Since the start of the school year, Ain has had two U18 women’s Rugby teams without the number of players having increased. The latest one has “siphoned” the workforce from the oldest. The latter opposed mass departures in accordance with the federation’s regulations. An appeals committee will have to decide.
Company
From daily life to major issues, discover the subjects that make up local society, such as justice, education, health and family.
France Télévisions uses your email address to send you the “Society” newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time via the link at the bottom of this newsletter. Our privacy policy
Oval quarrel between the Violettes Bressane and the Entente Viriat-Morvel. Eight players were refused their departure from the first club to the brand new team U18 you second. Their licenses are blocked by their former club.
“The first rule says that each amateur player can play in the association he wants, but another rule protects the associations against the massive departure of players.
Olivier Fourniergeneral secretary of the AURA League.
In the current situation, given that both teams are registered in 15-a-side rugby, neither the under-18s of Viriat, Morvel, nor those of Bourg-en-Bresse can continue their championship.
The players in question are training with their new club, clandestinely, one could say, but that may not last. “We don’t really want to come to training anymore because we don’t necessarily have a goal behind it and therefore it penalizes us. I think it also penalizes our team because there aren’t necessarily many of them. They need us for the squad and for the championship” deplores Jeanne Josserand, 17 years old.
“We just want to play rugby, be with our friends and be closer to our family. It’s a shame to deprive us of rugby just for club stories” adds Ambre Dumoulin.
Before the creation of the Viriat-Morvel U18 team at the start of the school year, only the Violettes Bressanes club had a team for young girls between 16 and 19 years old. The creation of this new section created a real call for air for certain players, causing the Violettes’ numbers to drop.
This situation is provided for in the general regulations of the Federation. It makes it possible to oppose transfers in the event of excessive or massive departures. This is the case here, because twelve players are concerned. This rule is intended to protect associations. “The Violets have a potential of 24 players and they would find themselves twelve to play fifteen, it is obviously very complicated” explains Olivier Fournier, general secretary of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes League.
The former girls’ club, Les Violettes Bressane, is a club that counts in the women’s Ovalie. It was one of the first in France in the 1960s. Its president has always worn the Bressanes colors high. She has been in charge of the U18s for around ten years. “You can blame me all you want, but I have been serving rugby as a volunteer for 40 years. These rules are made to prevent a club from being deprived one year to create another club which will perhaps disappear after three years. I know it’s a well-structured club, but it’s my duty to protect mine. When you are president of a club, you have to defend it” argues Viviane Bérodier, co-president of “Violettes Bressanes”. She continues by specifying that she looked for solutions, which remained unanswered according to her.
The idea would be that there is a big team […] we suggested that Montrevel take the athlete and we travel […] but no one wants to give in. That would have made a team of 35 girls like last year.
Viviane BérodierCo-president “Violettes Bressanes”
In the meantime, the matter of blocked licenses is in the hands of the authorities. A Disputes Commission examined the files and authorized only four departures out of the twelve envisaged.
Rugby League regrets the impasse. “We are there, whether it is the Ain department committee or the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes League, to enforce the regulations and to ensure that as many girls as possible can play. Here, we are indeed not in favor of the development of women’s rugby. We are no longer in a war of egos” notes Olivier Fournier, general secretary of the AURA League.
An appeals committee is underway and is studying the remaining eight files on a case-by-case basis. The decision is expected to be released next week.
