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It’s September. You’re putting your pens back in your pencil case, adjusting your Covid mask, and thinking about what you could do to make your new year enjoyable. What if it was time to get a license? What’s the point?
By Jean-François Tatard – Photos: Pikist.com/Pixabay.com/DR
At the beginning of September, it’s time to talk about association forums. Indeed, in order to promote the associative dynamism of the city, your municipality, even in the midst of the Covid crisis, is probably also organizing its traditional sports forum. It may be a little different than usual. There will be social distancing measures. Perhaps even a queue before entering the gym that hosts the associations, one by one. Nevertheless, should you take advantage of it to get a triathlon or cycling license? Especially since no one is sure that it will be worth it, as in this context of health crisis, we have no certainty about the smooth running of training or competitions.
You ride or run alone, you’d like to benefit from specialist advice or find training partners. In that case, why not join a club? It’s probably the key to success… But that’s when everything is going well. And in this context?
What is a license?
Cycling and triathlon licenses are valid for the period from January 1 to December 31 (calendar year). However, it is often in September, at the start of the school year, that people really become interested in them. Indeed, new licensees can obtain their first license for the following year from the beginning of September. Its validity is then extended from 12 months to 16 months.
A license allows you, by joining a club (an association), to affiliate with a federation and thus participate in events (races, sportives or gatherings) organized under its aegis. With this license, you also subscribe to an insurance contract specific to your practice, but be careful to read the terms carefully because it is possible that you may have to pay additional options to be perfectly covered (in case of equipment breakage in competition, for example).
The process
Were you licensed last season? To renew your license, you have two options:
- Submit a paper application using the paper form found on the website of the relevant federation
- Submit a digital application on the licensee area of the same website
You then need to send a few documents to the chosen club:
- The license application
- Insurance addendum (if the license application is not signed by a doctor, attach a medical certificate of no contraindication)
- A photo (cropped to the face for insertion on the license)
- A copy of your ID
- Parental consent for minors
If you were not licensed last season, you can download the 2021 license application form from the FFC website (French Cycling Federation), for example. If you wish to apply for a 2020 license, you can download the 2020 form. Once completed, you must send these documents to the club of your choice. Not complicated…
Once the club receives the various documents, your application will be forwarded to the regional committee, which will validate it and activate your license. Very simple!
The benefits
The primary benefit of joining a club by getting a license is to receive coaching. Then, it’s about camaraderie. “Alone you go fast. Together you go far“: is that the adage? Because it could also be the opposite, by the way. Let’s say that by integrating specific club sessions that adapt to your potential, your qualities, and your objectives, you will progress. And that’s the role of the federal coaches you find within clubs. This coach evaluates you and establishes baseline values through tests, for example. Tests that are carried out at the beginning of the year to determine your level and your pace to follow. Then, no session is determined by chance. Every session must be useful and bring something, even the simplest outings. Thus, joining a club is probably the key to success and the best tool against demotivation.
If you’re alone, you can’t know if you’re doing things right. You ride. You don’t train. It’s not the same thing. And you might even be riding too much. However, in case of overtraining or undertraining, you won’t perform. On the contrary, a coach will know how to help you progress safely.
Being in a club means benefiting from the advice and plans of qualified coaches trained through the federal system. It’s a sure bet!
More interesting than contradictory information found on the internet: it’s actually about generalities, but “personalized” is what’s needed. And if you can’t make it to all the training sessions, no worries, your coach will provide you with your personalized plan, including: your personalized sessions and recovery times, according to your objectives to be at your best on D-day. And which will also take into account your schedule and agenda constraints.
But that’s in the best of all possible worlds. Because not all clubs have a qualified and available coach. You are sometimes left completely in the dark. In some clubs, due to a lack of volunteers, they settle for one group ride per week and a platform to register for races. In other clubs, it’s total chaos with coaches who don’t consult each other. For example, in some triathlon clubs, the cycling, running, and swimming coaches each do their own thing, without taking into account the workload proposed by the other two. And the athletes don’t progress.
It’s up to you to test the waters before signing up and see what you’re really looking for.
A group
Joining a club is not just for children whose parents are looking for an activity to keep them busy on Wednesday afternoons. There are also “leisure” licenses if you don’t want to participate in FFC or FFTri competitions. But joining a club also means meeting new people and belonging to a community and defending the colors of a jersey. It means being able to share the same passion with other riders. Sharing strong moments with them, whether in training or in competition.
Whatever your age or level, the group helps you progress. In addition to being more convivial than training alone, it proves to be more stimulating. “In a group, the guys – the girls, help each other and pull each other along,” estimates the coach. “The group effect. You progress at any age and even more so with a group and adapted sessions, especially in winter on the Sunday outing.“
Benchmarks
Are you more of a solitary type? The group is not necessarily incompatible with your personality. Riders are not obliged to come to every training session; they can just take what they need to get their bearings.
An infrastructure
Finally, joining a club, even if cycling and triathlon are outdoor sports, may also mean benefiting from infrastructure. And sometimes even a gym or a weight room in some cities. And even if your goal is summer, it’s interesting to vary the playgrounds and regularly engage in other activities during the rest of the season. You’ll see, the gym session on Monday evenings in winter with training colleagues in the city gym will quickly become an unmissable event.
This can also provide a more rigorous framework for regular training, attending different slots, even when the weather is bad. A club dynamic that motivates and will influence your performance.
Other advantages
While prices vary from club to club, expect to pay an average of €100 to €150 for a competition license. Not to mention a nice jersey and bib shorts in the club’s colors, which will often be offered to you in exchange for your signature. And sometimes, some clubs even save you the cost of race registrations on the calendar. And they also give you access to races that you won’t even find online.
Conclusion
While writing this article, I realized that I had poorly phrased my initial question. The question is not whether it is worthwhile to have a license. Because ultimately, the advantages of a license are mainly to avoid the hassle of renewing your medical certificate of no contraindication to competition, perhaps also to participate in official races and championships, and to have a personal federation file. The question is more about whether it is worthwhile to belong to a club. And to answer with the elements I have developed: when you open the doors of the association forum next weekend, you will go and see what is being said at the chess club or at the parish table later. No, deal with the urgency and head straight to the local triathlon or cycling club stand before there are no more places left… But don’t choose the club lightly.
=> SEE ALSO : All our Mag articles
=> SEE ALSO : All our Coaching articles
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