Cleroy succeeds Bouclet as French federation president
Images courtesy French Archery Federation.
Jean-Michel Cleroy was elected president of France’s national archery federation – the FFTA – at its general assembly in Paris on 25 March 2017. The 55-year-old succeeded Philippe Bouclet, who had headed up the federation through four Olympic cycles.
The 25 executive committee members of the French federation are elected for a four-year term, or one Olympic cycle, as a single party. Cleroy’s party, named “construisons ensemble la fédération de demain” - which translates as “let's build tomorrow's federation together” in English - was elected with nearly 84% of votes. The newly-appointed executive met the day after the elections, on Sunday 26 March, to form its federal bureau and appoint chairs to each of the national archery commissions.
“With this new team, I think we can bring a new energy to the federation’s projects while consolidating and improving the awareness and impact of our major competitions,” said Cleroy.
Philippe Bouclet, who remains a vice president on the World Archery Executive Board until at least 2019, said he was emotional to leave his position in the French federation, having served as president for 17 years and on the board since 1984. As of the end of 2016, the FFTA had over 77,000 licensed archers on its books.
“We must always be better and look to improve on our weaknesses,” Bouclet added, citing the federation’s motto of being ambitious and striving for excellence. “But we can definitely be proud of what we’ve achieved over these past four mandates.”
Incoming president Jean-Michel Cleroy joined the federation’s executive committee in 2000 and acted as secretary general from 2008 to 2016. He is also a member of the World Archery Board of Justice and Ethics. An archer since 1974 and a club coach, Cleroy also served as president or board member for various regional and national leagues and commissions – and has been president of the club Les Archers de Saint Jacques de la Lande since 2013.
He has committed to pursuing archery development in France in his new position. There are plans to design a modular shooting range to reduce costs for local authorities when establishing venues and Cleroy wants to expand the nation’s offering for both recreational and competitive archers – while evolving the club model and reorganising regions across the country.
Paris’ bid for the Olympic Games in 2024 offers a significant opportunity for growth in archery participation, especially if it wins.
The federation is already preparing for that possibility by expanding its structure to cope with a membership of over 100,000. This development is within the framework of the World Archery Plan, World Archery’s strategic approach for expanding the reach and importance of archery within individual nations, and Cleroy said that understanding other member associations going forward would be key to maximising the potential of the archery federation in France.
