At the end of March, Joachim Oudin took part in the World Freestyle Football Open in Madrid. Described as a discipline that is both sporty and artistic by Joachim, the goal is to perform as many creative and challenging tricks as possible using a football as a tool. “The most popular format in competition right now is called battles. Each person has three 30-second rounds. Then the judges determine the winner based on various criteria, such as difficulty, variety, and execution of moves,” explains the Dijon native.
In this competition, he was eliminated in the quarter-finals against a Spanish opponent, allowing him to enter the top 8 worldwide. This achievement was his goal before traveling to the Spanish capital. “There was some tough competition in this tournament. It was my goal, which I managed to achieve. But of course, now that I’ve made it to the top 8, I would like to aim higher and maybe even win this championship,” the young man reveals.
Joachim trains an average of four hours a day. A first-year master’s student in teaching professions at the University of Burgundy-Europe, he hopes to become a sports teacher, even though it is not his primary goal. “Being a teacher is a kind of backup plan for me because I am very focused on my career. I find it important to have my studies, to have that security. During my internships, I had the opportunity to teach freestyle football in a sports association. It also helps to further develop my discipline and pass it on to the next generation.”
Today, the Côte-d’Orien is starting to make a living from his passion. “In competitions, we don’t earn much money, usually only for being on the podium. We live on performances: these are shows for different events,” highlights the athlete, who has worked for Eiffage, the Golden Coast, and the Racing Club de Strasbourg, a Ligue 1 club.
Joachim discovered freestyle football at the age of 12 when a friend gave him a book on the subject. He found tutorials on YouTube, realized that competitions existed, and understood that it was a discipline that met his desires. “I have a bit of an unusual history with football. When I was 8 years old, I wanted to start playing football at my neighborhood club. But after three training sessions, the coach looked at me and said it wasn’t working out, that I didn’t have the level. So, I learned to play football by myself on the street. That’s how I developed my technical side. That’s when I realized that all those technical moves on the field had a name, that it was a discipline, and that I could really just focus on that aspect. In the end, focusing on the ball and the aspect of football that I loved the most.”
