Shock at the top between Servet Chenoy and Zurich
Maeva Climaron, Servite Shenoy engineer
The Frenchwoman left the spotlight of the English Championship to combine her career as an architect and a footballer in Geneva. More than a year after her arrival in Switzerland, she reconsidered her choice.
Maeva Climaron has experience in the English Championship having played for Tottenham.
Lucien is lucky
London, 24 September 2022. Tottenham travel to the Emirates Stadium to face Arsenal, in a derby watched by 47,367 spectators. At the same time, Servette Chenoy welcomes Grasshopper to the Stade de la Fontenette in front of 128 curious people. Maeva Climaron, who left Spurs to join End of the Pond two months ago, has never seen the attendance record – since broken – for a Women’s Super League match. However, she does not regret her decision. Not because its purpose is 5H One minute clipped the wings of a locust, but because in life, sometimes you have to make choices. Know how to surrender. “I was aware of what I left behind. But when you leave with a project like this behind you, it is difficult to have regrets. And when the opportunities we aspire to offer arise, we have to know how to seize them. You never know if there will be others.
While the 31-year-old Frenchwoman was bursting at the seams in north London, she changed her plans, preferring the path of architecture. “Switzerland has always been a reference in this field, and that is what has always attracted me,” says the midfielder. Without forgetting to mention the beauty of the landscape of lake, mountains and vineyards. “It’s a really relaxed atmosphere.” To the greatest happiness agate.
“In my contract, I had a written clause allowing me to play in the Swiss Championship.”
There is no doubt that this access would not have been possible without Eric Sevrak. “He knew that my intentions were to find a sporting project that could be reconciled with my position as an architect, while at the same time bringing me closer to my family.” (Editor’s note: which is located in Vienna near Lyon)Servetti’s former coach then put the midfielder in touch with an acquaintance, who sent his CV and portfolio to Geneva companies. With success, Maeva Climaron decided to leave London. “In my contract, I had a written clause that allowed me to play in the Swiss Championship.”
Performance either way
Servette allowed him to build a bridge between his two passions. “I was lucky, as I joined the club that opened its arms to me and the architecture office CCHE, run by Frédéric Ducrest and Cornelia Volkringer, which did the same.” Despite daily training and construction projects, Maeva Climaron navigates her dual role without too many problems, and can also rely on the flexibility of her co-workers to deal with stressful moments. Although the first year was not easy. “I had to perform well on the field and at the same time prove myself in the office.”
New rhythm, new city, new club, new company. It took some time to get the site organized. But this was nothing new. The former French international – who has participated in six international matches – already had to juggle studies and football during the six years she spent training in the field of architecture. “Now, I feel more at peace in the game and the performance follows,” says the girl, who played her first D1 match at the age of 15. “I have found my balance.” In the role of one of the pillars of the Servite game, Ns Garnett has always started No.21 in the league this season, except for the game in which she was suspended after being sent off at Aarau.
“When I see Laura Tofo working on med classes when we’re on the road, I see myself when I was in school.”
Is being an architect an advantage when you have to build the game? “We can draw parallels, that’s true,” replies Maeva Climaron. There is an idea of knowing the body, or one’s body, in the common space. This spatial approach makes it possible to avoid duels, recover balls, and be in the right place. “Vision of the game is one of my main qualities,” the athlete believes. But it is not the only advantage: aggressiveness, fighting ability and technical quality, which are necessary for any midfielder playing in front of defence. “With experience, you can also gain more tactical quality.”
Vice captain-elect
His background – more than 120 top-flight appearances, and more than 40 Premier League appearances – allows him to supervise the younger ones. “When I see Laura Tofo working on med classes when we’re on the road, I see myself when I was in school.” The Geneva community recognizes the efforts and sacrifices it takes to perform well both on the field and on the bench. “The advice I give them is not to give up, even if there are difficult times and a lot of fatigue.” Thus, her career, experience and life choices can inspire Servite students such as Laura Felber, Laura Tovo, Natalia Spaltie, Elodie Naccache, Chiara Wallin, and Amina Muratović.
A football career can be cut short overnight. Even more so in women’s football, where salaries are much lower than men’s. The diploma is a safety net that allows you to return to your normal state in the event of an accident. “We have a better time to delay our football progress a little to get a paper,” concludes the architect, who was elected vice-captain of the SFCCF by her teammates. A place on the scale of its importance on the ground in the Al-Aqiq Building.
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