When young people meeting with athletes turns sport into a role model!

The meeting between two athletes sponsored by the Caisse d’Epargne Loire Drôme Ardèche and a group of young people accompanied by the Sport dans la Ville (‘Sport in the City’) association has demonstrated once again how sporting values can contribute to the development of an individual’s professional and social life.

The Caisse d’Epargne Loire Drôme Ardèche and Sport dans la Ville, the leading association in France for the promotion of social integration through sport, launched a long-distance meeting between a group of about fifteen young people from the Rhône-Alpes region aged between 14 and 20 and supported by the association, and Anouck Jaubert and Loïc Vergnaud, two athletes sponsored by the Caisse d’Epargne via the Performance Pact under the aegis of the French Sports Foundation. 

The tremendous contribution of sporting values 

Anouck Jaubert, who is already qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, is a two-time winner of the speed climbing World Cup while Loïc Vergnaud, who is still working through the selection process for the Paralympic Games, is a handbike champion, a sport derived from cycling and a very physically demanding discipline for the upper body.  The discussions offered the two athletes an opportunity to present themselves and their background, and to talk with the young people about their ambitions before leaving for Tokyo this summer. The personal and professional life experiences of Anouck Jaubert and Loïc Vergnaud gave them the status of role models for these young people from disadvantaged neighborhoods, and showed them how sporting values can help build a successful professional and/or social life. But above and beyond the educational aspect, these meetings will undoubtedly create wonderful memories for these young people, who were able to spend an hour talking with two athletes from the French Olympic & Paralympic team and (why not?) imagine futures for themselves in high-level sport. 

At the heart of societal issues 

As a local player boasting deep roots in its region, the Caisse d’Epargne Loire Drôme Ardèche is positioning itself at the heart of the social challenges of the future, perfectly in line with the tagline adopted by the savings banks: Being useful to you. It is consequently natural for the bank to support the action of the Sport dans la Ville association as it helps young people from disadvantaged neighborhoods to achieve success through sport and through adherence to the values it conveys. The association has already supported more than 7,000 young people throughout France since the beginning of the year. 

Supporting and accompanying established and promising high-level French athletes is a major ambition pursued by Groupe BPCE and its companies. To achieve this, the Group has set up a large-scale sponsorship system for athletes designed to support them not only in their physical preparation but also in the pursuit of their professional projects with the help, in particular, of the Performance Pact Foundation. 
 
To learn more about the other athletes supported by Groupe BPCE, click HERE
 
Photo from left to right: Anouck Jaubert, double winner of the Speed Climbing World Cup, and Loïc Vergnaud, a handbike champion