The sound of skates resonates in the hall of the Sevran roller club (RCS), in Seine-Saint-Denis. That evening, among around thirty children, Sophie Ly carried out specific work on various workshops with Sami. The young man, who has just celebrated his 20th birthday, has severe autism (no spoken language). Nothing to stop him from working on his coordination for almost an hour, under the watchful eye of his mother Sonia. “He started at the end of September and thanks to Sophie, he regained his confidence, he enjoys playing sport”she explains.
Embarrassed by the compliments, the educator moves away and, this time, turns her benevolent gaze on Adjan. Noise-canceling headphones on his ears, the 11-year-old boy walks the field with a smile on his face, slaloming easily between the blocks on his way. Also suffering from autism, he communicates with pictograms and images to make himself understood. “He is starting his fourth year with his brothers, specifies his mother. It was very hard to find a club in which he could flourish.. He did a trampoline test, but they told me they couldn’t take him. So we got closer to this structure in Sevran, a bit by chance, thanks to word of mouth.”.
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Created in 1986, the roller club “has always accepted children with disabilities”, specifies Sophie Ly. This year, there are six of them to be supervised. “There are more requests but I cannot take more people at the moment”she regrets.
A program to push the development of parasport and adapted sport
With a view to development, the RCS has integrated the “inclusive club” program, set up in December 2022 by the French Paralympic and Sports Committee (CPSF). This proposes to support for six months clubs wishing to welcome people with disabilities, by removing the obstacles linked to the prejudices of the reception and supervision of this public. Today, the program has 700 structures in mainland France, with a target of 3,000 by the 2024-2025 sports season.
Courses are reserved for supervisors and managers of structures, who follow each of the theoretical and practical training modules. The cost of the program is borne to the tune of 6,000 euros by local authorities but also by the CPSF (between 4,000 and 6,000 euros per session).
The objective, in the long term, is to push the practice of parasport and adapted sport by taking advantage of the opportunity of the Paralympic Games in Paris (August 28 to September 8), but also to invite clubs en masse to register on the Handiguide, a tool from the Ministry of Sports listing parasport structures throughout the country.
“At the end of 2022, only 1.4% of clubs said they were able to welcome people with disabilities”, recalls Tristan Palmier, “inclusive club” project manager at the Paralympic Committee. Hence the need to broaden the base as much as possible, and thus avoid practitioners and parents sometimes having to travel many kilometers to find a club and practice their sport.
“We need to develop a network, tell people with disabilities that yes, it is possible to play sport. We can adapt the teaching, the content of the courses by including everyone, it is far from being insurmountable.”
Astrid Géridan, dance and disabled dance teacher at the Saint-Denis sports clubat franceinfo: sport
Astrid Géridan has been in contact on several occasions with poor families, unable to find an adequate sports structure. Dance teacher at SDUS (Saint-Denis Union Sport), the young woman has had to reject certain requests in the past, “lack of necessary tools”. A disabled dance graduate for three years and a trainer within the Inclusive Adapted Handidance Federation, she has strengthened her background to be able to work with all types of disabilities. “And with ‘inclusive club’, we were able to meet Paralympic athletes, see other activities, consider other methods”, she rejoices.
Astrid remembers a young girl with a motor disability, who moved with a walker and wanted to do classical dance after seeing the film “Ballerina”. “She couldn’t stand for long, needed to hold on to the bar… I didn’t want to do anything stupid for her healthshe remembers. At the start we grope, we are afraid of making mistakes. Then we learn, confidence comes and things get better. Many people could not find sporting activities. Today in Saint-Denis, families are fully engaged and no longer hesitate to call to say: ‘My child is autistic, my child has Down syndrome, can we still give it a try?’ It’s awesome.”
Since his “green setting” – as he likes to call it – from the 20th arrondissement of Paris, a few meters from the Porte de Montreuil, David Reybier also measures the progress he has made. President of the Croix Saint-Simon bowling club for 24 years, he has seen its structure evolve considerably since the end of the 2000s. “We have been working with deaf people for 12 years. At the time, they told me: ‘You know David, no one wants us.’ During the first discussions with the Paralympic Committee on this “inclusive club” program, we were reminded that this was unfortunately still a reality for many people with disabilities.”
Make the “inclusive club” label more visible?
The bowling club now has 40 deaf people, including around fifteen playing pétanque and Lyon boules in competition with certain success (several French champion titles and a European champion title won last summer). The learning of sign language has also become more widespread within the structure.
At the same time, David Reybier continues his commitment to a medical foster home (Fam Maraîchers): “We aspire to solidify the foundations to be able to welcome other people in situations of disability, rejection, illness… This also allows us to push forward on issues such as making the changing rooms and clubhouse more accessible”.
It now remains to offer more visibility to these inclusive clubs. “I would like us to have a sign in front of the roller club, a sort of label that shows that we participated in this program”, explains Sophie Ly. A desire shared by his counterparts in Saint-Denis and Paris, who however regret that the training received by managers and supervisors is not certifying.
“Our initial thinking was to allow clubs to have a first approach with this public. Then, if they wish, they will be able to follow qualifying training offered by the federal movement”specifies Tristan Palmier of the French Paralympic Committee. Of the final objective of 3,000 inclusive structures for 2024-2025, 1,500 are expected for the Paris 2024 Games.