All the indicators were green during the handover, carried out in mid-March, between outgoing president Denis Lambert and his successor Adrien Lecanu. This dynamic can also be seen on the tatami mats. Between the organization of a national tournament which was refilled in November. Between a senior women’s team qualified for the French First Division championships. Or the double of the junior teams at the regionals, last weekend… Bourges judo can expect a bright future. Even the number of licensees which had collapsed following the pandemic is now constantly increasing.
Gradually the club finds its licensees
“We have just gone from 350 to more than 420 licensees, specifies former president Denis Lambert. We see members coming back. People regain confidence. The urge is there. We peaked at 600 licensees in 2018, but I think that a club like ours has the potential to welcome 550. This may change depending on the actions that will be developed by the new team… ”.
This steering committee elected for four years (with a third of new members, including the former technical director Olivier Busnel) will meet on Saturday to refine its project and divide into committees.
Head of the French delegation to the Paralympic Games, Olivier Busnel is still licensed at Bourges Judo
For the time being, the new president Adrien Lecanu is already giving the outline. “We are a big club for the department, but a small club on a national scale. The high level is a showcase that allows Bourges to be known. And it is also a locomotive for responding to societal questions through sport. An athlete in the first division makes kids dream! But it is not our vocation to do exclusively high level, we want to develop on several axes. The idea is also to anchor itself as a training club. Our DNA is to put the foot in the stirrup to young people. »
Following a move for family reasons, Adrien Lecanu left Grenoble for Bourges twelve years ago. A top athlete, he had naturally pushed the door of the club on his arrival and fought in the team of Ludovic Lebourlès, the current technical director of the club. “The rise in the First Division remains my greatest memory as a competitor,” he slips.
“It’s a chance for the territory to have an organization like this”
Adrien Lecano (president of Bourges judo)
Now 37, Adrien Lecanu has chosen to get even more involved in his favorite club. “There’s a real family spirit that makes you feel good there,” he explains. I have made very strong friendships here. When the question of getting involved in the board of directors had to be asked, I simply wanted to return the favor. It is a chance for the territory to have an organization like this. »
He thus succeeds Denis Lambert, at the club since 2004 (which was still called CBBJ) and president since 2010. The beginning of his term of office was marked in particular by the fire at the Pierre-de-Coubertin sports complex. “Rather its consequences,” he corrects. We had lost a lot of members and the cash flow had become negative. We no longer had the dojo we have today either. The situation recovered following the departure of employees and an austerity plan. The club has evolved a lot over the last twelve years. It has taken on a new dimension through its diversity of practices and audiences. »
radiating
“Denis left us a healthy structure full of values,” says Adrien Lecanu. A priori, piloting should be less complicated than what he has encountered over the past ten years. Today, the Berruyer club can also rely on a young team of volunteers, all active. While its trainers regularly intervene in a dozen different places, mainly in Bourges, but also in the rest of the department. A radiant Bourges Judo!
Philip Roche
