French candidacy has just been accepted by the Golden Shears World Council, in Invercargill in New-Zealand. On February 8th, the “Association pour le Mondial de Tonte de Mouton” (AMTM) has presented it French candidacy. The SHEEP SHEARING WORLD CHAMPIONSIP will be held in “Le Dorat” (87), from July 1st to July 7th 2019.
For more than a year, the AMTM consists of a welded, motivated and dynamic team. Resulting from a plurality of professional circles, each brings it a diversity of views and a total objectivity about the project.
Visual, face-to-face and communication, among the keys of the success
Very fast, the visual identity managed to seduce the public. By being present on the biggest French agricultural demonstrations, the AMTM proved its commitment and its mobilization. It was necessary to double efforts in front of French public, because France wasn’t as receptive in this practice as The UK, Australia or New-Zealand.
By surrounding itself with professionals, it was possible to go beyond the borders of the “Limousin”. The impact of the deployment of the communication (social networks, media…) favorably influenced the members of the Council, sensitive to the real perceptible “sympathy capital” with the general public and the partners, whose craze was
The support of the Minister for Agriculture, of presidents of the New Aquitaine region and Bourgogne Franche Comté region, of the municipality of Le Dorat, of the presence of Madam Ambassador of France in New Zealand, … so many favorable points which came to carpenter the project. To carry the candidacy, it was necessary to have also gathered a primitive budget.
This first stage crossed at the middle 2016, all the members of the association, convinced of the viability of the event, had pursued their steps and have already gathered in the promises of donation for 2019!
Gather the best nations, testify of the vitality of the ovine sector, contribute to the valuation of the French cultural difference, and manage an unexpected projector towards this small part of territory, so many assets which can only contribute to aggregate the support of communities and companies. #proudofourorigins
The Embassy of France in New Zealand has announced the french victory in a release:
From Doug Laing, media officer, Shearing Sports New Zealand
February 8, 2017
French connection claims first victory at World shears
A small band of committed French enthusiasts has scored the first win of the 2017 World shearing and woolhandling championships in Invercargill by winning a bid to stage the next championships in France in two years’ time.
Following Northern Ireland’s withdrawal, France was the only applicant at today’s meeting of the Golden Shears World Council on the first-day of the current championships in ILT Stadium Southland, the southernmost venue used for the event since it was first held in England in 1977.
The next championships will be held in a 2500-seat marquee set-up on two soccer fields in the Central France town of Le Dorat on July 1-7, 2019, steering committee head Christophe Riffaud said.
The application was presented today by Mr Riffaud, who is from Le Dorat, France championships machine shearing representative Loic Leygonie, of Martel, and Julie Renard, of Limoges, with the help of France Ambassador to New Zealand Florence Jeanblanc-Risler, who is in Invercargill for the championships.
France becomes the 9th country to host the championships after England, New Zealand, Australia, Wales, Ireland, South Africa, Scotland and Norway.
With a sheep population of about 6 million, it has been a recent mover in shearing competition, highlighted by shearers Thimoleon Resneau and Daniel Boillot reaching the teams final at the 2012 World Championships in Masterton, NZ, and last year when Leygonie, Riffaud and Resneau were third in the Six-Nations Shearing Championship at the Royal Bath and West Show in England.
It was when France held the Six-Nations at Le Dorat in 2013 that the idea of staging a World Championships in the area was born.
“It was a really good weekend,” said Leygonie. “Everybody was very happy, but they wanted to do something bigger. The next thing was the World Championships.”
After investigating the idea, the enthusiasts formed a project committee in late 2015 and have since worked on developing partnerships needed to make it a reality.
“France is not a country where everybody knows a lot about shearing,” he said. “So we did a lot of shearing demonstrations to get people interested in the project.”
There hadn’t been a lot of New Zealanders shearing in the area, but one who was Te Kuiti’s Jack Fagan, son of shearing icon Sir David Fagan, and both had helped, he said.
Doug Laing
Media Officer
Shearing Sports New Zealand
Ph 0274-690644
media@shearingsports.co.nz
Website: www.shearingsports.co.nz
19 – Information – Sheep shearing world championship will be held in France in 2019
