Mailment of the French boxing team on the back, gloves on the shoulder, punching bag in the background… The image created a buzz. While he was expected on a completely different front – the government reshuffle – Emmanuel Macron published, Monday January 8, on the social network two hundred days before the start of the Olympic Games, he called on the French to play sports “at least thirty minutes a day”.
Common point with the announcement, which followed Tuesday, of the appointment of Gabriel Attal to Matignon, then with that, Thursday, of the appointment of Amélie Oudéa-Castéra to the ministry of education, in addition to that of sports and of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (JOP): the President of the Republic played the youth card and that of the school.
Recalling that he played sports “a great national cause this year”Mr. Macron insisted on “thirty minutes of compulsory sport throughout primary school” and the institution of “no more sports in college” – two hours in addition to PE lessons, during extracurricular time.
Apart from the fact that the application of these measures is anything but obvious, it should be noted that the Head of State did not mention another system which is nevertheless presented as central in supporting the practice of young people: the Pass’ Sport, assistance of 50 euros for registration in a sports structure, established since September 2021, which targets young people aged 6 to 30 from low-income families.
This discretion can be understood. At the start of the school year in September – just after the end of the Games – this program will have fewer credits: 85 million euros, compared to 100 million in 2022 and the same in 2023. At a time when Mr. Macron aims to make France “a sporting nation” and where he particularly insists on the practice of the youngest from a public health perspective (fighting obesity), this planing move may seem paradoxical.
Decline in practitioners among 15-24 year olds
It is through this cut that the Ministry of Sports and JOPs subscribed to the 5% reduction in expenditure required of all ministries by Matignon and Bercy. He was even less in a position to oppose it since, for three years, the Pass’Sport budget has been far from being used up.
The system is struggling to attract: 1 million subscriptions for the year 2021-2022, 1.2 million for the 2022-2023 season, around 1.5 million in 2023-2024, when the potential target is 6.7 million youth. The Pass’Sport is notably underused “in the priority districts of city policy”, according to socialist senator Jean-Jacques Lozach.
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