The Perpignan club celebrates its anniversary on Saturday evening December 10. Initially the business of a few enthusiasts, it has, over the years, become one of the largest in France.
Initially, it was the story of a few enthusiasts who wanted to share their passion. And then little by little, their association, called Les Archers du Roussillon, became one of the biggest clubs in France. This Saturday, the structure, which became Les Archers Catalans in 1996, celebrates its 50th anniversary in its hall at the Perpignan Exhibition Center. An important and emotional meeting for its president, Guy Ledrappier, who, although he only arrived at the club in 2013, has been fully involved, for several months, with the rest of the club members. , to prepare for this meeting.
It was therefore in 1972 that the club was born, under the impetus of its first president, Michel Gavoy, but also other local shooters, including Raymond Casas. The start was a little sluggish, it was first in Laroque-des-Albères that the first arrows were fired. Then quickly to Perpignan, where the town hall makes land available, at the Sports Park, where the shooting range and the club’s head office are still based. It was not until much later that a covered room was set up at the Mas Donat roundabout, next to the Exhibition Centre. “We started from one end of the field, then we had a small room at the Sports Park, where the technical services are currently located.smiles Lionel Torres, at the club since he was eight years old, now coach of some of the Perpignan archers. It was cold, the windows were broken. And then little by little, we did some work.”
Second club in Occitania, in the national Top 10
It must be said that Lionel Torres knows the club well. He entered it at the age of 8, in 1983, accompanying his father, who was an important member. In a few years, he became the greatest champion trained in Perpignan. Team world champion in 1993, team world record holder in 1996, world number 1 several times and world medalist, he also participated in the Olympics in 1996 and 2000. And if he left the club from 95 to 2005 , for Compiègne, where the facilities were more suitable for training at a high level, he has always kept in touch. Returning in 2006, he has since trained a whole generation of archers, which means that today the club is the second in Occitanie, behind Nîmes, and in the national Top 10.
But paradoxically, while with 150 licensees it has regained its pre-Covid level and a great dynamic, the future has never been as uncertain as it is today. “We have a concern about the USAP training center projectsouffle Lionel Torres. We understood that it would be done on our current facilities at the sports park. We risk losing everything.” And if the City has assured the club that it will be relocated, the leaders are awaiting a concrete proposal to be able to project themselves. The subject should necessarily be at the heart of a lot of conversation this Saturday evening for the big celebration of the 50th anniversary…
1993, the Indoor Worlds in Perpignan
It was in 1993 that Perpignan, via its club, became an essential place in world archery. That year, the club, then called Les Archers du Roussillon, organized the indoor world championships at the Parc des Expositions. It was Gérard Torres, Lionel’s father, who was at the initiative of this meeting. A little young, the future champion had then finished only 20e. Another Frenchman, Sébastien Flute, then defending champion, took fourth place, behind the Russian Guennadi Metrofanov, the Taiwanese Wu Tsung-yi and the Ukrainian Stanislas Zabrodski. Among the ladies, by the American Jennifer O’Donnell.
The aftermath will however have been complicated for the Catalan club, which has struggled, in particular because of broken promises from institutions, to recover. The structure had to file for bankruptcy and be reborn from its ashes, under the current name of the Catalan Archers.
