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Hervé Bizzotto, organizer of a rugby tour in Japan

Hervé Bizzotto, tournée rugby JaponHervé Bizzotto, tournée rugby Japon
Hervé Bizzotto with the Chaps team captain last year, during the university finals of Sevens Rugby
Écrit par Julien Loock
Publié le 7 octobre 2017, mis à jour le 7 octobre 2017

“Hervé, you are the organizer of a rugby tour in Japan for the Sports Center of INSA Lyon next april. Can you explain us in detail this project?”

It’s about promoting internationally the INSA Lyon and its sport formation model. In INSA, sports is compulsory for every student, and many of them take part in university competitions. Some of them are elite athletes which are among the best in the country or even in Europe. This year, we had 1500 students members of the sports assiociation including 170 rugbymen and women. They are the Chaps Angels. Our first team is among the best teams in the French university championship of Great Schools.

We decided a few years ago to share with our students international rugby meetings to allow them to maintain a good level of rugby while they are studying abroad in one of the schools partners with INSA. We are going to Japan in April 2018 with 23 boys, 12 girls and 3 teachers.

This said, the project has several objectives:

                - provide international mobility to students who have sports constraints (trainings, competitions, clubs…)

                - share ways of teaching sports in engineering schools

                - visit companies related to the SGM department (materials science and engineering) in Tohoku

                - present the INSA sport formation model

                - establish an exchange with schools by a rugby tour

                - help with the exchange of top level athletes

 

“Why Japan?”

Japan is a country in which the INSA established itself 3 years ago with the creation of the first French-Japanese laboratory directed by Pr. Jean-Yves Cavaillé who is in connection with the SGM department of the INSA Lyon, headed by Pr. Xavier Kléber. There are also other universities and schools which have links with the INSA, for example in Tokyo and Kobe. Moreover, 2018 is the 150th birthday of the commemoration of the Meiji. We hope to take advantage of this opportunity to be received as French delegation, especially with the embassy, the Japanese Rugby Federation (JRFU), the consulate and city councils.

Finally, the rugby is becoming a major sport in Japan with the incoming Rugby World Cup in 2019 and the good results of the Japanese national team. Then, we wish that we’ll be invited for trainings, matches or tournaments (at 7 or 15), for our players. The conditions of university rugby in France are a bit different from IRB rules, scrums being simulated at 15 but pushed at 7. The most important for us is to meet brothers and sisters of rugby from the other side of the planet so we can exchange and share our communal passion.

 

Rugby Japon

 

“Some steps still have to be made to realize this tour in the best conditions. What are your needs and your expectations to complete successfully this project? Are you searching for partnerships which might help you to finalize it?

Of course, in this day and age, the project is in its last phase as we’ve been preparing it for 18 months. We have contacts with JRFU through Mr Tamekuro Nagata (internation relations of JRFU) to help us find matches. Mr Cavaillé in Tohoku also helps us a lot. We still have to find other matches in universities or clubs and a bus driver, accommodation, restaurants with a capacity of 38 people, which is not very simple and very expensive.

We have the support of the INSA director, the direction of formation, the international relations direction, the INSA foundation, the sports center and the sports association and the Auvergne Rhone Alpes region. We are also supported by private partners such as the companies Pro Armature, BOCCARD, MARE NOSTRUM or INTRUM JUSTICIA. Obviously, we welcome with pleasure every partner who wants to take part in our project.

It’s a project in which every person concerned is devoted to help us in making of this project a wonderful human adventure.

 

Rugby Japon

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