Jean-Louis Rodrigues reelected as EUROSIMA President
On Friday, July 2, nearly sixty guests attended the EUROSIMA General Assembly. Association members, partners and administrators came together at the Bistro Balnéaire in Soorts-Hossegor to look back at the association's accomplishments over this past year and to approve upcoming development projects presented by the President and Board.
President and Board, reelected for a second term
Every other year, EUROSIMA members are invited to vote and approve the association's Board, Administrators and President. This year, outgoing President Jean-Louis Rodrigues, was reelected by unanimous vote. All members of the Board of Administrators also renewed their commitment with the exception of one, whose professional obligations no longer allow for the required time on the Board. "For me, it is essential to have all segments and sizes of companies represented on the EUROSIMA Board. I'm glad to continue working alongside a Board of Administrators, which faithfully reflects today's European Action Sports industry" insisted Jean-Louis Rodrigues.
2020: a year of proactive commitment
Since the first lockdown started on March 17, 2020, EUROSIMA has demonstrated a proactive attitude to support Action Sports businesses by identifying their needs, providing advice and representing their interests at both regional and governmental levels.
Early on, the association connected with public institutions, professional associations and sports federations to underline the need for massive support measures for the Action Sports industry. The association focused its efforts around 4 key targets: protecting workers' health, assistance to businesses, economic recovery and enabling sports activities to resume.
The French governmental program, "Plan France Relance" to help businesses recover, allowed several association members (Oxbow, Napco, Hoff Distribution...) to access hundreds of millions of euros in funding enabling them to invest in innovation, ecodesign, digital and energy transitions, CSR, the circular economy or relocalising production.
A strategic alliance working for businesses
Within this context of the economic crisis, EUROSIMA created ties with UNION sport & cycle to give Action Sports businesses a stronger voice when dealing with national institutions. This fruitful collaboration gave birth to a formal alliance between the two associations.
Since last March, the leading professional organisation of the sports and leisure industry and the European Action Sports association have indeed decided to join forces through a strategic 2-year agreement.
Starting this year, EUROSIMA members enjoy access to a EUROSIMA-UNION sport & cycle dual membership, which aims to provide a wider range of services to members of both associations (legal advice, updates on rules and regulations, research on sports practices...) as well as to gain increased influence and strength when dealing with public institutions
EUROSIMA and UNION sport & cycle have already launched several significant joint tasks: implementation of the anti-waste legislation for a circular economy (which namely implies creating a wider-ranging Extended Producer Responsibility for sports and leisure articles) as well as boosting recovery and jump-starting economic activity, namely through the "Plan France Relance".
Targets for the new term
"The Action Sports industry is currently heading in the right direction and it is vital to ensure that such a dynamic takes hold in the long term. Consumers have a positive image of our industry and despite the economic challenges linked to the Covid-19 crisis, we are stronger than we were 2 to 3 years ago. Positive results from last year's summer season are proof of that and the 2021 summer season forecasts predict equally strong results." happily declared, Jean-Louis Rodrigues.
The key projects EUROSIMA has worked on will be pursued and the association's agenda of activities will be maximised to work around several strategic priorities for the Action Sports industry.
Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) are among the key focus themes of this new term (implementing an Extended Producer Responsibility, training programs relative to the circular economy, assistance to companies with digitalisation of collection catalogs...).
Assisting business to relocalise and reorganise production units in Europe are also key targets for the association.
Training and employment are major focuses that the EUROSIMA team will work on by pursuing its program of group training courses, which ensures a constant increase in skills within the industry, thus enabling our businesses to develop a competitive advantage.
Supporting startups with economic and international development is also a priority for the association.
Territorial ties and working hand in hand with institutional partners are activities that will be pursued in the long term in order to ensure job creations within the industry in the Nouvelle Aquitaine territory. These actions will also ensure success for business development projects (expanding the Pédebert activity zone in Soorts-Hossegor and restarting the project for a business incubator, opening the Creative Hall Créaluz in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, establishing an Action Sports business park in Lacanau...).
Economic intelligence through shared market research and the implementation of theme-based webinars, organised with EUROSIMA partners such as Outdoor Sports Valley, the FESI or UNION sport & cycle, are key elements on our 2021 agenda.
Last but not least, key industry events such as the EUROSIMA Surf Summit, the Beach party, the Waterman's Ball as well as workshops and bootcamps will provide our teams with grear opportunities for both networking and increasing skills.
The EUROSIMA Board
Board of Directors
Jean-Louis Rodrigues, EUROSIMA President
Emilie Souvras, EUROSIMA Vice-president-Treasurer EUROSIMA and EMEA Retail Manager at Boardriders
Joost Grootswagers, EUROSIMA Vice-President-Secretary and General Manager of Volcom Europe
Mathieu Lefin, General Manager of Rip Curl Europe
Wilco Prins, EUROSIMA Honorary Member and cofounder of Town & Country Surf Designs Europe
Rémi Forsans, EUROSIMA Honorary Member and Territorial Marketing Project Manager for the Greater Annecy area
Patrick Giraudon, President of Outdoor Sports Valley
The Board of Directors
Nicolas Dazet, Director of Daz-Hub and Marketing Director of Ocean52
Stephen Bell, General Manager of Euroglass
Darren Broadbridge, International Sales Specialist and Partner Development at Pure Surf Camps
Frédéric Bouchet, General Manager of Napco Europe
Matthieu Guyonnaud, Head of Partnerships Ekosea.com
Kevin Lestrade, General Manager of Bythewave Technologies
Juan Gonzalez-Vega, General Manager of Moskova
Marc Farhat, General Manager Hoff Distribution
Miky Picon, Quiksilver Global Sports Marketing Surf
Philippe Sirech, General Manager of Spotyride
Nicholas Lartizien, Surf Hardware International Europe General Manager
Emmanuel Debruères, President of Oxbow
