May 21, 2022. Olympique Lyonnais players are at the top of women’s football after their victory over FC Barcelona in the Champions League. Coach Sonia Bompastor becomes the first woman to win the Champions League as a player and then as a coach.
“The emotions are the same in terms of intensity. Whether you’re a player or a coach, because behind, you know all the work that has been done to get there and achieve your goals.”
Sonia Bompastorat franceinfo
“It’s true that the only difference between a player and a coach is the passing years. That was eight years ago and I’m a little older, a little more wrinkled,” she smiled at the time.
The exploit in the Champions League and the title of champion of France, it is a successful season for Sonia Bompastor who has the feeling “duty accomplished”. A year after being appointed coach of the team, she, who pleads for a strong investment in French women’s football, is still aiming for more victories for her club. Sonia Bompastor hopes “repeat this feat” this year while the “competition is organized” around OL.
First coach of OL, first woman in the history of the club to win the Champions League title how coach and player… This status of “first woman to”she says grant it “unimportant, competence is the priority and gender takes second place” even though Sonia Bompastor feels a pressure on his shoulders. When she was appointed to this position replacing Jean-Luc Vasseur in April 2021 after the quarter-final loss to PSG in the Champions League, she knows she must produce results quickly. “Today, when you are a woman, you have this duty to succeed in order to prove in fact. And it is true that sometimes it can be heavy. Personally, I already set myself a requirement which is very high. I am at the head of the best team in the world with the prize list, with the ambitions of the club, the ambitions of the president.As a former top athlete, I have always had very high goals in my life. ‘assume this responsibility and this duty,’ says Sonia Bompastor.
This responsibility, she manages it by finding a balance with her family life in particular: she is the mother of four children. “When I come home, it does me good mentally and it really allows me to cut and move on. Because it’s true that coaching is a very demanding job. Our brain is connected 24 hours a day, seven days a week”, says Sonia Bompastor at about his family.
With regard to the development and place of women in French football, Sonia Bompastor observes that there is “positive developments” but expects the French Federation to put more resources into developing women’s football. “I believe that there is still work to be done on supporting clubs to make resources available, resources in terms of infrastructure, human resources too. Because in fact, the observation today , it is that in Europe, but also in the world, competition is organized and it is advancing very quickly. In Europe, it is Spain, it is England. On the world level, it is is the United States”, says Sonia Bompastor.
“If we want to stay in the right car, if we want to stay at the top of the bill, we have to be aware and we have to work to give ourselves the means to succeed.”
Sonia Bompastorat franceinfo
Even if this is not what she is looking for at all costs, Sonia Bompastor says she is aware, given her track record, her career, her career, of being a model and especially for young women while being a mother. full time.
“This aspect is a slightly more personal struggle. I have already experienced situations where sometimes I was asked the question: ‘Sonia, this position of manager or responsibility, it is available. But how are you going to organize your family with your four children?’ I’m convinced that the same interview with a man, we don’t even ask him the question. It doesn’t even cross the mind of the leader. And it’s true that on this, it’s a will on my part to show that you can be a mother, you can have four children and lead both a professional and personal life and meet all expectations. So it’s true that it’s demanding. It’s true that it’s an organization that must be optimal. But it is possible”, concludes Sonia Bompastor.
After this period of reconquest, Sonia Bompastor is ready to start next season with serenity and ambition. There are four titles at stake: the Champions Trophy, the Coupe de France, the Champions League and the championship. The coach hopes to get them all.