the essential As in many sports associations, volunteers are missing at RC Auch. The new triumvirate at the head of the resident of Nationale 2 set out in their quest. Explanations.
With yellow vests on their backs, they become security guards for an afternoon… at the stadium entrances or around the pitch. Aprons belted around the waist, they also roll up their sleeves in the kitchen, or wear a big smile behind the refreshments and at the ticket office.
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The backbone of any amateur rugby club, volunteers are one of the essential cogs in their proper functioning. A grain of sand is enough – like a lack of staff – for the machine to jam…
“How do I get him to come?”
At RC Auch, precisely, these oh so precious little hands, numbering 60 to 70, are missing. “We would need to be a little more, at least 120 to double the positions,” analyzes co-president Guy Sorbadère. Lack of interest in volunteering, lack of recognition from clubs… There are many explanations for the lack of people ready to devote a little of their time for free.
Yellow vests on their backs, volunteers ensure, among other things, security at the entrances to the Jacques-Fouroux stadium. DDM – SEBASTIEN LAPEYRERE
Appointed during the off-season, the triumvirate at the head of RC Auch has however made volunteering one of its hobby horses. Once the diagnosis was established, the Gers prefecture club board racked its brains “to try to find volunteers”. “We are going to set up a working group to be able to better understand volunteering. How to get the volunteer to come? How to challenge him? How to make him stay? », explains co-president Sébastien Joya.
“Marie-Jo”, a chef with recognized talents
Because before attracting new people, we must still retain those “in office”. “The volunteers we have, they’ve been here for a while, they’re a little worn out. We feel it in their requests, their behavior,” shares Guy Sorbadère. “For years, there has been no investment (for volunteers, Editor’s note). The idea therefore is to provide a little comfort”, supports Sébastien Joya in this sense.
At the refreshment stands, the “little volunteer hands” of the RCA await the supporters with a broad smile. DDM – SEBASTIEN LAPEYRERE
On this subject, the gaze of the RCA leaders turns to the kitchen, under the “Marathon” stand. Known to Dupont, Jelonch and even Émile Ntamack for her strawberry or chocolate charlottes, the unalterable chef, “Marie-Jo”, should be able to quickly take advantage of a new “playground”. By improving the “working conditions” of its volunteers, RC Auch hopes to have a snowball effect. “It’s through them that other people will come,” breathes the third co-president of the N2 club, Jean-Paul Naprous.
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As for the pure and simple “recruitment” of new hands, the club does not intend to find them very far. In his sights: the people who gravitate around the club, within the different associations (former FCAG, rugby health, etc.). “We are trying to unify the club with all the associations, by involving them in our events,” confides Guy Sorbadère. Once the plan is revealed, all that’s left to do is!
