It has become a must for the start of the new school year in most municipalities: Douarnenez organized, on Saturday September 4, the Association Day at the Plaine des sports. About 70 Douarnenist associations (sport, culture, well-being, etc.) were present throughout the day to inform the public and take registrations and pre-registrations for this year 2021-2022.
And, despite the good weather and the obligation to justify a valid health pass at the entrance, the visitors were numerous, well over 1,000 over the entire day. Without forgetting, a short distance away, a long queue to enter the newly inaugurated Aquatic Stadium, in which entry was exceptionally fixed at the price of € 3. “It is also an opportunity for visitors to discover the Sports Plain, some never come here. As for the associations, they are very happy with the crowd, ”assured Jocelyne Poitevin, mayor of Douarnenez, crossed in the aisles.
Numerous pre-registrations
Indeed, according to the few clubs interviewed, this day went for the best. “We had a lot of people, especially in the morning. It was mainly young people aged 12 to 15 who came to inquire and most of our registration forms were withdrawn ”, explains Alain Baudouard, president of the Douarnenez badminton club, the flying sardines (66 members last season).
Same feeling on the side of Douarnenist judo club (between 130 and 140 licensees) where we counted on about thirty pre-registrations at the end of the day. And if French judo was honored this summer, during the Tokyo Olympic Games, the benefit for the club remains to be put into perspective. “Perhaps unconsciously, it pushes people to come and see us, but judo remains a popular sport, already well identified and appreciated by families”, say the leaders of the club, who, like the other associations present Saturday, could not organize a demonstration due to health constraints. If this constraint somewhat grieved the badminton club, the judo club considers that “it was ultimately not so much of a problem since all the associations were housed in the same boat on this level. Whatever happens, visitors take their turn ”.
The fear of losing the young
A fruitful day for the associations, therefore, even if uncertainties continue to weigh on the rest of the season. Starting with the consequences of the extension of the health pass for the sports practice of young people from 12 to 17 years old, from October 1. A measure that could have repercussions on club membership. “It is already the public that it is sometimes the most difficult to keep, because of the education of each other. There, that adds an obstacle ”, we fear among the Douarnenist judokas.
