On September 22, 2008, a 9-year-old boy operating a jet ski died after colliding with a yacht off Beaulieu-sur-mer. Anissa, 11 years old, drowned during a hydrospeed outing in Hautes-Alpes. Following the tragic accident of this young girl in the Durance on August 1, 2009, Martin Hirsch, High Commissioner for Youth, announced that he would “initiate targeted checks on the highest-risk activities.” Following this announcement, over 1,000 inspections have been carried out by departmental directorates of youth and sports. These checks ensure that “the supervisors do indeed have the necessary qualifications to carry out their activities and that all the rules governing these activities are fully respected,” without any breaches of regulations.
Following instructions from Rama Yade, Secretary of State for Sports, a strong mobilization of these department’s agents was established. The goal: to increase the inspections in Collective Child Care Facilities (Accueils Collectifs de Mineurs – ACM) and sports activity establishments offering services to these ACM by 30%. As of today, no major violations have been found, but these checks will continue until the end of the summer period.
All sports present risks
What could be the definition of a risk sport? According to the Departmental Olympic and Sports Committee (CDOS), “the qualification of a sport or sporting activity as risky is independent of the person practicing it or the circumstances in which this sport or activity occurs. Weather or geographical conditions do not matter either. A sport is deemed risky as soon as, objectively, people are exposed to plausible dangers.” If you ride a bike without a bike lane, on tram lines, or rollerblade zipping between cars, you are directly exposed to dangers. In reality, no matter what the sport, there is always a risk of injuries, although the scale of danger is not the same. As for sports clubs, what is essential is that they are staffed by qualified personnel, reassuring for families wishing to introduce their children to new activities. For this purpose, parents can check whether the instructors are equipped with a State Certificate of Sports Educator (Brevet d’État d’Educateur Sportif – BEES), a diploma issued by the Ministry of Youth and Sports. However, it is especially important to anticipate accidents. A sport like swimming is much more appropriate for young children than kite surfing or jet skiing, which unfortunately had to cause casualties to awaken the consciousness of some parents.
