This being an Olympic year, sport is in the spotlight at the Tours fair. The opportunity for visitors to discover or rediscover sporting activities: basketball, rugby, tennis, badminton, shooting, hockey, athletics or even golf. An exhibition on the Olympics is also organized.
In the sports area of the fair, Christian Vivet harangues passers-by. ” Do you want to play ? » Neither one nor two, we find ourselves hitting a few ping-pong balls. “We promote table tennis through discovery »says the employee of the departmental table tennis committee.
“We play little group games”
His little pride? He will carry the Olympic flame when it passes through Le Blanc (Indre) on May 27. A table tennis player for fifty years and an educator for forty years, he says he “a little disconcerted” by honor. “I take it for myself, I dedicate it to the people I have trained. » And there is no question of him stopping sharing his passion.
Very far from the nearly 3,500 table tennis licensees in Indre-et-Loire, the field hockey players – installed a few meters from there – hope to make their sport known.
“It’s not very common, it arouses people’s curiosity. And it’s made for everyone”, explains Pauline Barbé, from the Tours hockey club, who emphasizes the technical aspect of the sport, which can be practiced from 3 years old. Behind her, sticks in hand, children try to guide the puck in a slalom or achieve a precision shot.
Arthur, who came with his father, Hugues, his brother and his sister, really enjoyed his time under the posts of the rugby field. “We were against a big guy who was supposed to prevent us from scoring a try. »
“Using an oval ball is not common. We are in manipulation”describes Kenny Daamouche, technical advisor to the Rugby Touraine departmental committee. “We play little collective games where we gradually introduce the rules. Tackles are replaced by touch. » He wants to dispel prejudices. “It’s a sport accessible to everyone, from 3 to 77 years old. There are lots of forms of rugby! »
“You have to have fun”
But this sporting activity also requires adapted and accessible equipment. The company Proludic, based in Vouvray, which designs, manufactures and markets outdoor sports facilities and play areas, has installed apparatus, a city park, and a ninja course at the fair – unfortunately closed due to rain on the first Saturday of the fair.
Philippe Le Poupon, vice-president of Proludic, assures us. “People have to have fun. » Otherwise, no sporting activity. Outdoors, the company’s latest novelty: a ninja course, inspired by the show Ninja Warrior. « We apply this spirit to outdoor games. » The company has already received orders from Italy, England and Australia.
In front of the court installed by the tennis federation, Anne-Lise watches her two children exchange a few balls. Surfing, badminton, golf, the morning has already allowed them to do “quite a few discoveries. » “It’s a big playground.”
Enough to give children ideas for possible club registrations? “Maybe it will give them new ideas. But September is far away, they may have already forgotten”smiles Anne-Lise.