The Rugby Club Quimper is playing next Sunday, February 13 in the Côtes-d’Armor. A match which is not insignificant when you know that on the one hand, the club has not lost any match since the start of the championship and that on the other hand, it aims for the rise in Federal 3. An achievable ambition at this stage of the season. To rise in the best division of the area and evolve with clubs such as Plouzané, Plabennec or Auray, the club does not hesitate to get its hands on the wallet.
A room at 250,000 euros
The Rugby Club Quimperois went into debt over 15 years to afford these walls to €250,000. So he also received the support of many supporters: 12,000 euros, collected from an online kitty. Companies also took part in the project by donating nearly 20,000 euros for furnishing and fitting out the premises. A new key location that the club needed explains Erwan Donnart, the vice president. “We are in the midst of structuring. To be able to live in Federal 3 and stay there, the club’s structure must be good. So it goes through different levers: the budget, the training of young people and the premises that we just bought”, details the vice-president.
Three employees recruited
Another important lever mentioned by the vice president: funding. He recently recruited a person in charge of finding and managing partnerships with companies:It is still the sinews of war to be able to build projects and competitive teams. We currently have more than a hundred partners. The sponsors represent 50% of the club’s budget, i.e. approximately 140,000 euros out of €280,000 in total for the 2021/2022 season. A correct budget for the level of Federal 3.
We are working on structuring the club, so that it lasts over time – Erwan Donnart
The project to move up into the higher categories has been brewing for 5 years already in the head of the vice-president. “We have already lived in Federal 3, it dates back a few years. It was mainly due to the fact of a generation of excellent players but not necessarily to a work of structuring the club. Let’s just say it wasn’t as much work-related as we’re doing now,” explains Erwan Donnart.
A job that obviously also involves coaching, the technical staff that surrounds the players. The club will recruit two sports technicians additional. “Every year, we need to be able to have quality players who move up from the junior team, the 17-18 year olds, to the senior team. This recruitment will make it possible to advance existing players and also to seek out young people from the region who are looking for a sport and bring them to rugby. Because you need quality young people and you need a lot of them”, says the vice-president of the club.
A season to finish first
Tidy projects in a corner of the head of Erwan Donnart, who still keeps his feet on the ground. “Everything will be decided on the last matches of the season, so we must not miss it. But we believe in it and we are ambitious”, concludes the vice-president.
The next deadline for Breton rugby players is therefore Sunday, February 13. For the moment they are undefeated with 10 wins in 10 matches.