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Since the early 2000s, the French Boxing Federation has been working to create social ties through this sport. By learning the noble art, the specialists hope to convey values such as rigor and respect for the frame and the opponent, both in the club and in everyday life.
Integration into society and the world of work
“Educational boxing teaches you to control your emotions, to touch with great control”. The noble art develops and tends to take an increasingly important part in the integration of young people within society and the world of work.
Since 2013, the French Boxing Federation has set up the program CHALLENGES. “It is the symbol of diversity, education, training, integration and solidarity”explains Stéphane Raynaud, national technical adviser to the French Boxing Federation.
“The objective is for the practice of educational boxing to be accessible to everyone, from 6 years old to 666 years old.”, adds with a touch of humour, Stéphane Raynaud.
To do this, the Federation has developed agreements with a wide range of organizations. For example, we find the middle schoolfrom disability or prison.
“Thanks to the training, we have sensitized and trained many professionals to supervise boxing. This makes it possible to open the practice to all young people who wish to do so”welcomes the specialist.
“Boxing together to live better together”
Present in a third of prison buildings in France, thanks to agreements between the FFB and the Ministry of Justice, English boxing is used to allow prisoners to enter into a positive dynamic and to fight against a sedentary lifestyle.
“A person sentenced for non-compliance with the law can learn about arbitration to become the guarantor of compliance with the rules and everyone’s safety, an example of a socializing tool”, specifies the national technical adviser to the French Boxing Federation.
“The clubs have a strong involvement in the social link and education”, relates Stéphane Raynaud. The objective of the Federation: to meet people through boxing. To popularize this practice among a new audience, handi-boxing was created. The latter is open to people with motor, intellectual and/or psychic difficulties. One of the annual highlights of this discipline, the Challenge National Handi-Boxe Gilbert Joie, which brings together disabled and able-bodied boxers. One motto: “boxing together to live better together”.
Ultimately, another initiative aims to help certain licensees – mainly those from priority urban policy districts (QPV) – to succeed in their studies and find a job. Launched in 2020, this initiative in partnership with the National Association for Social Performance in Sport (ANPSS), with the support of the Ministry of Labour, has already benefited 1200 young people.