Pour Paris

It is with a heavy heart and sadness that I attempt to write a blog for the MOTW in Paris this weekend.

Like most of you reading this I watched in horror as the events of Friday last, unfolded before my eyes. Such events overwhelm sport; they bring forth a swell of emotion regardless of the intimacy to the situation.

We weep for lives cut short, for lives unlived. And yet though the “City of Lights” is darkened, handball will play an important part in the healing process.

It must have given the citizens of Paris great encouragement to see the outpouring of support they received during last weekend’s VELUX EHF Champions League.

From the emotive and powerful line-up photograph of Montpellier and Rhein-Neckar Löwen, to the French flag shown in every arena, the minute of silence respectfully observed, to the myriad of individual fans that held up messages of support, the handball world united in a show of solidarity for a city.

“Fluctuat Nec Mergitur”

The Parisian motto is so powerful at this moment in time. To translate: She is tossed by waves, but does not sink” or en Francais, si vous préférez; “Elle est agitée par les vagues, et ne sombre pas."

No sporting moment can expunge the horror of what happened, but for sixty brief and beautiful minutes, we can help focus the energy in a positive way.

Sport has a way of overcoming and surmounting the problems of a world, or a city, if only for the most fleeting moment. It is a time, in the arena, when we can resist the emotion that is there on front of us. It is a kind of catharsis.

It is by pure accident that MOTW is in Paris this week, as it had been decided many weeks ago. And yet it is perhaps fate that draws us there at this moment in time. I’m not a brave person, and my family is worried that I will travel this weekend, but somehow, this is more than just my job, this one time.

It is a chance for us to show solidarity with all our friends and colleagues who will know of someone who lost their lives so tragically last Saturday.

The first reports of explosions happened when Germany played France in a football match. It is another German team that is coming this weekend.

THW Kiel are the visitors in the reverse fixture of last week. The Parisians came away victorious from their arch-rivals stronghold and they will want, nay, more importantly, need, a victory, again, at home, in front of their fans.

It will be difficult for both teams to put aside emotion for the game, but a strong competitive game is what we need. Kiel needs to find a big win for their own future this season. If it is anything like the game last week, then we know it will be fantastic.

If you watch PSG play, you will notice at the end of each timeout that they always chant the same thing.

This weekend all of us from MOTW, and the entire handball community are with you in your grief.

“Pour Paris”.