Handball: “our almost 5,500 licensees and our flagship clubs, the strengths of the Gard committee” according to its new president

Samuel Chatard, 47 ans : un nouveau président à la tête d'une nouvelle équipe. MIDI LIBRE

Samuel Chatard est le nouveau président du comité du Gard. Présentation… et ambitions.

Friday evening, at the end of the elective general assembly held in Bellegarde, the world of Gard handball elected a new president at its head: the Cévenol Samuel Chatard. At almost 48 years old, this handball player from Vigan and long-distance runner (ultrarail) succeeds the Gardois Rhone Jean-Pierre Mounier. Here are his first words to the press.

What brings you and your team to the head of the Gard committee ?

Passion. We are a team of women and men passionate about handball. We've been immersed in it for a long time. Personally, I have been in the handball industry for over 35 years. I am happy today to be able to work at a slightly higher level and to work in conjunction with all the clubs.

In your opinion, what are the current strengths and weaknesses of Gard handball ?

On the strengths side, first of all, there are our almost 5,500 licensees who are based on a network of around thirty clubs which occupy our department quite well. Then, we are lucky to have showcase clubs which are our flagships: Usam for the boys (D1) and soon also for the girls, who are gaining momentum with the Agreement concluded with Marguerittes (promoted to N1), and Bouillargues who has always played at a high level for women (D2).

On the weak side, there are the difficulties of the world of volunteering that we all face. We will roll up our sleeves, try to be ingenious and make life easier for our clubs, while hoping to benefit from the Olympic Games effect where our girls and boys, we hope, will go go get us the most beautiful medals.

What are the priorities and what are the main axes of your program ?

First, manage to regain links with the clubs that Covid has damaged. We call it a mesh network based on structuring clubs and surrounding satellite clubs. We are 20 elected officials, we have divided the Gard into four territories, in each, we will be at least 4 elected representatives to work as close as possible to our clubs and help them, all through volunteer actions.

Second priority area, organization: we need to complete our team with administrative recruitment because in recent years, volunteers have carried out secretarial missions, and that is starting to be fair given the size of our committee.

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