This is unprecedented, never seen before in Lauragais and a source of great pride for the city. After Cahors in 2023, Castelnaudary will host the French Rugby Championships, cadet category in UNSS.
After the 2019 ISF Triathlon World Championships, Castelnaudary is preparing to host a new major event: the French UNSS Cadet Rugby Championships. An expressed wish of Benoit Quief, director of the departmental division of the National School Sports Union, very attached to the city and its rugby, of which he is also one of the valuable teachers.
More than 300 young people
More than 300 young people from 15 to 17 years old, second and first year students, from the four corners of France, will arrive in the city from April 2 to 4. Two teams will defend the colors of Occitanie: the Jean-Pierre Vernant secondary school in Pins-Justaret, in Haute-Garonne, and that of the Louise-Michel secondary school in Narbonne. The others come from Finistère, Marne, Saône-et-Loire, Ain, Indre-et-Loire… Just to name a few. And then we must highlight the presence of three military establishments in Saint-Cyr-l’école and Autun, as well as the Brest Naval School. They will be happy to know that their program includes a visit to the quarters of Captain Danjou, in the 4th Foreign Regiment.
Young players coached and refereed by young people
The matches are played with 7 players, each team comes with a coach – a student – but also a young referee. Sixteen teams of thirteen players, in the cadet category, will compete, having qualified successively in the departmental, academic and then inter-academic championships.
“For these finals, they are divided into four groups of four, defined by the national management,” explains Benoit Quief, who has worked for a year on organizing the event with the effective support of physical education teachers from the West. as well as students from the rugby department of Blaise-d’Auriol college and Germaine-Tillion secondary school. It was also high school students from the same establishment who created the trophy that will be awarded to the champions of this edition. Students from Narbonne, young referees trained at the Louise-Michel secondary school, also joined the “local pool”. Also for reinforcement, the ROC, for logistical support. Financially, the event received significant support from the department council, but also from the region and private sponsors. At the municipal level, Mayor Patrick Maugard welcomes this championship, which brings back old memories, shared with Bernard Grimaux since the two were champions of the Aude rugby sevens in their youth, a title hard won against the Narbonne team.
Cassoulet on the menu
The young people arriving from Tuesday 2 will be accommodated in the city’s hotels, the municipal campsite, the Fontanilles boarding school but also on board the boats.
On Wednesday evening they will taste the famous cassoulet, a specialty of our city, in the Halle aux grains.
Note that the preparation of the sports meals was entrusted to young people in training at Anras.
The matches will take place at the Giraille Stadium from Wednesday, April 3 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Thursday morning from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. The two final matches will take place on Thursday at the Pierre-de-Coubertin stadium, from 2 p.m. “A nice nod to this Olympic year,” underlines the organizer who hopes for an audience of schoolchildren to follow the competition.