View from afar

Stade Auguste Volaire, home of Falcon Flacq, playing here in the blue

The abbreviation "CJSOI" means "Commission Jeunesse Sportive de L'Ocean Indien," which is translated as Commission of Sports for the Youth of the Indian Ocean. It is organised quite frequently for young athletes under 17 years of age.

The venue of CJSOI is Mauritius and more precisely in the district of Flacq where I live. The opening and closing ceremonies are scheduled at Auguste Vollaire Stadium, Falcon Flacq’s ground. For this occasion the ground has been uplifted with a myriad of eye-arresting decorations. The stadium will be filled like an egg comprising of both local and foreign guests. All events will be shown live in all participating countries.

Most of the islands of the Indian Ocean are participating. They are Madagascar, Reunion (a French overseas island), Comoros, Mayotte, and The Seychelles.  The athletes are arriving shortly and will be accommodated in "Jeux des Villages" specially created for them.

Altogether there will be eight events namely football, volleyball, athletics, handisport, basketball, judo, tennis and volet jeunesse. Needless to say that football will be the king event. Here I have to underline that one of the prodigies will be on the attacking line. His name is Jonathan Ernest and he is a player of Faucon-Flacq.

Ernest is under 17 and so far he has played five matches and scored three goals at senior level. The press has been speaking loftily about him. He is a rising star and it is expected that he will do well and play for his country. His photo appears in LE MAURICIEN of the 26 July 2006 giving a good coverage of his playing abilities.

The article reads:

At 17 years, Jonathan Ernest is already among the elite. A striker with Falcon Flacq SC, he marked his arrival on Super League 2006 with three goals in five games. Next season, he is looking to do even better.

At just 10 years of age, Jonathan joined the football school of Cure City, which is responsible for developing young talent within the area. Jonathan displayed interesting qualities which opened the door to selection for the Under 13’s team.

“It was a beautiful experiment. We beat several teams of reputation”, Ernest still remembers. He continues his progression and, at 16 years of age, he joined second division side Sylvester Cure. One year later, he was recruited by (Bhurdwaz Mungur’s) Faucon Flacq SC. “The level of Division One is very high. It took time to adapt in the beginning. But, now, that goes. I start to have the rhythm”, he enthuses.

He admires Division One striker Tony François the most, saying, “I want to become like him. He has good technique and movement. World-wide, I appreciate Ronaldhino”.

Mauritius, although a small island, does care for the development of sports. Competitions are organised for all events and widely followed. Some athletes have emerged principally at this level and are now doing very well at international level. Many others are in the pipeline and may burst onto the scene at any time.

International competitions held in healthy line help our players to compete and an evaluation is made in the aftermath as to their progress. Coaches from overseas are now being appointed frequently to help with a higher standard of training.

We expect that it would be a hard fought competition among the island nations and fairplay prevails at all levels.