Lagardère Fête le Mur....

Sports do not belong to any one person, andsome are simply not accessible to the most disadvantaged members of our society. Tennis is one of those sports,and this fact has always disturbed Noah, who has been fostering a long-held dream for the past 10 years:to provide the necessary resources for young people from underprivileged neighbourhoods with the potential to compete at the Roland-Garros French Open – perhaps in 2015!

For that purpose, he created Fête le Mur, which currently serves more than 2.000 young people in 23 locations throughout France. Each location gives girls and boys the opportunity to play tennis on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons by providing two hard tennis courts and an instructor.

 
Noah has never forgotten Arthur Ashe, the first African-American tennis icon, whom he met in Yaoundé, Cameroon in 1972. Noah is particularly angry at our society’s failure to smash down the barriers.Lagardère has decided to support Noah not only financially but athletically as well, thanks to the expertise of Francis Gasquet, manager of the Jean-Luc Lagardère Sports division and father of Richard, currently the top-ranked tennis player in France. And he has pledged support over the long term: for 10 years. With the Team and the Foundation, Lagardère has been developing a wide-ranging commitment to French sports, from tennis to other sports like track and field and from the elite ranks to sports for the general public.

This novel partnership features two programmes:instructor training, because instruction is key to all organizations that work in the field, and a programme involving a class of 25 young Fête le Mur hopefuls who will be able to train, participate in regional and national tournaments, and take a tennis course in southern France.

The first course took place on 17-21 April at Sophia-Antipolis, where the Team trains (including Alizé Cornet, one of the great hopes of French tennis).The course brought together trainers and strength and conditioning coaches from the Paris Jean Bouin sports complex. On this occasion, the Foundation demonstrated its commitment to providing a link between sports and culture whenever possible.

Throughout the course, Ahmed Mazouz, winner of the 2005 Musician grant, led a workshop on writing rap songs.He came with his group, La Caution, and his recording studio, with the aim of providing the children with their first “demo” when they leave. The young athletes had another exciting opportunity as well:an afternoon at the Monte Carlo tennis tournament (Tournoi de Monte Carlo).

> Download photos of the signing
© Franck Faugére / DPPI

> Download the key features of the partnership and tennis course
(Format PDF - 108 Ko)

Link to the Fête le Mur website