It’s never too late to get involved in rugby league, thanks to a new initiative that is helping to attract a new demographic into the sport in France.
IN FRANCE, being a Treiziste is sometimes a matter of geographical or familial chance.
If you’re born in a rugby league stronghold, you’ll discover rugby à XIII at an early age.
Then you may play it. And after your retirement, you may go on with the game as a coach, a volunteer, or a manager. You may also write. This is what Carcassonne’s Jean Cabrol did recently by writing “Une vie au service du sport” (a life to serve sport), in which he tells about his career in an 82-page book, dedicated to his late wife Janine. The 83-year-old former player and coach was very well inspired to offer the French public this documented testimony in a sport where collective memory is dwindling inexorably (see Treiziste Diary in RLW 488).
When you arrive at the twilight of your life, you may just become a spectator. And this is already not too bad in a country where stadia need to be full first to attract the media, the public and the politicians (a kind of virtuous or vicious circle, I let you choose). By just attending a game, somehow, you almost accomplish an act of faith as everything seems to be made to discourage you to do so.
But many of my compatriots will spend their life without even hearing the words rugby à XIII. And if you had no chance to discover rugby league when you were young, getting older won’t help you either.
Unless, for instance, you decide to retire in the area of Perpignan or Carcassonne, to repeat the usual clichés, to enjoy sun and good food. While, you hike or ride a bike, one Sunday, you may discover by chance (again) a noisy Treiziste Catalan or Audois village attending a rugby league game.
So, there’s a still a slight chance for people to discover rugby league in their later life. But the hope of playing with a ball in hand on a pitch, you may have to forget about that.
That is, until a Frenchman discovered a way to bring older people to the game a few years ago. François Gary, 50, created a way to go on playing: he created a new sport; funnily with an English name: Silver XIII. Inspired by rugby league, based upon the play-the-ball rule, this new activity is designed to help the over-60s with balance and stability. It is organised around twelve sessions and when they are completed, the practitioners can go deeper in their practice by playing ‘Walking XIII’ (again an English sounding name) a touch and walking version of our good old rugby league.
This activity is growing in popularity with almost 400 ‘Silver Treizistes’ all over France, according to the federal figures, with Rhône-Alpes region coming first.
Also, in two areas perhaps not well-known to English readers but important for French rugby league: Tarn (with its biggest city being Albi) and Hérault (and its famous “Métropole”, Montpellier).
Our exploratory voyage will start in southern Tarn, at Aussillon-Mazamet, a place where no less than a certain Puig-Aubert was coach in the 70s. There, 32 women (including an 88-year-old) and three men practice ‘Le Silver’ every week. Racing Club Aussillon-Mazamet XIII Co-President Henri Meric, 74, told me that “at the beginning, one wonders what such a physical, and sometimes such a tough game like rugby league can offer to older people.”
But he also pointed out the benefits of this version of rugby à XIII: “It provides physical activity, it maintains reflexes, it helps with coordinating your gestures and balancing.
“It is also a way for people to maintain social connections and a way to integrate isolated older people.”
Aussillon-Mazamet are not an isolated example, just ask the Tarn Federal development agent, Théo Guinguet. Yes, I’m referring to the Elite 1 player, the 25-year-old Albi Tigers centre. Not only does he have a busy agenda on the field, defending the colours of an ambitious club, but off the pitch, he’s also in charge, amongst other things, of the Silver XIII in the Département (90 players in five cities). He confirmed to me Meric’s words, adding some interesting strategical points about the benefits of Silver XIII for French rugby league.
“It’s a also a way to get more new members for the clubs, to attract volunteers for rugby league, not to mention the participants’ relatives and why not new partners.
“Silver Treizistes become rugby league fans, and thanks to their FFR XIII licence and an agreement with the Tarnais RL clubs, some can even come to Albi and attend the games for free.”
So, Silver XIII would be also a good way to promote the code in France?
This is what it seems when we pass the border between Tarn and the nearby Hérault.
There, Ali Gutierrez, 28, a coach, along with Jean-Christophe Hugon, of the Montpellier XIII women’s team, deals with the Silver XIII in the Métropole of Montpellier. He confirms his colleagues’ statements above; Silver XIII is practiced mostly by women, the average age being 67-years-old.
“Some have heard about rugby before but only about rugby union. Especially, with all the hype organised by the media about their World Cup last year,” he explained.
A hype he paradoxically benefited from as it attracted the interest of local media ‘France Bleu’ which shot a story during one of his sessions. This is indeed a strange thing in France but this is true; when a Rugby Union World Cup is organised here, it may be also helpful for French Treizistes in terms of communication! (see Treiziste Diary in RLW 490). What it sure, is that before beginning his sessions, he didn’t forget to brief the participants about the history of French rugby league.
And there is one thing he’s sure about: “When Silver XIII will be set up and offered to all the inhabitants of our territory, it will be a good way to promote rugby league!”
And optimistically, he adds, “So far, parents discover the code thanks to their children. Maybe someday, children and grandchildren will learn about rugby league thanks to their grandparents.”
Such optimism will be more than welcomed at the start of this new year.
A bright perspective being that French people have a chance to discover rugby à XIII in their later life, and that it can also be useful for them, and for us Treizistes, we may still have a ball in hand when we grow older.
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 492 (January 2024)
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