia, and find themselves reunited in France around the same passion: ice hockey.
/2022/04/09/phpQKrR5y.jpg)
While the Ukrainian Hockey Federation was organizing the departure of all its licensees, its French counterpart (FFHG) immediately came forward to welcome the young athletes. A moment engraved in the heads of those present at that time. “There was a kid at the bottom of the bus, covered in mud, who ate but didn’t speak during the 20 hour journey. The psychologist took an hour to get him off the bus… The first question I he asked was: ‘When can I go play hockey?’“, remembers with emotion the president of the FFHG, Pierre-Yves Gerbeau (To read also: MAINTENANCE. “Using sport to make Ukrainians smile again”: appeal from the president of the French Ice Hockey Federation).
“We also saw a little 7, 8 year old, without a suitcase, with just a small backpack and his hockey stick.”
Pierre-Yves Gerbeauat franceinfo: sport
If the destination was the same for everyone, not everyone comes from the same club, nor from the same city. Artiom (14 years old including eight hockey practice), Sergei (15 years old including ten practice of hockey), Vladislav (16 years old including seven practice of hockey), Andrei (15 years old including eleven practice of hockey) and Mark (15 years old including nine practice of hockey), everyone took their sports equipment from the suitcase. Timofei, 17, lives near Lviv, he explains their journey: “At first, we took a first bus to the border, which we had to cross on foot. We then waited in a refugee center in Poland. We stayed for twelve hours before the bus for France arrived. He was late, but we were finally able to get in and come over here.”
/2022/04/09/phpw9dm8l.jpg)
No bus for Elena, clothes in the colors of Ukraine on her back, and her son Alexandr, 12, who usually handles lacrosse on the ice rinks of kyiv. “We were very lucky. For ten days, at the start of the war, we were in kyiv under the bombardments. We were hiding in the cellars, but I understood that we had to leave to save our child. I left my husband, my dog, my parents, my brother. They all stayed in kyiv. We are in contact every day, but I am very worried. We don’t know how it will end”she explains, with sparkling blue eyes, while her son plays… a fighting game on a small computer.
/2022/04/09/phpPltoFX.jpg)
The bus for France, she learned of its existence at the Polish border, when she had already traveled west by car. What enter a specific destination in the GPS. “We just made a stop in Austria because we knew that there were things organized for the Ukrainians. We slept there one night and after that, we knew that we were expected in Cergy. adrenaline that got us here, and we’re very lucky to be safe now.”
“I was driven by adrenaline because I knew it was to save my child’s life.”
Elenaat franceinfo: sport
After a trying journey, families benefit from full support. “They are fed and housed, it is the work of the services of the Leisure Island. The city of Cergy takes care of social support, which is very important. They also have psychological support”, lists Thibault Humbert, vice-president of the Cergy-Pontoise urban community. The establishment of psychological support reassures Ukrainian mothers, who are well aware of the trauma experienced by budding hockey players. “A few days ago, someone set off a fireworks display not far from here. The children heard it and it worried them a lot. As soon as they hear the sound of an explosion, they They all become very anxious. The psychologists work with them. They are there to help them.”Elena tries to reassure herself.
At the end of the day, head to the favorite place of expression for teenagers, Aren’Ice de Cergy, for training. Under the watchful eye of his mother Tatiana, young Mikhail, 10, proudly wears the jersey of his club, Sokil kyiv. And he intends to show that “the Ukrainians are a little stronger than the French” on the ice. A feeling shared by all young people, whose tongues loosen when it comes to talking about their sport. “The game is a little more brutal in Ukraine. Here it’s softer, more basic. We don’t do complicated things. In France, they rely a lot on individual skills. In Ukraine, the notion of team is more important”, engages Sergei. Andrei sends a charge that triggers unrestrained laughter from his teammates: “They think less than us, they think less.”
/2022/04/09/phpzlGlCT.jpg)
Mark, who occupies the position of goalkeeper, takes the time to leave his cage to come and tell the many qualities of French training, in particular “better ice cream and conditions than in Ukraine”. And if he admits that the level is a little higher in his country of origin, he is not bored in the cages: “It’s not easier because in France, I train with opponents who are one or two years older than me. So they are fast, toned. But, it suits me very well because it’s like that’s what I’m learning, that I’m progressing.” Voice of wisdom, it is his teammate Timofei who concludes: “You have to understand that the French have a different style of play from ours, they are two different schools, two different ways of playing hockey. So it’s difficult to compare.”
For the parents, never far from their telephone to watch the news of the country, to see the children handling the stick, controlling the puck and chaining the exercises at high speed is an opportunity to immortalize the moment for the family remained in Ukraine. “For children, it’s very important to play, it’s their pleasure, a big part of their life, explains Tatiana, phone in hand. We communicate with my husband every day, I send him videos of our son in practice, on the ice, so that he can see how he plays. It reassures him.”
“For his part, my husband is one of the volunteers, who fight to protect kyiv. He does not tell us everything, so as not to traumatize us too much.”
Tatyanaat franceinfo: sport
Send small moments of happiness from France, a few seconds of respite to men who defend their country, an action shared by many mothers, like Elena: “I do live videos so that my husband can see how it goes during training, and how life is here. It is very important for them to know that we are safe. It reassures them in kyiv. “
Thanks to @Hockey_FRA young Ukrainian hockey players who fled their country can now train with @les_jokers from Cergy, pic.twitter.com/5VopeiCj24
— Simon Bardet (@Simon_Bardet) April 8, 2022
Uprooted but grateful, all the mothers take the time to welcome the French people. “When we arrived here, we were given everything, my son was equipped, explains Elena. They told us: ‘You are at home.’ It was very touching, I really thank France and the Hockey Federation, the city of Cergy and all the inhabitants. Everyone has been great with us.” Tatiana also praises the attitude of her son Alexandr’s new friends: “Initially, the children were separated, in different schools. The French made so much effort to ensure that all Ukrainian children were united in the same school. It was very touching.”
Gradually, families begin to talk about the future. The long term, impossible to see very clearly. While they imagined staying two weeks when they arrived, they now know that the French stay may be longer. So small meetings become events not to be neglected. “The children received an invitation to play with the Americans from the professional team of Jokers de Cergy. We sent them an e-mail to invite them to a friendly meeting”rejoices Elena, very happy to imagine her 12-year-old sharing the ice with the semi-finalists of the French championship.
From there to imagine Alexandr redo the trip to France later, in more serene conditions? “He likes France and he adapts very well here. Everything is well organized. The children are at school, they go to sport. Sometimes I ask him if, later, he would like to come back to France to study. , or even to play hockey. He tells me why not, that France is very nice, but that for now, he would especially like to go home to kyiv. He wants to see his dog, his dad of course. The whole family misses him.”
/2022/04/09/phpPPI29K.jpg)