"With an organization similar to the World Cup": this Nice player transmits the values ​​of football to young people with his Riviera Cup competition

Developing a competitive spirit among young people while protecting them from often toxic external pressure. Transmitting values ​​to avoid the pitfalls and excesses that plague football today . In short, ensuring that the stakes do not outweigh the game: this is the objective that Lau Natoli has set himself, convinced that he has found the ideal solution with this Riviera Cup, the concept of which the 36-year-old from Nice has been testing since last year.

And it's indeed a tournament unlike any other, with an original format that doesn't take place over a single day or weekend, but rather stretches over an entire season. With "a similar organization to the Champions League or the World Cup." Namely, group matches to conduct an initial round-robin, followed by knockout stages.

"The advantage of joining the Côte d'Azur district calendar is to allow teams to fill the so-called off-peak weekends..." In short, prolonging the pleasure for the little ones who, ultimately, are just asking for that...

A "World Cup" format

"In fact, I found it a shame that the sometimes excessive behavior and attitudes observed around the fields led to the importance of competition being minimized, or even completely ignored," explains the former Cavigal player, now a coach at La Semeuse (where he is, the rest of the time, head of the leisure center). "At that age, they need to challenge themselves."

"My many travels have reinforced my idea that you can play football, develop this feeling of belonging to a team, a club, a country, without necessarily having any negative effects," the educator continues. "That's how I came up with the idea for the Riviera Cup. We promote fair play by offering kids a kind of immersion. We give them the opportunity to get a taste of what the pros experience..."

And his proposal was well received by the department's clubs: from the first edition, sixteen teams joined.

Guy Stephan announced at Ray

It was still necessary to ensure that this message was well received. By clearly directing its initiatives. "For example, we were able to create cohesion through the WhatsApp group for coaches that I launched. I share articles there, and all of this ultimately creates mutual respect. I also put in place specific rules, also intended for parents, to protect ourselves as much as possible from any slip-ups. When possible, we entrust the refereeing to the parents, in order to raise their awareness even more..."

While Lau Natoli has already planned to expand his competition, by expanding to 24 teams next season, the grand final this year will pit Roquefort-les-Pins against Entente Saint-Roch/Vieux Nice. A match that should be played under the expert gaze of a certain... Guy Stéphan, Didier Deschamps' current assistant at Les Bleus. And whose grandson is among the young players announced. Who knows, the Riviera Cup may have found a sponsor...