Volunteering, an asset of weight for the US Talence

« You cannot organize the French elite championships anywhere, explain the officials of the French Athletics Federation. Therefore, If. Furthermore, for 2025, we chose Talence for the highest national level, it is because the track is brand new, that the equipment is relatively accessible, that there are enough hotels nearby, and that the club has a number of volunteers that cannot be found everywhere. Therefore, »Nearly 350 registered to supervise the event between 1^is And on August 3. Moreover, confirms Michaël Molinari, President of the Sports Union Talence Athletics (USA).

Well. Consequently, he missed a few on the first day-“the first weekend in August is necessarily complicated”-, but we still met at the Pierre-Paul-Bernard stadium an appreciable number of these red jerseys, carried by the members of the club who came to give a helping hand. However, “But also by their families and volunteering, asset weight us talence by members of other Gironde clubs or Talençaise associations,” explains Michaël Molinari. We have asked a lot of people to live up to the stake. »»

The challenge: to register Talence in a landscape that has so far tended to ignore New Aquitaine. “We have organized numerous elite French championships in Angers. Albi, but this is the first time that we have settled between these two cities,” says Kevin Legrand, vice-president of the Federation. Here, we expect to have 15,000 admissions over the three days, while usually, we are rather at 12,000 or 13,000. ”

“Be attractive to athletes”

After the French Open Championships (the equivalent of a second division) last year. the elite level therefore provides a means of giving more visibility to the USA. “We do a lot of training, points Michaël Molinari. At the last young French championships, we were the club that had the most qualified. We have volunteering, asset weight us talence high -level athletes, such as Étienne Daguinos or Gabriel Tual. Our stadium was renovated in 2022 and, apart from a few football matches, we are the only ones to occupy it. It makes us attractive to athletes who ask us if they can come. train with us, or from Staps students [sciences et techniques des activités physiques et sportives, NDLR] Who choose Bordeaux college to take advantage of our facilities. »»

Being a volunteer at the French elite championships therefore helps to promote a culture of athletics. in Talence. This is the profile of Jean-Louis Alliot, volunteer at the USTA since 2022. Athlete in the 1970s. he became a coach in 1984 and, during these three days, he also supervised the team that sets up obstacles for races. “Friday. volunteering, asset weight us talence we had about twenty minutes to place the hedges in the right place and at the right height between the 100 meters female and the 400 meters boys, but for the steepleple, we only had five minutes, with barriers of 100 kilos. »»

A tight timing for a job that does not support approximation, but Jean-Louis Alliot likes challenges. “In my team, everyone was not necessarily aware of the methods to be applied. We had to learn to do quickly and a fairly technical job. Transmission is also what I like in an event like this. »»