Four top athletes animated the day.
For the first time in Uzès, Julien Renaud from the MFR (Family and Rural House) of Uzès, Julie-Anna Roudil (MFR Castillon) and Arnaud Bertrand (MFR Marguerittes), three PE teachers, organized a sports day for their students in the Eure Valley.
In the morning, the students chose to do a 6 km hike or a 3 or 6 km cross-country. The first three in the girls and in the boys received prizes in the two cross-country categories. In the afternoon, it was initiation and discovery of four sports activities: rugby, ultimate, archery and football.
“The goal of the day is to launch Terre de jeux 2024, since we are going to welcome high-level athletes who will come to train for the Olympic Games and above all to recreate cohesion between the MFRs after the Covid. This day is above all fun, but students who wish can also aim to surpass themselves”, explains Julien Renaud.
Transmit the values of sport, promote it…
“We realized that for two years the students stayed on their cell phones. We wanted to create a meeting around sport because it’s easy to create links in this context”, specifies Julie-Anna Roudil. It also involved the IME (Medico-educational Institute) of Bagnols-sur-Cèze to avoid stereotypes about people with disabilities.
Four athletes or former high-level athletes were present to transmit the values of sport, to promote it, to emphasize the playful aspect and to remind that everyone can try and support the role of the mind at all levels.
Alain Portes, former handball player and coach explains: “It’s good that these days are sponsored, it’s a little extra. These young people are supposedly failing at school or not adapted to the system and there, they completely adhere to the activities. It is an encouragement for them to see that they can have sporting activities. It’s a good vector for integrating in general. I told them that sport allows them to see how far our limits go, whether it’s over a day or a year. And also that the emotions are increased tenfold on a ground in this group life”.
Lionel Lefevre, who was part of the Olympic bobsleigh team in Beijing, was there “to show that even if you come from a small village (Castillon) you can become a high-level athlete. I tell them about the efforts and sacrifices that this represents, but when you get to the end it’s an immense joy. I emphasize that each sporting background is different.I come from athletics and by chance, because life is full of opportunities, I was able to fulfill a childhood dream by participating in the Olympic Games. In fact, starting from nothing, we can reach very high”. Michaël Bougnas (CT FFR) and Paul Vialle (hope for the French rugby team) also took part in this day.
Midi Libre correspondent: 06 84 21 23 91
