Since September 2022, I’ve been volunteering every Saturday morning with L’Envol Association. From 9:30 to 12:30, we run football sessions with people with disabilities aged between 16 and 35.
I’ve always loved football. I used to play in a club when I was younger, and even now I still play with friends—sometimes in a stadium, sometimes on a small local pitch, or just a 5-a-side game.
It’s always been something I enjoy, but honestly, I never thought that at 19 I’d be waking up early every Saturday just to play. At the beginning, it felt a bit hard. After a full week of school or work, all you want is to sleep in. But I didn’t expect it to turn into this. Now it’s not an effort at all, it’s something I genuinely look forward to (especially when the sun is out).
Each session brings together around 16 to 24 people, with a mix of about 60% participants with disabilities and 40% volunteers. The goal is simple: share the values of sport—team spirit, helping each other, pushing yourself, but also just feeling comfortable around others. We usually spend the first half of the session warming up, playing small games and doing some technical drills, and then we finish with matches.
We mostly play at Parc 14 near the sports campus in Nice, or sometimes at Méarelli Stadium. And from time to time, we organize tournaments with other L’Envol groups from Menton and Saint-Raphaël. Those days are something else—we can be up to 40 people on the same field, playing games for hours, with medals and trophies at the end. It’s honestly one of the best ways to reward everyone’s effort and energy.
What I didn’t expect either is how many great people I would meet through this. Some of them have become real friends—Deni Son, Romain, Franck (and Franck number 2), Joachim… they’re basically my Saturday routine now, something I wouldn’t want to miss anymore.
And L’Envol is not just about football. There are also other activities like pétanque, basketball, and different kinds of tournaments, which makes the whole experience even richer.
