This morning at the National Sports Museum, the Sports Caravan of the Alpes Maritimes was reviewing its achievements for the year 2021.
For 20 years, the Sports Caravan has been traveling through the communes of the Alpes-Maritimes to raise awareness of sports and civic-minded actions.
The President of the Departmental Olympic and Sports Committee of the Alpes-Maritimes, Philippe Manassero, was present to present the 2021 review of the caravan. This year, 5160 people participated in the events. A rather good number for an edition marked by the health crisis, which required the omnipresence of barrier gestures as well as the mandatory health pass.
Philippe Manassero then reflected on the highlights experienced during the 2021 sports caravan, three moments of solidarity:
First, the caravan’s passage through the communes affected by storm Alex. An important passage to show that life does not stop.
Another important moment of solidarity was the tribute paid to James Lasis, the English rugby player of Stade Niçois, who was seriously injured in the neck during a National match. A stand provided the opportunity to write a card to the Nice player to support him in this ordeal.
Finally, the association of the Departmental Olympic and Sports Committee with the Secours Populaire 06 was highlighted. These two organizations teamed up and mobilized for children who cannot go on vacation. A bus with more than 50 children traveled to Roquebillière to participate in the edition held in the commune.
The civic actions carried out during this edition were then presented:
“Red card to violence”: obstacle courses to fight against violence
Introduction to lifesaving gestures with the Departmental Fire and Rescue Service (SDIS 06)
Selective sorting with the French Riviera Agglomeration Community (CARF)
Fight against addictions with the Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Brigade
The detailed figures of the 2021 Sports Caravan were then presented:
The caravan consists of:
– 21 summer stages that brought together 3988 people from July 8 in Tourrettes sur Loup to August 18 in Cannes
– 3 autumnal stages that gathered 1172 people from October 26 in La Trinité to October 29 in Carros
– 91% of participants residing in the Alpes Maritimes
– 56% boys and 46% girls
– 71% of participants aged between 4 and 8
– An average of 17 disciplines presented per stage
Philippe Manassero concluded the review by thanking this “wonderful team made up of committees, clubs, volunteers, and supervisors. Because without them the sports caravan wouldn’t exist.”
In our interview, the committee president also expressed his satisfaction with such figures despite the more complicated organization due to the health crisis:
“The 2021 caravan was a great caravan, 5160 children, we are almost at the numbers of the biggest years. We clearly saw that families and children needed to come together, to engage in sports activities again. By enforcing strict principles like the health pass, temperature checks, mask-wearing for our development agents and committees, barrier gestures… we managed to have a large attendance. I believe there was a real desire, the desire to reunite and engage actively together.”
The President of CDOS 06 then announced a meeting in 2022, simultaneously announcing that new communes would participate in the next edition, such as Cagnes Sur Mer and Antibes.
He also announced that he would be leading a working group aiming to set up a national caravan, in collaboration with 4 departments, as part of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
