This time, he was behind his screen, at home. Every year, at the end of October – beginning of November, Didier Picard is in Bercy to attend the Masters. In 2024, the Renaisonnais stayed at home to follow the exploits of Ugo Humbert, an unfortunate finalist.
Didier Picard did not go to the capital because he no longer wears the hat of president of the Loire Committee. He handed over during the last general assembly, on October 25, after 30 years in the structure which manages tennis in the Loire and 20 years as president.
A slice of life that turns for this 73-year-old SNCF retiree. “After 20 years, you have to stop,” he explains quite simply. At the Committee, he first took care of the training of referees before directing the body.
First skydiving, then basketball and tennis
Didier Picard, however, was not always in the world of the little yellow ball. He even started the sport by practicing skydiving before stopping. He stopped the activity after the birth of his first child in 1978. At the same time, he moved to Renaison, where his first wife, who has since died, came from. And starts playing basketball. At the beginning of the 1980s, with the creation of the ERA room in Renaison, he invested in setting up a club. Less than 10 years later, the structure inherited land just behind the building. “And we built courts,” says Didier Picard. That’s how I came to tennis. »
The man is manual, since professionally he is responsible for the maintenance of locomotives or even the TGV at the SNCF. So, in Renaison, he took care of cleaning, tennis equipment such as nets, balls, etc. He took over as president of the local club and then got involved in the Loire Committee with the training of referees. “I did both,” he remembers. All these functions require availability. There are also the kilometers, but that doesn’t scare him. “It never bothered me too much. »
In tennis, as on a professional level, he hits the mark one after the other. Didier Picard has never worked in Roannais. Returning to the Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Français at a very young age, the former paratrooper worked in Nièvre, in Paris with the TGV before ending his career in Lyon. “Luckily I don’t need to have 10 hours of sleep,” he emphasizes with a smile barely hidden under his imposing mustache.
Over time, reconciling club and committee becomes more difficult. At the beginning of the 2000s, he let go at Renaison.
Didier Picard’s career stands out in the world of sport where very often today’s leaders are yesterday’s athletes. He took the racket well but was never classified. His job and a traffic accident with a loose knee prevented the manager from being on the courts more often.
A few bullets on the Suzanne-Lenglen
His duties as president still allowed him to hit a few balls on Suzanne-Lenglen, the legendary Roland-Garros court in Paris.
This life as a leader remains in accordance with the character of the man. Didier Picard likes to give and share. He often met the champions in the official stands at Roland-Garros, where he was invited or in the trade fairs. His best memories remain simpler. “It’s great when we see the kids and even the adults… They can watch great tennis up close. They are happy and then there are all the autographs,” says this grandfather of four grandchildren.
Didier Picard enjoys being part of the organization of the Roanne tournament or the Andrézieux-Bouthéon women’s tournament, by integrating activities for children, paratennis into the calendar… “My best memories of major tournaments are the conviviality, when people come to see you because they are happy, because there was a good reception from the Committee, because we did our job in terms of the children, the activities. The pleasure is there. »
From this entire tennis career, Didier Picard also retains certain friendships such as that with the current president of the French Federation, Gilles Moretton. The two men were both part of the Aura League before Gilles Moretton rose to the highest office. The president of the French Federation warmly paid tribute to Didier Picard just before the final of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Open in Roanne, a month ago. The emotion was palpable during this small ceremony synonymous with farewell.
Didier Picard’s schedule is starting to lighten up. “We have to make changes, pass the files…” explains the man who traveled to Saint-Étienne every week during his mandate, where the Committee’s headquarters are located.
Still on the municipal council
The Renaisonnais will thus be able to practice motorcycling even more with his wife, cycling or even walking. He also still has his missions within the Renaison municipal council, where he has served for a decade. After having been a municipal councilor, the former president has become for a year and a half 6 e deputy of the municipality in charge of municipal information, attractiveness and relations with the elderly. “I like it because it’s on site. I’m going to do fewer kilometers! »
There will still be a little tennis. Didier Picard does not intend to stop pampering the equipment of the Renaison club. He also plans to go to Monaco to attend the Monte-Carlo masters which takes place every year in April. Yet another way to enjoy tennis.
Succession: A Riorgeois after a Renaisonnais.
It was Riorgeois David Swietlicki who succeeded Didier Picard at the head of the departmental body. The Loire has 11,860 licensees.
