Posted at 5:00 a.m.
Friday, July 8, 10 a.m. On the Riverside Park field, the morning soccer session is in full swing. The children in yellow sweaters go racing with enthusiasm, under the watchful eye of their instructors.
For four weeks, and until August 19, this is where a day camp has been held with a unique approach, which brings together young people aged 5 to 12 with an intellectual or physical disability, from disadvantaged families or recently immigrants.
This initiative is part of the “All on the same ground” program, organized for the second consecutive year by the Rapides de LaSalle club.
“It’s a vision we’ve had for several years, because we know that LaSalle is a combination of different cultures and different social abilities,” explains Marco D’Ambrosio, club president.
We decided to set up a 100% inclusive project.
Marco D’Ambrosio, president of the Rapides de LaSalle club
The camp is thus aimed for the first time at children with a set of functional limitations (ADHD, ASD, trisomy 21, epilepsy, difficulty walking, etc.).
“We really offered the camp to everyone. The only limit was for wheelchairs, because a soccer field is not very rolling, “jokes Ingrid Moatti, camp coordinator and herself a former player of the French basketball team. in a chair.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
The accompanying team presents the day’s activities to the children.
Out of a total of 140 participants per week, the camp welcomes about twenty children from underprivileged families and 10 to 12 young people with functional limitations. Apart from the age group, no factor separates the children according to their situation.
“Our goal is for the child to feel no different and to be able to play with everyone,” explains Chahineze Derahmoune, head of the camp’s support team. Young people with a disability are supported by designated guides, sometimes up to one supervisor per child, who stay near the pitch to meet their specific needs.
An accompaniment which should not erase the playful nature of the camp, according to Chahineze Derahmoune: “The first priority is the safety of the children, the second is that they have fun! »
Shared pleasure
Most children with functional limitations have their first contact with soccer at camp. A great opportunity to let off steam, but also to strengthen the bonds between the children. “Team sport really allows communication, making friends, which can be difficult for some children,” says Chahineze Derahmoune.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Pleasure and cohesion are the key words of the summer camp.
Beginners can then mingle more easily with the club’s licensees like Matvii, 11, who says he made “new friends” for his first participation in the camp.
In addition to soccer sessions, which mainly consist of games, children can enjoy moments of relaxation at the swimming pool located in front of the field. Every Friday noon, hot dogs are offered free of charge to children during a convivial barbecue.
A champion in the service of children
“Our success at the club is that at camp, you don’t see who is who,” explains the athletic director of the Rapides, Marinette Pichon. The first professional soccer player in France and former goal record holder for her national team, she is now relishing the culmination of several months of work.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Marinette Pichon, sports director of the Rapides de LaSalle
The organization of this camp posed many challenges. “What was the hardest part was finding partners who would believe in this project,” underlines Marinette Pichon, recalling the high costs of supporting children with disabilities.
The project then benefited from the support of the borough of LaSalle, financial partners such as IGA and Desjardins, but also several organizations working around disabilities such as AlterGo and the Corporation L’Espoir, which served as relays to attract young people with disabilities. functional limitation.
To broaden the base of participants, the club also offered preferential rates to the poorest families.
“The poverty rate in LaSalle is over 30%. It was important for us to take into consideration the young people from these families, sometimes newly immigrated, to offer them, through sport, integration into a new social environment,” explains Marinette Pichon.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Children perform soccer games in small groups.
His goal ? Make the LaSalle Rapids “the inclusive club” in Quebec.
The day camp is then only a stage: in the continuity of the program “All on the same ground”, the director aims to welcome vulnerable children in a sustainable way from the next start of the school year. As obvious for the one who will have spent her life dribbling discrimination, subject of the biographical film dedicated to her journey which will be released in 2023.