PORTRAITS At the heart of each municipal service, there is hidden know-how that is little known but used on a daily basis. Today, meeting with the sportsmen of the town hall.
Almost all the Millavois children pass or have passed through their hands. The City’s sports department intervenes at least two hours per class and per week in primary and public schools and offers sports Wednesday afternoons for the leisure centre. Year-round, there are eight territorial educators of physical and sports activities (Etaps), where everyone has their favorite sport, reinforced by seasonal workers during the summer. Because during the summer school break, four weeks of internships are organized. At the beginning of July, four days were devoted to 12-15 year olds with activities at the whitewater stadium, mountain biking, archery, rollerblading, horse riding, tree climbing, caving or laser tag. The other weeks were dedicated to 9-12 year olds just like the one from August 22 to 26 which is already full. In all, there are between 60 and 80 kids per course. “We are really at the service of the population”, underlines Jean-Louis Caramel, who entered the service in 1983 and who will be making his 40th comeback. During school hours, the Etpas plan the year with an educational adviser by scanning the skills required by the National Education. “Depending on the infrastructure of the City and the works, we adapt”, he summarizes.
Well in his sneakers
And the service is happy to see the renovation of many gymnasiums. “Soon, the whitewater stadium will be the infrastructure grandpa,” jokes Quentin Raïssac, its manager, who entered the service in March 2019. Inaugurated in 2000, the one that is now called AquaVagues park is open to all. the world seven days a week, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. during the summer. Over the year, between competitions, training for firefighters or civil security and athletes, the whitewater stadium counts 16,000 passages.
Beyond the infrastructures which have “evolved a lot” in 40 years, it is “good to live” within the team. And in the capital of outdoor sports, we do not hesitate to take children to express themselves on the natural playgrounds. “We want to promote the region and it is also a question of developing practices and staying up to date. The children spend two hours a week with us on different disciplines before going to see in a club on a practice where they have caught on”, summarizes Jean-Louis Caramel.
The sports department also follows the policy desired by the City and, for example, emphasizes soft mobility by organizing awareness-raising operations, sometimes in conjunction with other departments. It also follows the news and can organize an Olympic week as part of the Terre de Jeux 2024 label that Millau sports. 2024, a date which should also mark the retirement of Jean-Louis Caramel. But the Etaps coordinator does not prefer to think about it yet. Whatever the terrain and the season, the Etaps wet the jersey, for their greatest pleasure and that of the little Millavois.
