What happened to these legendary clubs: the second breath of life in the great outdoors

This is not a joke.

La Vie au grand air (VGA, for close friends, named after a famous sports magazine) Saint-Maur was born on April 1, just after the First World War.

Inseparable from the Marne, the club has been sailing without storm for over a century, and has grown to become one of the most important nationally.

The golden age of the VGA arrives in the 1960s, where its hegemony extends to almost all team sports with titles in basketball, handball, football, volleyball.

In 1962, it even won the Marcel-Oger Challenge awarded to the best sports club in France: "This trophy shows all our power thanks to our 4000 licensees at the time", assures Jean-François Bedu, 69, president since 2009.

The club has known immense champions, with a legendary trainer, Alain Mimoun, Olympic marathon champion in 1956. He also shone with his fencers, Michel Salesse and Patrick Piot who won team gold at the Olympic Games in 1980, then Jean-Michel Henry eight years later.

Not to mention the Olympic bronze for sprinter Véronique Mang in the 4x100m relay in 2004. With its 6 titles, the women's football team is the second most sacred French club behind OL (14 crowns) with Paris FC .

The VGA Saint-Maur was especially built over the water, with a specificity: "The Marne is a loop of Saint-Maur which encloses everything," smiles the president.

We all have a connection to her.

"It is therefore very logical in the club's swimming pool that diving has become one of the most popular disciplines, with a dozen selected for the Olympic Games since 1972. In 2016, Benjamin Auffret had failed at the foot of the podium at the Olympic Games in Rio.

Reinvent yourself with healthy sport

With professionalization, team sports have lost their luster.

VGA nevertheless remains a stronghold among individuals.

Thanks to its 10,500 licensees, a consequence of the merger in 2017 with Stella Saint-Maur, the club with gold and blue colors is the 4th most important in France: “We have been talking about it for fifteen years and naturally, explains Jean-François Bedu.

There was a sporting rivalry in handball but that's it.

La Stella decided to unite with us because it was more and more difficult to get by on her own.

"

“Beyond the results, the VGA Saint-Maur is especially proud to be a training club and constantly evolving, says Bedu.

We have always tried to reinvent ourselves.

We have diversified into the retraining of athletes but also in health sport.

"With the creation 4 years ago of the" sport on prescription "device, it was designated" House of Sport and Health "in 2019." Of the 138 centers in France, we are the only sports association, concludes the president. .

Doctors send patients to us and we offer them a program to get them back in business with follow-up.

This is also the vocation of a sports club.

It's not just the medals that count.

"

VGA SAINT-MAUR

Foundation:

April 1, 1919.

Chairman:

Jean-François Bedu.

Sections:

42.

Licensees:

10,500.

Headquarters:

8, avenue du Nord in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés.

Facilities:

La Pie nautical base, Arromanche center, Gilbert Noël sports center, Arsonval gymnasium, Rabelais gymnasium, Henry-Paté gymnasium, Brossolette sports center swimming pool, Canneton swimming pool, Auguste-Marin stadium, Adolphe-Chéron stadium, Corneilles stadium , Stade Paul-Meyer, Stade Fernand-Sastre.

Awards:

2 Olympic titles in épée (Seoul 1988, Moscow 1980), 2 bronze medals (fencing Los Angeles 1984, Véronique Mang in relay 4 x 100 in Athens 2004).

Champions of France: women's basketball (7 times), women's football (6 times), men's handball (6 times), women's handball and men's volleyball (once).

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