“Doing our bit”: Béziers Angels volleyball players raise awareness about asthma

Manon Bernard (first player from the left) is the new patron of the Asthmotour. Midi Libre – Rodrigue Delpas

La centrale américaine Marissa Stockman s’est prêtée au jeu de la spirométrie. Midi Libre – Rodrigue Delpas

This Wednesday, February 5, the leaders of the “Asthmotour” went to meet the Angels following a training session at the Béziers Méditerranée sports center.

Wednesday, February 5, 12:30 p.m., at the Béziers Méditerranée sports center. It could be a training session like any other, the sound of balls echoing on the floor, as well as the instructions of the Angels coach, Fabien Simondet, all punctuated by a reggaeton tune, which plays in the background. But, at the beginning of the afternoon, the Béziers volleyball players will meet the leaders of the “Asthmotour”, who want to raise awareness about asthma, and who have come to talk about their project.

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When Doctor Guerrero, a pulmonologist at the Béziers hospital and the originator of the Asthmotour, explains this initiative, the American center Marissa Stockman smiles: “I had asthma when I was little” (Editor's note: I had asthma when I was younger). It is also she who lends herself to the game of spirometry, the test prescribed to measure lung volumes and expiratory flow rates, in order to determine whether the patient is asthmatic or not. Unsurprisingly, everything is going well for the volleyball player, whose results are perfect.

“It's a good thing that there is such a project in Béziers”

It must be said that the Angels players are subjected to numerous tests, as part of their high-level sport practice. “It's mandatory for us,” explains Fabien Simondet, the Béziers coach. At the start of the season, they have heart exams, stress tests, ultrasounds and MRIs of the heart. It's closely monitored because we go very deep in terms of physical and mental preparation, with stress, which can have negative impacts at that level. Due to their status, they are lucky to have medical conditions that they wouldn't be able to have otherwise.”

Seduced by the project, libero Manon Bernard immediately agreed to become its sponsor. She joins other high-level athletes such as Clément Ancely, third row of ASBH, or Damian Penaud, international of the XV of France. “I don't know anyone who has asthma but I studied adapted sport, indicates the French volleyball player. So I have already been led to offer physical activities to asthmatics. It's a good thing that there is such a project in Béziers and that we can do our bit. We have the opportunity to set an example.”

High-level sport & asthma, a viable mixture ?

In high-level sport, constantly seeking the best physical and mental performances, is it possible to exist when you are asthmatic? ? Fabien Simondet, the coach of the Béziers Angels, thinks so, with an example to support this. “I had a player who had asthma problems at the training center a few years ago,” he recalls. It wasn't easy for her in terms of the training load and the matches, but she managed it, we had also been French champions – 21 years old that year. We had to be more careful with the cardio exercises, we were a little more attentive. But she knew how to control herself and knew her limits. Sport helped her better live with your illness." And, even if there are no asthmatics in the Angels' squad this season, Manon Bernard agrees: "I think there are plenty of athletes who have asthma and who manage it."

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