The health crisis and its restrictions have not damaged the morale of the leaders of the Judo club of Verfeil (JCV), whose annual competition returned to the tatamis of the municipal gymnasium on Sunday. “This is a friendly tournament to which we have invited fifteen regional clubs. In total, this represents nearly 350 judokas who competed all day”, specifies Mickaël Noël, president of the JCV since the beginning of the season, replacing Raphaël Rouleau, still very active within the club. “Today, the club has more than 150 members who practice judo, but also taïso and muscle reinforcement. We train in Verfeil and Gragnague every other day”, continues the president.
Despite the covid interruption, the JCV has regained most of its practitioners, whose number stood at 172 before the crisis. “The club continues to progress, underlines Raphaël Rouleau, because we had 120 members 5 years ago. It is developing in particular because Verfeil is a growing city”. The JCV includes all categories of practitioners, from the baby-judo section (from 2 to 4 years old). “Judo is one of the rare activities that can be practiced by toddlers,” adds Raphaël Rouleau. A pedagogical approach perfectly mastered by Florian Boyer, technical director and trainer of the club, whose qualities as a teacher are unanimously accepted by all generations.
