Keeping the Olympic spirit alive all year round with sports associations

As the school year begins, let’s encourage children to play a sport throughout the school year; they will only benefit from it.

The Olympic and Paralympic Games have left their mark on the minds of the French. We can expect that this tremendous sporting energy will inspire many children to want to sign up for a sport. Amélia Matar confirms that the Olympic spirit must be preserved.

franceinfo: Could the wealth offered by the Paris 2024 games attract young people to more diverse sports than football or judo?

Amélia Matar : Yes! The French Table Tennis Federation had already noted a significant increase in the number of licensees last season linked, according to its leaders, to the growing notoriety of the prodigy Félix Lebrun. The practice of climbing, for its part, has exploded in recent years, the number of climbing sites in France has considerably increased, with several hundred bouldering rooms.

What are the benefits of sports for children and which sports should be practiced at what age?

Studies report that children enrolled in sports clubs have fewer behavioral and sedentary problems. A study conducted by researchers at the University of Geneva in 2021 shows that regular physical activity could be linked to improved academic results. And a priori, all sports are of interest as long as the practice is carried out with qualified professionals, in clubs that promote pleasure and awareness. Guy Tusseau, former physiotherapist for the French National Olympic and Sports Committee, observed that swimming, for example, is very suitable for a young, growing body, because many muscles are used without joint impact. It is also a sport that develops motor coordination, balance and stress management.

For adolescents, sport is beneficial during a pivotal, sometimes thorny, period of life. The World Health Organization recommends at least 1 hour of physical activity per day for young people aged 11 to 17. However, recent surveys show that the French are well below this level, compared to other countries. The results of the Esteban study indicate that, for 2022, around half of boys and a third of girls meet the WHO recommendations.

Precisely, what assessment can we make of the practice of sport by French children?

In France, sports federations issue around 15 million licenses per year, and half of the licensees are children under 16. Physical and sports education – the famous EPS – is part of the education system from primary school onwards, at a rate of several hours per week. We should also mention specific initiatives such as “Savoir nager” – whose objective is for all children to master swimming before entering secondary school – or associations such as the National Union of School Sports which organizes competitions and sporting events for secondary school and high school students in a spirit of teamwork and camaraderie.

Is competition recommended for children?

Yes, as long as it remains reasonable and adapted to the needs of the child. Guy Tusseau specifies that it must remain fun, especially when it comes to the youngest. Intensive sports practice can have harmful consequences on the child’s growth. The examples of sportsmen and sportswomen like the Russian skater Yulia Lipnitskaya – who suffered greatly from the pressure of results – should alert us to the excesses of an outrageous practice. On the contrary, the swimmer Léon Marchand tells how his parents, themselves high-level swimmers, never put pressure on him, prioritizing above all his pleasure and his desire.

And what about sport for children with disabilities?

It is not always easy for their families to find suitable structures. Only 1.4% of sports clubs in France are able to support people with disabilities! The Ministry of Sports has developed theHandiguidean online directory that lists sports facilities that can accommodate children with disabilities. The French Paralympic and Sports Committee has also set up several programs to guide children towards adapted sports disciplines, to enrich the offer of clubs and to identify future Paralympic champions.