Ambi Brings Her Life Into Harmony

La Marseillaise, Monday, 2 July 2012

In its 2 July 2012 edition, La Marseillaise profiled Ambi (Ambinintsoa Andriankajarivelo, who took the name Ambi Becker upon marrying), a pétanque player who moved into refereeing in 2006. The article traces her path: a year of training, followed by a two-year apprenticeship. It then describes her integration into a refereeing committee mostly made up of older men, where she was the youngest member and the only Black referee, while also pursuing a doctorate in visual arts.

She speaks of the mutual respect needed between referee and players, and of the occasional friction tied to the sport’s lingering machismo. She also describes the balance she seeks between family life (she had recently married gallery owner Vincent Becker, whom she met through her painting), her art, and refereeing.

“If I’m going to spend all my time on the pitch anyway, I might as well make myself useful!”

Summary and quotation from the original article “Arbitre. La jeune malgache s’investit dans sa mission,” published in La Marseillaise on 2 July 2012.