Flavien logistics activity manager at Decathlon for two years:
"Being a cricket player for 11 years, I wanted to take on a new challenge by sharing my passion for this sport and help a young club created in 2017 I joined ASPTT Arras Cricket Club in 2019 as a player, coach and volunteer thanks to Louise Lestavel, the club's president, who introduced me to her project to integrate young migrants through sport. What I liked about her project is the fact that it brings together young people to play their favourite sport while mixing in the social aspect. The club carries out different activities by organizing international matches in order to promote social mixing and inter-cultural exchange. It further develops the integration of young people, in particular thanks to help with homework, administration or finding internships thanks to Decathlon. Beyond the sports aspect, the club organises numerous initiations for all publics, from leisure centers, to secondary schools and even universities, through Vitalsport. In order to change the way these young people are looked at, the association has taken part in solidarity actions, such as a big meal where the players cooked the Afghan national dish for 200 people, many of whom were exiles. These events are also of course an opportunity to shed light on this sport, which is little known in France but extremely popular throughout the world.
In order to help them, it is with the Decathlon stores in Lens and Arras that I have asked for the Foundation's help. The aim is to put the spotlight on this club and to be able to go even further in the actions of integration through sport and make sport accessible to all.
I am proud to be part of this team, which is a sort of family for these players, but also proud to support this project with the Foundation, along with Paul Nedelec (Decathlon Lens) and Harrisson Hor (Decathlon Arras), which will enable these young people to play in better conditions.
On behalf of the entire Foundation team, congratulations for your investment, we are proud to support your project!
Testimonial from Flavien, logistics activity manager at Decathlon for the past two years:
"Having been a cricketer for 11 years, I wanted to take on a new challenge by sharing my passion for the sport and helping a young club created in 2017 to develop. I joined ASPTT Arras Cricket Club in 2019 as a player, coach and volunteer thanks to Louise Lestavel, the club's president, who introduced me to her project to integrate young migrants through sport. What I liked about her project was the fact that it brought young people together to play their favorite sport while mixing in the social aspect. The club carries out a range of activities, organizing international matches to encourage social mixing and inter-cultural exchange. It is also developing the integration of young people, notably through homework help, administrative assistance and internships with Decathlon. Beyond the sporting aspect, the club organizes numerous initiations for all publics, from leisure centers to high schools and even universities, via Vitalsport. To help change the way these young people are viewed, the association has taken part in a number of solidarity initiatives, including a large-scale meal where the players cooked the national dish of Afghanistan for 200 people, many of them exiles. Of course, these events are also an opportunity to shed light on this sport, which is little-known in France but extremely popular worldwide.
In order to help them, Decathlon stores in Lens and Arras joined me in asking for the Foundation's support. The aim is to put the spotlight on this club and to go even further in our efforts to promote integration through sport, and to make sport accessible to all.
I'm proud to be part of this team, which is a kind of family for these players, but also proud to support the foundation, along with Paul Nedelec (Decathlon Lens) and Harrisson Hor (Decathlon Arras), in this project which will enable these youngsters to play in better conditions."
On behalf of the entire Foundation team, congratulations on your investment. We're proud to support your project!