Carlo Di Benedetto will play for the H.C. Liceo in OK Liga next season

The news has just arrived, Carlo Di Benedetto will play for the H.C. Liceo in OK Liga next season.

“I knew I couldn’t decline the offer.”

Indeed, Carlo was contacted by the big Galician club of rink hockey of Liceo a few months ago, and after several weeks of negociations, Carlo has landed a 2-year contract, renewable after the second year.

The exact date of the first trainings in Spain is still unknown, but it is sure that Carlo will continue with his sports studies at the university of La Coruna, which shouldn’t be a problem thanks to his knowledge of the Spanish language.

Carlo Di Benedetto

“I thought about staying one more year in the club because it was a very interesting projet and I felt good there.
But when Liceo made the offer, I knew I couldn’t decline it. It’s one of the biggest Spanish clubs, playing in the championship and the Champions League each year, that’s attractive, of course. It’s a new stage, and I’m very happy about it! Now I have to train to the max and improve to help this great club to win.”

Recap of Carlo’s career and that of his twin brothers, Roberto and Bruno

In the French rink hockey world, the Di Benedettos are probably the most famous family, made of Gianni, Mercedes, one of the most fervent French supporters, the three brothers Carlo, Roberto and Bruno… and last but not least Ornella, a future women’s basketball champion.

With the French Team, Carlo has just got the very good rank of 6th at the Worlds of La Roche-sur-Yon, for which he was the best French scorer with 7 goals, which makes him the 6th scorer of the Worlds. Roberto was on Fabien Savreux’s short-list and was unfortunately the only player not definitively selected after the last game won against Argentina, who wasn’t on top form. His rare complicity with Carlo maybe would have been a plus during those Worlds that were held, all the more, in the same city as their club, La Vendéenne.

The Noisy-le-Grand Period

The elder of the three brothers, the taller one, 1.90m, the masked man of Montreux, Carlo, was born on May 31th, 1996.
The two twins, who don’t look alike at all, Roberto and Bruno, were born the following year, on May 8th, 1997.

At the age of 5 for Carlo, and 4 for Roberto and Bruno, that is to say in 2001, they started taking lessons at the skating school of Noisy-le-Grand, France, and two years later, the chose to play rink hockey. Their coaches were Julien Dupré, a National 1 player, and Michel Guiry. In 2005, and for the first time, 9-year-old Carlo got the French title in the U11 category with Noisy-le-Grand.
The following year, the 3 brothers were, for the first time all together, French champions in the U11 category.
Then, Tatiana Malard took the lead of the team and remained their coach for several years. Sergi Punset arrived in Noisy in 2011, the 3 brothers of 14 and 15 at the time trained with him that season. Because they were almost always outclassed, playing in “older” U teams, Carlo, Roberto and Bruno had already collected 20 titles of French Champions at the respective ages of 19 and 18, in 2015.

The Mérignac Year

For personal reasons, the Di Benedetto family moved to Mérignac near Bordeaux in 2012, with Stéphane Hérin as the coach. The 3 brothers stayed there a whole season, the three of them getting the U20 French title, and Roberto and Bruno also getting the U17 French title. That season in Mérignac was a good personal and relational experience for them, and the opportunity to improve in technique.

The Current Period, La Vendéenne

Always with the sports progression of Carlo, Roberto and Bruno as the only objective, it was decided during a family meeting to join La Vendéenne, a club with a sports project and talented Catalan players of OK Liga level, like Edu Fernandez and Borja Lopez, which would help the three brothers keep on improving.
For their first season in La Vendéenne, in 2013-2014, their coach was Sergi Punset and the N1 team won the French Cup, while on the U side, the 3 brothers got the U20 French Title, and the Regions French title with the Pays de Loire team. That same year, Roberto and Bruno also got the N3 French title.
What for an excellent season with great results.

The last season, in 2014-2015, Sergi Punset left for St-Omer and was replaced by the Borja Lopez / Edu Fernandez coaching pair. The team finished 3rd of the N1 championship and reached the final of the French Cup in St-Brieuc. As for the U national side, the 3 brothers are U20 French champions, as well as Regions French Champions with the Pays de Loire team.
La Vendéenne also played an exceptional Champions Cup, beating Valdagno and Vendrell at home, at the Angelmière!

On the International Side

With the French Team, the careers of Carlo, Roberto et Bruno is as long as it is interesting too:

• 2010: U17 selection for the European championship in England
• 2011: U17 selection for the European championship in Geneva
• 2012: 3rd of the U20 European Championship in St-Omer, and U17 European Vice-Champions in Ploufragan
• 2013: 4th of the U20 World Championship in Cartagena, Colombia
• 2014: 5th of the Seniors European Championship in Alcobendas, and 3rd of the U20 European Championship in Valongo, Portugal
• 2015: 6th of the Seniors World Championship of La Roche-sur-Yon, and 3rd at the U20 Worlds of Vilanova
• 2016: Winners of the French Cup with La Vendéenne

With one last game to play before the end of the French Championship, La Vendéenne is respectively 2 and 3 points ahead of Mérignac and Ploufragran, the two other pretenders to the French title.