The boarding school of the Pierre de Coubertin school complex in Font-Romeu (Pyrénées-Orientales) has had a completely new look. The challenge was to provide a comfortable cocoon for the 168 young residents, all outstanding athletes, 85 of whom are even recognized as top athletes. Some evolve within French poles – preferred suppliers of national teams – in the disciplines of speed skating, paragliding, modern pentathlon, wrestling, mountain biking, swimming…
“In the France hub, the pace is very steady. The students train 20 to 25 hours a week, in addition to their class hours,” explains Patrick Noël, the headmaster of the secondary school. Olympic champion Perrine Laffont, 25, who just scored a double at the world championships in Bakuriani (Georgia) on February 25 and 26, is on the wall of fame for former residents of the boarding school.
The principal insists on the rarity of the site “which brings together in the same place the middle school/high school, the boarding school and the sports facilities. This brings great flexibility in the schedules and the organization of the days of these young people, which is very appreciable. “.
2.10 m long beds to adapt to the size of the athletes
Funded to the tune of €14 million by the Occitanie region and €1.7 million by the Pyrénées-Orientales department, this new boarding school, designed by the Catalan firm Art Architecture, offers comfortable rooms: “Special attention has been paid to their friendliness because the students sometimes stay seven to eight weeks without returning to their families, continues the headmaster.
More spacious, they have a living space making it easier to get together. Practical detail but oh so essential: the beds are all 2.10 m long, instead of the standard 1.90 m, in order to take into account the large size of the athletes. A dedicated manager is also present every day to take care of these young champions.
On the tuition side, “we stay in a public boarding school with a cost of 1,698 euros per year, all inclusive, says Patrick Noël. This rate allows us to accommodate all socio-professional categories, even the less well-off. For some, it doesn’t even cost them anything as there are scholarship opportunities or sports federations sometimes cover the costs. »
To optimize costs and benefit as many people as possible, once the interns have returned home for the holidays, part of the rooms are made available to the CREPS (Centre for Resources of Expertise and Sports Performance) which increases as well as its accommodation capacity.