Sport & Health

Aminata, from the St Dié Decathlon store 

My name is Aminata and I am 39 years old.

I joined DECATHLON in 2002 as a fitness sales advisor and have practiced gymnastics and circus arts for 17 years.

I have been a fitness salesperson in my store for 3 years, as well as a disability referent, then a quality of life at work ambassador for 5 years.

Since 2018 I have naturally chosen, after disability, the subject of inclusion and insertion because I care a lot about that cause.

I come from a working-class neighbourhood where different communities mix and where I have seen real social and cultural inequalities.

My mission has allowed me to act, in a small way, for a vulnerable public.

For the past four years, I have proposed a partnership with the Mission Locale to welcome young people into our shop and help them discover our different professions and, above all, to support them at a certain point in their lives. The Mission Locale offers socio-professional support for young people aged 16 to 25 who have left the school system, including support for employment and training, as well as help with mobility, autonomy, accommodation and health.

The director of the local mission came to see me to equip young people who were part of a Sport and Health project. This project consists of integrating the notion of sport and health into the support of young people. Since June, the Mission Locale has been offering two sessions a week to young people who commit to a term, and it will repeat this formula three times a year, i.e. some forty young people.

The young people will be involved in a group supervised by a BPJEPS “sport for all”.

The activities will take place in the fitness room but also by discovering various sports thanks to partnerships with clubs in the Saint Dié des Vosges area that have an agreement on sport/insertion with the Mission Locale. There will also be the intervention of a nutritionist who will accompany them in the preparation of meals.

I spoke about it with my teammates and we wanted to take part in this beautiful project because we are convinced that sport is a vector of integration, federating and allows a gain of self-confidence. I was a little nervous, because it was a new adventure for me, I asked the Decathlon Foundation to help us in this beautiful project. After filing the file  and then presenting the project to the Foundation’s board meeting, we had the immense joy of seeing our project approved and  100% supported.

We are very happy that the Mission Locale asked us for help because it represents our values as well as those of the company and we are very proud that the Foundation has supported us.