Rubgy Spirit 93

During the Rugby World Cup, the Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation and the National Defense are launching Rugby Spirit 93, a weekly 2-hour workshop supervised by educators from the Defense Ministry and offered to 10th graders from 3 high schools in Seine-Saint-Denis. The first sessions of Rugby Spirit 93 began at the Alfred Nobel lycée [secondary school] in Clichy-sous-Bois. The program will be carried out progressively throughout the school year at Jean Renoir de Bondy and Auguste Blanqui lycées in Saint-Ouen.

"Discipline in training and preparation, effort and loyalty in combat are values that are common to both sports and National Defense, and which are at the heart of the RUGBY SPIRIT 93 project,” declares Captain Alexis Latty, Rugby Director for the National Defense.

During RUGBY SPIRIT 93, high-caliber athletes from the National Defense will take part in the classes to meet the pupils, and visits to both National Defense units and sports facilities of the Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation will take place:  the Lagardère Paris Racing and Team Lagardère.  A trip with a focus on sports and study to a rugby hotspot, in France or another country, may also be organised towards the end of the year.

This initiative is part of an educational experiment conducted by Sciences Po within five lycées in Seine-Saint-Denis, in partnership with the Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation.  Their aim is to increase the presence of sports in education and strengthen social unity in under-privileged neighborhoods.   Bringing together the different actors of deprived estates to stimulate the flow of success in these lycées, Rugby Spirit 93 reflects both civic responsibility and an appreciation of sports.