the essential
For several months, Castres Olympique has welcomed its youth teams but also neighboring partner teams to its Pierre Fabre venue. A stated desire of the club to always be at the heart of local rugby.
For an amateur sports club, having the opportunity to play in a professional arena is always a special moment. Especially since they are rare, or even simply non-existent for most clubs. Which amateur football team can be proud of having played at the Stadium for example, or which 3rd series rugby club can boast of having played on Ernest Wallon’s pitch? However, in Tarn, Castres Olympique has chosen in recent years to lend its stadium and wishes, a little more, to “open Pierre Fabre”.
“At Pierre Fabre, we have no right to miss the match”
Thus, on several occasions already, young teams from Castres Olympique have played championship matches at the Pierre Fabre stadium. The hopes in particular, evolved there three times in 2024. First in December, then in April, receiving Perpignan, then neck and neck for qualification. A few weeks later, they finally faced Grenoble, for the last match of the regular phase, on the legendary pitch, and qualified that day.
This same month of April 2024 saw the women of Castres Olympique host a meeting at the Pierre Fabre stadium. The team captain said that the girls were “super happy, very excited! It’s an honor to play on this field. What’s more, we are the first women’s team to do so. At Pierre Fabre, we have not no right to miss the match!” An extra boost of motivation which worked at the start of the season for the players of Aviron Castrais, who, after several defeats in a row, won for the first time in the enclosure bringing together several thousand people for the occasion. The Sor Agout team was also supposed to play there,
“Give back to amateur rugby everything it gave us”
“We are aware of the importance that this can have for amateur teams,” explains Castres Olympique director Matthias Rolland. “It is sometimes a unique opportunity for the players. We are developing the fact of lending the stadium, on the one hand because we want Pierre Fabre to truly be the stadium for all Tarnais, but also to give back to amateur rugby all that that he gave us!”
It is therefore very logical that the next Boucliers du terroir, the real finals of the “Tarn championship”, should be held for the third time in a row at the Pierre Fabre stadium! During the first edition, the captain of one of the six amateur teams who played in the matches that day spoke of “an unforgettable moment”.
The rugby season, for pros and amateurs alike, is far from over: the Pierre Fabre stadium, “depending on the state of the pitch, anyway!” underlines Matthias Rolland, should welcome several more teams, to the great pleasure of Tarnais rugby.
