Having lived in Millau for four years, the forty-year-old immediately joined SOM Badminton as a player but also as a volunteer.
Originally from Strasbourg, Léonard Tomans started badminton in 6th grade in EPS and UNSS at the invitation of his teacher. “With a friend, she got us started. There were no lessons for children at the time so when I joined the club, I played with adults. It’s been 30 years that I have a competitive licensen”. Twice champion of Alsace, he was able to participate in the French school championships which allowed him to travel from a very young age.
He also says that it was as part of a badminton tournament that he first came to Aveyron. “Badminton is travel, benefits that go beyond sport. I met my best friends at the Montpellier club. It is a vector of social bond and integration. When I moved, sometimes the first thing What I did before I even found a job was to join the bad club”explains Leonard Tomans.
“I checked that there was indeed a club…”
He lived with his partner in Montpellier for 15 years before looking for a city on a human scale and choosing Millau. “Before we moved here, I checked that there was a badminton club and that I could continue to play and compete”he confides. And very quickly, Léonard Tomans contacted the president of the club and showed a natural desire to get involved. “I had two very nice meetings: the president and her companion, also a badminton player. Clémence is extremely involved. I spend a lot of time playing badminton but I am far from being the only one.”
“It’s a popular sport where there is a great social mix”
Léonard Tomans notes an evolution of this sport in recent years : “It is being structured at the level of the federation and the department. More and more tournaments are being offered for young people. There is a positive evolution in the number of participants and this is pushing for the training of volunteers” . Léonard and Fabrice, two of the three badists involved with young people, will also take their first degree supervisor diploma next year. “It’s a popular sport where there is a great social mix. It’s very open, even quite surprising“, specifies the man who, alongside his passion for badminton, is the logistics manager of a mobile home factory in La Cavalerie. SOM Badminton also offers 4 slots for adults, where leisure and competition come together. It organizes a annual tournament on Easter weekend which attracts up to 250 people as well as 4 courses per year with a former member of the club who has become a badminton teacher.
Member of the office with 5 other people, he was first assistant treasurer then responsible for opening the rooms in all slots before becoming responsible for the youth school, 2 years ago, following the departure of a volunteer. After a moment of hesitation during which he helped out, he ended up getting involved with two other volunteers to ensure the sustainability of the system. All 3 are present every Wednesday (school period) for the course from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. He says: “In fact, we are there from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. because some young people come earlier and the older ones often stay until the adult class time.”
Forced to refuse around twenty young people
From 7 to 16 years old, around thirty children of all levels make up the workforce. “With regret, we were forced to refuse around twenty young people. We only have 7 pitches and we are only 3 supervisors, that’s what limits us”explains the volunteer. “The supervised training sessions are built around 15 minutes of warm-up then specific workshops depending on the level to work on technique, with a desire to lead young people to progress but not in a logic of excellence. We always end with play free double“, he explains. “There are badass fans but also children who come for leisure. Everyone has the choice to compete or not. We pay attention to the fun aspect.”
