Meeting with Doudou Sow, development officer at the FFA

With 80% of muscle groups being used, the health benefits of Nordic walking are well established. Since the discipline's arrival in France, the French Athletics Federation (FFA) has contributed significantly to its development in the country, which is why it obtained ministerial delegation in 2009. As the leading French manufacturer of Nordic walking poles, Guidetti has been an official partner of the FFA Forme et Santé since 2021.

Meeting with Doudou Sow, Fitness and Health Development Manager at the FFA.

What does it mean to "have the delegation of the Ministry of Sports"?

Having the delegation of the Ministry of Sports means that we are responsible for the promotion, training, supervision of this activity and writing the regulations for competitive Nordic walking. The FFA is the only body authorized to organize Nordic walking competitions.

Maintaining this delegation requires the implementation of human and logistical resources, but these efforts are not in vain. Indeed, Nordic walking is a popular practice. This trust from the Ministry enhances the French Athletics Federation.

The FFA training organization oversees all federal training courses and training courses recognized by the ministry (CQP, etc.). For the Fitness and Health section, there are three levels of training: assistant; instructor (2 options: Nordic Walking Fitness or Running Fitness); coach (Nordic Walking Fitness, Running Fitness, and Athletic Fitness)

Nordic walking is part of the FFA's "Fitness and Health" offering.
What does this "Fitness and Health" offer consist of?

Since 2006, the FFA has been offering Athletic Fitness, a range of activities aimed at people seeking pleasure, well-being, and improving their health through sport. This offer includes Nordic walking (a flagship practice), athletic fit (general physical preparation and recreational athletics practice), fitness (development of physical condition) and running fitness (aimed at beginners or returning to work after a break from work).

The FFA and Nordic walking in figures

The FFA has two employees and a manager in the "Fitness and Health" department. And we rely on the rest of the structure to carry out our actions.

The FFA offers different types of licenses: competition, discovery, leisure health, leisure running, coaching, business.

Among the 2021/22 licensees, 22,500 declared Nordic walking as their main practice and around 6,700 as a secondary practice.

In total, there are 1,800 qualified coaches who work in 800 FFA clubs that offer Nordic walking.

What are the FFA's actions in favor of Nordic walking?

At the event level

- Organization of the national Nordic walking day
Initially, it was an "open house" day focused on recruiting new practitioners in the clubs. Over the years, it has become a Nordic walking festival with two objectives: loyalty and recruitment.

- Participation in external events
The FFA is notably a partner of the Euro Nordicwalkin Vercors, one of the most important Nordic walking events in France, and even in Europe. Our FFA coaches lead warm-up and stretching sessions and we also collaborate on the festive part and the conferences.
We also offer participants the opportunity to obtain their Nordic Pass: on a loop or a section of the local walk, FFA coaches assess their movements.

We occasionally participate in events organized by FFA clubs, such as the Walk ‘n b in Beaujolais.

- Organization of Fitness & Health meetings
Formerly known as "Nordic Match", these events allow clubs to meet each other and provide their participants with a moment of sharing and conviviality around fun Nordic walking, running or fitness workshops.

In terms of tools and concepts

The FFA provides its clubs with the Nordic walking passport, a real tool for promoting its members. This passport is both a fun, qualitative tool and a way to support participants in their progress. It promotes technical progress and the improvement of participants' physical condition, through three gradual levels: bronze, silver and gold pole. At each level, the licensee receives a sticker that they can stick on their poles.

As seen previously, walkers can also have their technique assessed using the Nordic Pass. This assesses the fundamental technical aspects of Nordic walking and measures the efficiency of the practitioner's movements.

Nordic Walking Spring Concept: each year, create, conceptualize and make available to Nordic walking coaches and FFA clubs, new content for Nordic walking sessions, on various themes: cardio-training circuit, strengthening, relays, etc.
Challenges:
• Build loyalty among members by offering them a new and original training program
• Promote the expertise of FFA clubs in Nordic Walking
• Recruit new members (non-licensed MN practitioners or other federations)
• Support clubs (and coaches)

Why practice Nordic walking in a club?

The advantage of practicing Nordic walking in a club is to benefit from the "club" spirit: the spirit of sharing, cohesion, the pleasure of meeting up with friends within the club to share a friendly moment. Beyond the health aspect of Nordic walking, the social aspect of club sport is very important. These are the values ​​that encourage members to get involved in the life of their club. We want to maintain this strong identity that opposes the consumerization of practices.

The other interest is to benefit from the sporting life and associated services of the club (either created by the FFA and/or the club itself): advice and monitoring by trained coaches, specific tools, financial discounts from partners, participation in events, etc.

Guidetti has been an official partner of the FFA since 2021. What does this partnership bring you?

The French Athletics Federation and the French brand Guidetti joined forces in 2021 with shared ambitions: to support Nordic walking practitioners, of all fitness levels, by offering them high-performance and durable products.

As an official supplier, Guidetti brings us real quality expertise and actively participates in the development of the Fitness and Health sector. On a daily basis, Guidetti equips FFA Coaches and Nordic walking clubs, as well as the Federation in all of its promotional events.

Comments collected by Aurélie Joubin on October 31, 2022