Camille Aoustin: “It is already a final”

Shortly before turning 31 last year, French left wing Camille Aoustin made one of the biggest decisions of her career. After playing four seasons with Hungarian side Siofok, she wanted to move back to her native country.

“I felt like I had taken everything I had to take. It felt like the right moment to come back closer to my family. I also wanted to start thinking about what I would do after my career, and that was easier if I was in France,” she recalls.

Her first six months in Besancon have been, she says, “everything I imagined they would be.” The former Metz Handball player is one of the oldest in a very young and talented squad. And even though she is not the captain, her experience is key for her teammates.

“I am in a completely different role than what I had in my previous teams. I have to get out of my shell a little bit, talk a little bit more,” she says.

Aoustin admits she is still finding her feet in this new role: “I have to find the right balance between thinking about myself and my own performance and helping the others — talking to them and sharing my experience.”

At Siófok, Aoustin was just one of the many star players in a team that won the EHF Cup in 2019. Gnionsiane Niombla, Silje Solberg, Estelle Nze Minko, just a name a few — these are the kind of players with whom Aoustin spent some of the best seasons of her career.

“I learnt a lot of things next to them, just being able to play good on a regular basis. This is what we lack with Besancon so far — being able to play consistently from game to game, even within a game,” says Aoustin.

So far, the French side’s results in the European League highlight Aoustin’s point. In their first four group phase games, Besancon defeated Zagreb twice while losing to Motherson Mosonmagyarovari and Sola. The return game against the Hungarian side on Saturday is therefore a very important one, with both teams currently level on the standings.

“It is already a final. We lose, we are eliminated, while if we win, we still have a chance to make it through. Winning by nine or more would be perfect, but this is still a long way away,” she smiles.

This kind of games, with a lot at stake, remain what get the blood pumping for the soon-to-be 32-year-old — whose birthday is on Sunday. Despite having played many European cup games, including finals, with Siófok, international confrontations still have a sweet taste for Aoustin.

“The travel, playing in arenas we don’t know, against another type of handball — that really is the salt of the European cup. I am really happy I have been able to play so many in my career,” says Aoustin, who does not want to say goodbye to the European League 2021/22 just yet.

“I know I will do everything so we can win on Saturday, just so our European adventure can last a little bit longer.”