Two students from Collège Saint Jean-Baptiste de La Salle in Laval, Mayenne, represented their school at the French UGSEL Judo Championships on April 1 and 2, 2024, held at the Palais des Sports in Orléans. The event brought together over 1,200 young athletes from Catholic schools across France, competing in age and weight categories under the auspices of the Union Générale Sportive de l’Enseignement Libre (UGSEL).
The Laval pair — 14-year-old Léa Dubois in the under-48kg cadette division and 15-year-old Malik Benali in the under-55kg benjamin category — qualified through strong performances at the regional level in western France. Dubois, a green belt with three years of competitive experience, won her opening match by ippon against a judoka from Lyon before losing in the quarterfinals to the eventual finalist from Toulouse. Benali, competing in his first national UGSEL event, secured two wins via waza-ari in the pool stage but was eliminated in the repechage round after a closely contested decision against a competitor from Marseille.
According to verified results published by UGSEL on its official competition platform, Dubois finished tied for ninth place in her division, while Benali placed seventeenth in his weight class. Both athletes were coached by Jean-Marc Leroy, the school’s physical education instructor and longtime judo mentor, who accompanied them to Orléans along with two parent volunteers.
The UGSEL national championships, established in 1947, serve as one of the premier youth sporting events in the French private education sector, featuring 28 disciplines ranging from athletics to rock climbing. Judo competitions follow modified international rules adapted for school-aged participants, with match durations of three minutes for cadets and four minutes for juniors, and strict prohibitions on dangerous techniques such as kawazu gake and kanibasami.
Lavalois judo has seen steady growth in recent years, supported by the Laval Judo Club, which reported over 200 licensed members in 2023 according to data from the French Judo Federation (FFJDA). The club, based at the Complexe Sportif de la Houssaye, has produced several regional medalists in the minime and cadet categories over the past five years, though no athletes from Laval have yet reached the podium at the UGSEL nationals in judo.
Participation in school-level competitions like the UGSEL championships offers young athletes valuable experience in high-pressure environments, often serving as a stepping stone to regional elite circuits. Dubois and Benali both train twice weekly at the Laval Judo Club under the guidance of certified instructor Sylvie Moreau, a former national competitor in the -57kg division.
Looking ahead, the next major benchmark for school judokas in the region will be the UNSS (Union Nationale du Sport Scolaire) departmental championships scheduled for May 15, 2024, in Le Mans. Qualification for the UNSS academic finals in June will depend on performance at that event, with top finishers advancing to represent the académies of Nantes and Rennes.
For Dubois and Benali, the Orléans experience provided not only competitive exposure but also insight into the national level of school judo — a motivation they plan to carry into their next training cycle. As Leroy noted in a post-competition interview with the school’s newsletter, “They didn’t come home with medals, but they came home with clarity about what it takes to get there.”
The Archysport team will continue to follow developments in youth judo from the Mayenne region, particularly as athletes prepare for the upcoming UNSS cycle and potential selection for inter-academic competitions later this spring.
Stay tuned to Archysport for updates on school sports across France, and share your thoughts on the rise of youth judo in western France in the comments below.
