AS List: SportsContenders

Joséphine Zilioli, interviewed by Gaëlle Fournier

What did you think of this Campaign week? How is it going? What events have you attended?

It was really crazy! We had a lot of fun, it has created incredible links between the members of the list even though we didn’t necessarily know each other before. The Campaign week is a huge amount of stress and zero sleeping hours, but we try our best to make it fun so everyone on campus can make the most of it. And it seems to work, the people are super happy. Our biggest success was the chocolate. We delivered some throughout the Easter weekend and we distributed it every day on campus. It pleases everyone! We also held a Color Run, and a treasure hunt in Reims with WhoArtYou, with Lacoste prizes and Krug Champagne as prizes. On campus, every day has corresponded to a sport: football, basketball, body strength… The equipment was made available and everyone could play! We even established a betting system so everyone, even athletes, could participate and attempt to win prizes. People seemed to enjoy it, we had good feedback with the activity. We also had a lot of collaborations with the other lists: a huge workout session with Greeception, a club night with Dom Périmion, an evening with FREIMDS… But our biggest event is this Saturday: a huge PARK DAY! We hope you are ready.

Why should we vote for Sports Contenders?

First and foremost, because we are efficient. The list was created later than the others and we have succeeded at accomplishing a lot in very little time. If our team works so well and has such a good atmosphere, it’s because we get along well! Of course, we are all different: each one of us brings a little yet necessary addition. The duo Mamadou-Marie (President/VP) works marvellously, Mamadou has an unparalleled energy, he is always motivated for everything, and Marie is a born organiser. Our goal is to be really accessible, we truly want to be inclusive because that’s one of the sport values, and because it’s what brings us together. The idea is that we are passionate about what we do and we want to share that as much as possible. Beyond that, we are conscious about what the role of the AS is, and what the AS should be like on a growing campus. We know the problems teams are confronted with (12 members out of 14 are in a sports team), but we’re also concerned with exchange students, independent athletes and less athletic people. We have solutions to these problems and having the opportunity to ameliorate things would be a great present!

If you were to be elected, what would be your main objectives and missions next year?

We really want to promote integration via information: we hope to create informational modules to inform all the students, and especially international and exchange students, on the list of sports available at Sciences Po and in Reims. We have remarked that at this point that the inscriptions pédagogique for sport were confusing for the exchange students: we want to change that. Beyond this, we also want to invite non-athletes to become more interested in what the AS does; for this, we hope to democratise sport as much as possible by organising accessible events (yes, that’s really our moto), *laughs* during which everyone can have fun! To do this, it will be crucial to collaborate with other bureaux and associations. The objective is to put sport back at the centre of student life. Yet we obviously won’t forget the sports teams: we created a pole especially for them, the Relationship pole, which is an intermediary between teams and the administration, because that’s also what the AS is about. These are our principal objectives, but I recommend anyone willing to learn a bit more to go on our Facebook page and to read our detailed program.

What would be different in comparison to the current AS and the other list, Asvengers?

We want to ameliorate the relations between teams and administrations, whether that be with the Mairie (city council) or with Sciences Po, by creating a new Relationship pole. We hope to establish monthly meetings with the sports team captains as to obtain their feedback and discuss the problems they face, so we can do our best to solve them and eventually transmit all of this to the administration: one of our first aims, which we share with Asvengers, is to obtain sports fields which are closer and more accessible for training. We would start negotiating with the competent authorities as soon as elected, so starting from May. We would to also obtain from the administration the authorisation to allow absences on Thursday afternoon to participate in the games organised by FFSU (inter-universities games). Also, something the other list does not offer, is to ameliorate the campus spirit and communication between the two Euraf and Euram programs, by organising friendly matches between the programs: above all, we hope to popularise the local games between universities so you can support your favorite team! Of course, we want to perpetuate what has already become a tradition: the Trashernity, but go further. Indeed, we want to extend this team spirit all year/semester-long! Independently of our program or status, we will organise students and teams for monthly competitions: football, runs, yoga, arm wrestling… The winning team would receive a prize at the end of the year/semester. Thanks to our sponsorships with Footing+ and Saint Remi Sport, we will do our best to accelerate the confection and distribution of sports shirts, so we are ready for the first WEIC of the year! For those who are not in a team, we have not forgotten you! We have obtained special reductions especially reserved for you, Sciences Po students, on all the sport articles at Footing+ and Saint Remi Sport, which are 3 minutes away from campus! You no longer have the need to go to Décathlon or Go Sport, you get 20% off!

Why do you think you are best suited for this position?

In terms of positions, we share a bit everything during the Campaign week, so everything is best handled. If we are elected, I would be in the Communication pole with Justine Sène (Euram) and Chloé Rochet (Euraf). I believe I have a place in this trio in the sense that I am reactive and I like knowing how things evolve, which is essential for doing good comm’: the person in charge of communication needs to know exactly what is happening in each pole to be the most transparent and precise possible in what they transmit to students. My curiosity and my involvement in the list allows me to be efficient in comm’ and to be relatively visible in this overbooked Campaign week.

What is your experience in this domain?

I am on Facebook 24/7! At the beginning, I was in the Events pole, but I turned out to be more efficient in communication and it’s what I like to do, because without comm’, events that we prepare in the Events pole would not be able to occur. It’s especially demanding and you have to master social networks, but it’s truly fulfilling and I like it a lot.

If you were a famous athlete, who would you be and why?

Not a bad question! I grew up watching handball, my family is a fan and all my brothers have done [handball], so I would say Thierry Omeyer, who has now retired, or one of the Karabatic brothers. I even met them once, a total coincidence. Frankly, they’re super tall.