Basketball: A hectic offseason for Dordogne teams in Regionals 2 and 3

Still two Dordogne teams in the Regional 2' But not the same ones as last year, because the Boulazac reserve team reached the upper tier, while Eyzerac went down. Bergerac and Saint-Front-de-Pradoux, for their part, took the elevator to the R2, to return to this championship.

Thus, the ESF will first want to compete, with the help of several reinforcements. "We are aiming for a decent place," says Didier Guechoud, the coach who knows that "several Girondin teams are already waiting for us."

USB, for its part, within the Dordogne Sud Territorial Cooperation (CTC), lost several key players during the offseason. Jordan Fougeray and Tom Besançon arrived from Sanilhac, as did Gagny Konaté from Razac, for a rejuvenated squad that will be smaller than last season. In addition, with the Bramerie hall undergoing renovations, the Bergerac team will play its first five matches away from home. "The objective will be to stay up, focusing on speed, intensity, and a strong defense," warns coach Nicolas Beneyrol.

Avoiding an early end

In R3, it will already be necessary to understand a new format, with initially eight groups of ten teams, of which the first will be promoted and will then compete for the regional title, with six matches followed by the final. The second to fifth-placed teams, divided into eight groups of four teams, will play for promotion, offered to the four winners of the play-offs between the first teams. The same format for the sixth to ninth-placed teams, with relegation for the last two of each of these eight groups, in order to accompany the tenth-placed teams of the first phase, whose season will end on March 8.

This will therefore be the place to avoid for the five Dordogne teams, notably the promoted Monestier-Saussignac and Gardonne, as well as CTC Boulazac-Sanilhac, whose squad has been rejuvenated. AOL Périgueux and Eyzerac, respectively relegated from Pré-nationale and R2, will be a little more ambitious, in a pool that is nonetheless difficult. "With a few recruits coming to strengthen the squad and a preparation that began in mid-July, the objective is the top three," says Loriane Voros, new coach of AOL. "We are starting with a virtually unchanged squad and benefit from the return of an injured player and the arrival of a young player trained at the club, so we want to fight for promotion," says Noé Bart, the Eyzerac coach.