Franc-au-jeu!

by Christine Dallaire – Ottawa, Ontario

As we all know, participating in sports is good for your health and the arts can broaden horizons. But did you know that sports and the arts can also contribute to community development? And did you know that sports, the arts and community pride make a great combination? Here’s proof—the Jeux de l’Acadie, the Jeux franco-ontariens and the Canadian Francophone Games enable Canadian youth to take part in athletic and artistic competitions, while showing their pride as Francophones.

Acadian origins
The Jeux de l’Acadie (in French only) were created in 1979 in New Brunswick to encourage the use of French and to promote Francophone pride in young people through athletic competition. The Games quickly became a resounding success. Since 1980, athletes from Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia have participated in the Games, helping to establish a solid Acadian institution.

A resounding success
The success of the Games is undeniable: to date, more than 80,000 young people have taken part in the regional games, where winners are chosen for the finals, and every year the various committees of the Société des Jeux de l’Acadie recruit over 3,000 volunteers to help organize and run the activities. Many Acadian leaders have emerged as a result of their participation in this athletic event, giving rise to a broad network of activities and exchanges in French.

A community gathering
With the Jeux de l’Acadie, sports have become a tool for community development, contributing to a strong, supportive and thriving community of Francophone and Acadian youth in the Maritimes, who are proud of their language and culture. The finals, which attract over 1,000 athletes and as many volunteers, are like a big party for many participants and organizers, a place where they can build new friendships and rekindle old ones. In this friendly atmosphere, everyone feels like part of the big “Jeux de l’Acadie family.” As a sports and Francophone festival, the finals not only bring together the young participants, but also the parents and friends who fill the stands at competitions and during opening and closing ceremonies, sports buffs who watch the Games on Radio-Canada, enthusiastic fans who check the news for competition results and, in particular, citizens of the host city who support the young people as volunteers and spectators (and often as both at the same time).

Building pride through sport
Because of concern about the rate of assimilation of Francophone adolescents, the Fédération de la jeunesse canadienne-française (FJCF) created a national task force in 1990 that published, in 1991, a report titled Vision d’avenir. The task force found that sports can contribute to community development, and can instill a sense of pride and belonging in young Francophones.

More games from Coast to Coast
Because of these findings and the success of the Jeux de l’Acadie, the FJCF proposed in 1991 that sporting events be organized in other Francophone communities in order to establish pan-Canadian finals. Since 1992, other Francophone games have been created by youth associations in Western and Northern Canada like the Jeux Francophones de la Colombie-Britannique and the Jeux francophones de l’Alberta.

Ontario: Home to many talents
The Jeux franco-ontariens (in French only) were created in 1994 under the auspices of the Fédération de la jeunesse franco-ontarienne (FESFO). Rather than follow the example of the Jeux de l’Acadie, which adhere to the conventions of organized sport, the FESFO opted for a model that acts as a springboard for talented youth and builds on the interaction among participants. As a result, athletic activities are not the primary focus of the Jeux franco-ontariens. They represent only one aspect of a multidisciplinary festival that shines the spotlight on talented young people, whether they are athletes, clowns, visual artists, actors, improv artists, musicians or singers, as well as on directors of school boards and on student groups.

This large gathering is also unique for the role the young people themselves play in organizing the Games. Although they have less of an impact on community development than the Jeux de l’Acadie do, the Jeux franco-ontariens also contribute to the promotion of Francophone identity in Ontarian youth. The Games have quickly grown to a considerable size and have earned an enviable reputation. Approximately 800 participants and volunteers between the ages of 14 and 18 take part each year, and the event has become a true youth festival, with all the intensity that is generated when a large group of teenagers gets together. The young people appreciate the opportunity to show their Francophone pride, and their enthusiastic comments are proof of how important this event is for them.

Come one, come all
The FJCF, for its part, continued to work to establish pan-Canadian athletic competitions. These efforts paid off in 1999 with the first Canadian Francophone Games (in French only). It goes without saying that the Games could not be called the Canadian Francophone Games if they were restricted to young people in minority Francophone communities. The FJCF therefore opened up the competitions to all young Francophones and francophiles, whether they come from a small community or from Quebec.

Consequently, the Canadian Francophone Games give youth across Canada a chance to interact. Over a thousand young people participate in various aspects of the Games (sports, the arts and leadership), which combine the multidisciplinary features of the Jeux franco-ontariens and the organized sports of the Jeux de l’Acadie. Following the example of the Jeux de l’Acadie, the Canadian Francophone Games encourage community development: a large number of host community institutions and Francophones help organize the event, which reinforces and improves their own organizational abilities.

The success of the Jeux de l’Acadie, the Jeux franco-ontariens and the Canadian Francophone Games confirms that sports, the arts and leadership go hand in hand with the promotion of Francophone identity in young people. This winning combination inspires youth as well as the community as a whole and, above all, it fosters a sense of belonging among Francophones.

---

From “chiac” to “français”
By Mireille Leblanc – Moncton, New Brunswick

Originally from Grande-Digue, New Brunswick, Joël Bourgeois participated in the Jeux de l’Acadie (in French only) in 1984 and 1985, setting records in every one of his six track and field events. These excellent results heralded an athletic career, and Joël represented Canada in steeplechase at the Olympics in Atlanta and Sydney.   

He jokingly refers to the Jeux de l’Acadie as a mini-Olympics for Acadian youth, with its colourful opening and closing ceremonies, the athletes’ village and the delegations that come from all across the Maritimes. The Games are much more than an athletic event, however, and since the first finals in 1979, they have helped build Francophone pride in Acadia. “It wasn’t cool to speak French in Moncton in the 1980s, and the Jeux de l’Acadie made an incredible difference in the way French was seen by the youth of my generation. Back then, it was a big deal for a teenager who spoke ‘chiac’ [an Acadian dialect] to spend a week at the Jeux de l’Acadie where the only language spoken was French,” remembers Joël.

Today, his daughter Naomie is growing up in a totally different environment. To her, it is completely normal to live in French, and for Joël this is living proof of the Games’ heritage. For Naomie, the Jeux de l’Acadie is only one of many athletic, cultural and linguistic events, and like all Francophone parents, Joël Bourgeois is happy to see that.

Joël Bourgeois is now a community ambassador for the RBC Olympians Program. He works to promote the Olympics’ message of excellence, cooperation and leadership.

---

The “time of his life”
By Mireille Leblanc – Moncton, New Brunswick

If Vincent Poirier had to pick his favourite part of the summer, it would be without a doubt the weekend of the Jeux franco-ontariens  in June. Vincent’s passion for the Games dates back to 1999, the year he took part in the theatre improv event. He returned a year later and was completely hooked. Since then, he has been a referee and a host, and these days he is still there, as the coordinator of the improv event.

“I grew up in Ottawa, where living in French is much easier to do than in other parts of Ontario, but the Jeux franco-ontariens were still kind of a wake-up call. I became aware of who I was, and of how important it is to speak French,” recalls this young professional actor.

Over the years, Vincent has seen this same awakening in other young people who participate in the Games. “And this awareness stays with them for the rest of their lives. Really, that’s the biggest impact of the Games,” says the proud Franco-Ontarian.

As a young participant, Vincent remembers the Jeux franco-ontariens as “the time of his life.” The energy generated during this annual get-together of Franco-Ontarian youth is unstoppable, and all participants leave with strong friendships and a renewed sense of pride in their language and culture.

Vincent Poirier still participates in the Jeux franco-ontariens as coordinator of the theatre improv event. He enjoys a professional career as an actor and improv artist, most notably as part of the troupe Improtéine.

---

From participant to organizer
By Mireille Leblanc – Moncton, New Brunswick

In 2005, Céline Bégin had the once-in-a-lifetime experience of representing Alberta at the most elite Francophone games in the country, the Canadian Francophone Games. This young athlete from Falher, Alberta, loved the high calibre of the volleyball competitions, and will never forget the energy and pride she felt at this major gathering of Francophone youth. “I saw that there are more Francophones in Canada than I had imagined,” she said. Born in an official language minority community in Alberta, Céline discovered, through the Games, that she was not the only person to experience this reality.

She therefore did not hesitate one second when she had the opportunity to apply for a summer job coordinating the 2008 Canadian Francophone Games held in Edmonton in August. Working behind the scenes made her realize thousands of logistical details go into coordinating this kind of event and an immense amount of teamwork is necessary to coordinate provincial and territorial delegations. However, one thing remained constant, and that is the spirit of the Games, which was alive among both participants and organizers. “The Games give young Francophone Canadians an opportunity to experience sports, the arts and leadership in French. They have the chance to display their talents before the rest of the country, which instils in them a sense of pride and a desire to showcase and promote their Francophone culture,” she said. This was the case for her in 2005, and Céline Bégin has not hesitated to pass on this message to the 2008 participants.

---

Credits

First picture: University of Moncton

Second picture: Mathieu Girard

Third picture: Jostens