• Every Thursday, in its “off-field” section,

    20 Minutes 

    explores new spaces for the expression of sport, unexpected, unusual, clever or booming.

  • This week, we present to you the Fise Academy, which just opened its doors in early October. 

  • The result of a collaboration between the organizer of the great extreme sports festival and a higher school based in Montpellier, it offers various courses preparing for professions linked to these new urban and

    outdoor

    practices

    . A novel concept. 

After a remarkable arrival in Tokyo, the large family of “urban and action sports” will still nibble a little space during the Paris Olympics in 2024. Skateboarding and surfing are renewed, climbing could well be seen. assign a second discipline (speed on one side, bouldering and difficulty on the other, against a single combined event in Tokyo) and breakdance will enter the big world.

"We made the choice of young, creative, spectacular sports in phase with their time", had justified the Parisian organizing committee when announcing the list of the lucky ones elected last year.

Support the rise of the sector

The spirit of the times, the group Hurricane has smelled for a long time now. For almost 25 years now, he has been organizing international festivals specializing in extreme sports, and in particular a stage of the Fise, a benchmark in the field, in Montpellier. In recent years, the practice of these “new” sports has become very popular in our cities. We have all seen skateparks, even pump tracks for BMX and mountain biking, flourish in our towns, observed at the beach by kite enthusiasts. surfing or skimboarding, watching videos on the Internet with a little frosty guys trying their hand at base jump or parkour… Hence the idea of ​​Hurricane to join forces with Keyce Academy, a higher school attached to the College from Paris which offers training in commerce, tourism, IT or health,to open the very first school specializing in trades related to extreme sports.

Thus was born the Fise Academy, based on the Pérols campus, just next to Montpellier. The first class, which includes 35 students (50 with a few entries planned during the year) has just started the school year at the beginning of October. “This sector is in full development, new professions will appear. It is important to train a whole new generation to respond to this outbreak, ”explains Mathieu Dumet, former coordinator of the group's France and international events and now head of the academy's sectors.

What professions are we talking about, exactly? The list is not exhaustive, like that of the sports concerned. Press relations, marketing, organization of festivals, management of athletes, there are needs in all areas in this market which is becoming more professional. "These sports have a particular culture, and therefore represent a particular market, which must be mastered," observes Aline Destaillats, Managing Director of Keyce. Brands involved in this sector are asking for our students. We went to meet them to ask them about their needs, and we used that to define our programs. "

In charge of all the educational component of the Fise Academy, Keyce has developed tailor-made training, full-time or work-study, structured around three main themes: communication, events and sale-purchase-negotiation.

Students have a common core and then choose a specialty.

The diplomas issued, bachelor's level (bac + 3) or master (bac + 5), are recognized by the State as RNCP - that is to say, registered in the National Directory of Professional Certification.

Very varied profiles

The entrance exam, which includes general culture and personality tests, followed by several interviews, attracted around a hundred candidates for this launch year. The practice of a "sport action", as they are called in the community, is not essential. There are athletes among the students, of course, and even high level (Sacha Fesquet on a freestyle scooter for example), but not only. "What counts is their wish to go into this universe and their ability to do so, with adaptation, curiosity, openness, taste for exchanges", details Aline Destaillats. Mathieu Dumet specifies.

We are looking for enthusiasts.

It is the heart of our recruitment, more than the previous diplomas or the "background".

The candidate may have done a CAP butcher's before, this is not the most important.

Above all, we judge his motivation.

"

The only prerequisite, in reality, is to have a solid foundation in English.

About a third of the courses are taught in this language in the first year, all at the end of the course.

Not delusional when you want to work in an environment so steeped in Anglicisms.

As a result of this recruitment method, the students have very varied profiles.

Example with three of them, who explain to us what motivated them to try their luck.

  • François-Rémy Clément, 21, student in Master 1, work-study program at BMX Lab in Aix-en-Provence

“Before, I was in the construction industry.

I have a DUT in civil engineering and a BTP business manager license.

My school broke up, it was an opportunity to look for another one.

It's a choice out of passion, I do BMX, it's an opportunity to try to get closer to it.

I do not yet have a precise idea of ​​the job I would like to do, I will see as I go through my training.

I discovered the design and assembly side of ramps (BMX tracks), that's perhaps what attracts me the most so far.

What I like is being immersed in this environment.

We are talking about BMX in progress, it's a dream for me.

And it is concrete.

With my boss, we would like to make contracts for the athletes that we sponsor and that corresponds to the courses I have here.

It can only serve me.

"

  • Daphné Richard, 24, student in Master 1, work-study program at Paris-2024

“At the end of the baccalaureate, I did a year of English-Spanish language, then economics and business management in Grenoble. I didn't like it too much, I spent a year on the mop, then I obtained a license in communication, media and digital mediation in Montpellier. I would like to work in communication, particularly press officer, in the world of extreme sports. So this training suits me perfectly, it combines these two aspects. I have always been immersed in this extreme sports culture. Since I was little, I have been looking at all the surf and mountain magazines, and in Grenoble I started to practice freestyle snowboarding. For Paris-2024, it is a great challenge to succeed in integrating these new sports, because it is a less rigid culture, less structured for the moment. It is a bit of a habit. "

  • Mélusine Gardair, 29 years old, student in Master 1, in a work-study program in a Montpellier start-up of neoprene surf wetsuits

“I'm a little older than the others, before I did a bachelor's degree in English-Arabic foreign language, and then I traveled a lot, before becoming a kitesurf teacher in Mauritius. We all have different stories, that's what makes it interesting. We have a lot to share. I don't know yet what I'm going to do with this training, a priori I'm more interested in logistics or project management. The fact of being in work-study allows me to discover positions that I did not know, and to acquire rewarding skills on a CV. I like the international dimension of this school, I see it as a possibility to then work on projects abroad. This is really what tempts me. "

That's good, there should be plenty to do in the next few years. Last year, with Fise unable to be organized due to Covid-19, Hurricane broke new ground with online competitions. “We were impressed by the number of practitioners in South America,” says Johan Bertonneau, the group's sports director. We did not see them too much, because they cannot necessarily participate in physical competitions in France or in Asia, but there they were very numerous. "

This concept of e-Fise having pleased (1,300 athletes from 85 countries took part), a second edition took place this year, reserved for under 16s.

And this time, it is the part of the committed girls which was a good surprise.

“The democratization of these sports is indeed real.

The Olympics are the last proof, continues Johan Bertonneau.

At the beginning of the 2000s, we were talking about a fashion effect, in the end we see that it is much more than that.

“Soon with a horde of experts trained to continue this boom.

Sport

Off-field: The Balloon World Cup?

Come and discover Gerard Piqué's latest genius idea

Sport

Off-field: How Nienke Brinkman has become "alien of the year" since his feat in Sierre-Zinal

  • Languedoc-Roussillon

  • Montpellier

  • Bmx

  • Extreme sport

  • Sport