Green light for the resumption of rugby in the school setting.
On December 14, 16-year-old Mathias was seriously injured following a tackle during a 7-a-side rugby match between his high school in Tarbes (Hautes-Pyrénées) and a neighboring school.
Following this accident, which left the young man quadriplegic, the National Union of School Sports (UNSS) had decided to suspend the practice of rugby until further notice.
An initiative that had aroused the ire of the National Union of Physical Education (Snep-FSU).
"
You are casting doubt on the professional skills of PE teachers and undermining the trust placed in them by heads of establishments, [inspectors], parents and students
", underlined the trade union organization at the time.
A recovery in two stages
For his part, the president of the Bagnères-de-Bigorre club - where the teenager played for juniors - had estimated with Le
Figaro
that
"pausing UNSS competitions was not of much use"
but that this suspension could to be
"an opportunity to sit around a table and discuss"
in order to
"improve things"
.
Read also“We don’t bring our children to school so that they get hurt”: after the serious accident of a high school student, school rugby in the hot seat
On January 6, rugby 5 – which is practiced without tackles – and rugby 13 had again been authorized.
This Friday, January 20, the UNSS announces that
“all rugby practices”
can now resume.
"Additional awareness and prevention measures have been taken to guarantee the physical integrity of the licensees"
, specifies the UNSS.
"Strengthening the security of the practice"
“We are satisfied with the resumption of the practice of rugby throughout the territory. The constructive and responsible exchanges with the French Rugby Federation (FFR) and the French Rugby Federation (FFR XIII) have enabled us to put in place new elements aimed at strengthening the safety of the practice”
, reacts Olivier Girault, the national director of the UNSS.
Among these measures is in particular the presentation of a “young player booklet” including a “security test” which must be validated with a minimum of 8 out of 10 to be able to play in UNSS.
Before each match must also be organized a “briefing” between young referees, captains and young coaches, in the presence of an adult referent, to recall the rules of tackles and the existing sanctions.
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