The Gymnastic and Sports Federation of French Patronages (in French, Fédération gymnastique et sportive des patronages de France, FGSPF) is a French multi-sports federation established in 1898 in Paris by Dr. Paul Michaux. Initially known as the Union of Gymnastics and Military Instruction Societies of French Patronages and Youth Organizations, it changed its name to the Federation of Catholic Gymnastics Societies in 1901 before adopting its current name in 1903. During the Occupation, it integrated the women's organization of the Women's Sports Rayon. It formally merged with it in 1947, evolving into the Sports Federation of France and later the Sports and Cultural Federation of France in 1968.
The FGSPF, as indicated by its acronyms, is primarily a gymnastics federation, competing with the Union of Gymnastics Societies of France. The latter is closely associated with the League of Patriots and the Ligue de l'enseignement (League of Education), both of which promote secular or even anti-clerical values. The FGSPF also competes with the Union of French Athletic Sports Societies, especially when it expands its focus to include other sports, especially football. This sport quickly became the reference sport for the FGSPF, leading to the organization of the FGSPF Football Championship from 1904 to 1914. In 1908, the FGSPF successfully established the French Interfederal Committee, created a year earlier, as the sole federation recognized by the International Federation of Association Football.
The emergence of specialized sports federations after World War I did not seem to pose any problems for the FGSPF, unlike the USFSA, which disappeared from the national scene. The FGSPF even experienced exceptional growth during this period, especially in basketball.
History
In 1891, Pope Leo XIII's encyclical Rerum novarum legitimized and strengthened Catholic parish patronages, which established a tradition of running, ball games, stilts, and later gymnastics for nearly a century. Subsequently, anti-clericalism promoted by the Union of Gymnastics Societies of France (USGF) prompted the French episcopate to consider organizing its gymnastic followers into a specific association. During the Patronage Day on December 15, 1897, at the Catholic Institute of Paris, the rector, Mgr Péchenard, therefore proposed a physical exercise competition for the diocesan patronages of Paris. The project was embarrassed by the assembly, and Dr. Paul Michaux, along with another doctor, Dr. Fayet, and a few priests, including Father Louis Esquerré, the patronage of the Bon Conseil work in 1894, immediately formed a team to implement the project.
In the following year,Dreyfus affair year Dr. Michaux successfully obtained the creation of an organization from the patronage committee, which was later named the Union of Gymnastics and Military Instruction Societies of Patronages and Youth Organizations (USGIMPOJF). This was replaced in October 1901 by the Federation of Catholic Gymnastics Societies (FSCG). The first competition took place on July 24, 1898, in Paris, under the chairmanship of Rear Admiral Mathieu with 3,000 spectators. The second competition, held in June of the following year in Ivry and attended by 1,200 gymnasts, including participants from the North, Le Havre, and Reims, was graced by the presence of Albert Mun. In 1900, the Paris Universal Exposition awarded its Grand Prize for Social Works to a presentation of the new federation by Pierre Griffaton, who was also a co-disciple in the Nazareth work. The fourth competition, in 1901, gathered 2,000 gymnasts and attracted 8,000 spectators.
This institution is dedicated to apostolic, hygienic, and patriotic goals, in line with the ideas of prominent physiologists such as Claude Bernard, Étienne Marey, and Paul Bert, following the aftermath of the French defeat in 1870. Gymnastics, already practiced in patronages since Timon-David, is considered essential for achieving these objectives. Minister Paul Bert assigns it the task of bridging the gap of several years between students leaving compulsory primary school at 13 and their military incorporation. To achieve this, every teacher spends three months at the military gymnastics school of Joinville focusing on fencing and gymnastics.
Gathered from October 25 to 28, 1903, at the Catholic Institute of Paris, the central commission of the patronages of France, then chaired by Dr. Michaux himself, expresses -the wish "that in each region, directors should agree to organize regional or departmental unions of gymnastics and sports societies" and "that the training of members of our Catholic patronages be so manly and strongly Christian that, if necessary, they can participate in gymnastics competitions organized by other societies, even non-denominational ones." Sport also quickly makes its appearance with the consideration of football as early as 1901 and running in 1903. The federation considered this, and on December 14, 1903, it was renamed the Gymnastic and Sports Federation of French Patronages. That same year, the first issue of the journal Les Jeunes is published. In 1904, the federation organized its first cross-country race and federal athletics championship in Saint-Cloud, followed by the first federal congress of the Commission of Patronages. Les Jeunes, initially an insert in the Patronage magazine, became an independent weekly publication in March 1905. The federation relocated to its first premises at 5 Place Saint-Thomas-d’Aquin on July 15, with Léon Lamoureux assuming administrative responsibilities on November 14, later joined by Charles Simon.
Gymnastics, Football, War (1898–1918)
However, gymnastics continued to provide an avenue for Catholics to participate in patriotic events, with large competitions attracting associations from various provinces to Paris. Despite this, the federation's growth remained limited until 1906. The turning point came in 1908 when hostility from authorities and other federations towards associations that had participated in gymnastics competitions in Rome in 1906, in response to the pope's invitation, led to a surge in membership in the FGSPF. For instance, the Lyon region, with its own Federation of Catholic Gymnastics Societies of the Rhône and the southeast, joined that year. Some associations joined later, possibly due to pressure from their diocese hierarchy, such as the Federation of Gymnastics Societies of the North in 1912.
This situation, which irritates anticlericals, is not without risks. In September 1904, Father Deschamps' troops escorted Émile Combes, President of the Council, to the Auxerre train station with fanfare, causing annoyance. However, on June 8, 1907, the Saint-Joseph des Épinettes event resulted in one fatality and two serious injuries. The competition in Roubaix on July 11, 1911, attracted 50,000 spectators and 8,000 gymnasts, but also faced opposition from 3,000 anti-clerical protesters, requiring 400 gendarmes to be reinforced by two squadrons of dragoons and two police brigades. It was a war period, and the situation persisted because three weeks before the declaration of the Great War, on July 12, 1914, in Roanne, an enthusiastic prefect mobilized the army and had a parade charged by the mobile guard on the pretext that priests accompanied it. Nevertheless, alliances are multiplying, especially in the provinces, and on October 8, 1910, in Chantilly, a society from Bordeaux, La Flèche, won the first federal gymnastics championship. The following year, 43 regional unions and 1,250 affiliated societies participated in the 9th federal congress.
In solidarity with the French provinces annexed to Germany, two competitions were organized in Nancy in 1907 and 1911. The second competition saw the participation of societies from Alsace, Belgium, Holland (province of the Netherlands), Ireland, Italy, and Canada. The FGSPF brought together 8,500 athletes in the Lorraine capital during this event. The 25 foreign delegations present established the International Union of Catholic Physical Education Works (UIOCEP), which later evolved into the International Catholic Federation of Physical and Sports Education (FICEP) in 1947. Paul Michaux served as vice president, and Charles Simon as secretary-general. In December 1911, this union convened in Rome to establish its statutes with the encouragement of Pope Pius XI.
In twelve years, the FGSPF has successfully united most parish and congregation patronages with charitable missions. However, patronages associated with educational institutions catering to the elite have largely remained outside its sphere of influence. The FGSPF aimed to bridge the gap between working-class and educated youth through sports, making it the first French federation to focus on school sports. The Gymnastic and Sports Union of Free Education was established on February 10, 1911, with René Barbier de la Serre, officially declared on March 29, 1911, and later evolved into the General Sports Union of Free Education (UGSEL) in 1935. The conquest of this sector proved laborious, as it had already been largely prospected by the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques (USFSA) for over 20 years, as the story of Father Henri Didon and his Albert-le-Grand d'Arcueil institute testifies. The FGSPF, which had 13 affiliated clubs at the end of 1898, registered 1,504 in 1914 compared with 1,100 and 1,700 respectively for its rivals, the USGF and USFSA. Its numbers made it France's leading sports movement, and in the post-war years membership rapidly doubled.
Dr. Michaux, motivated by the desire to reclaim Alsace and Lorraine, made military preparation and marksmanship a top priority for the federation. In 1914, one in three recipients of the Military Aptitude Certificate trained within the FGSPF. The organization suffered the loss of 25,000 members who fell on the battlefield during World War I, including many leaders and priest-directors. By November 1914, Paul Michaux estimated that over 50,000 youth from patronages were serving in the military. Despite the challenges, the FGSPF continued its activities, and Paul Michaux successfully organized the first post-war competition in a major city restored to France: 7,000 gymnasts from across the country gathered in Metz on August 4, 1919.
The majority of French sports groups, including many patronages and religious school establishments, have long been affiliated with the USFSA, which has specialized commissions for each discipline. While its leaders are passionate about football-rugby, they have been more hesitant towards association football, which is already popular among professional athletes in the UK but is also widely practiced in the courtyards of presbyteries. The new Federation of Catholic Gymnastics Societies could no longer ignore this sport, as it was mentioned in its January 1900 bulletin and initial meetings were organized the following year. To assert its legitimacy in addressing football, the federation changed its name to the Gymnastic and Sports Federation of French Patronages in 1903. It then organized its own FGSPF Football Championship in the following year, which lasted for ten seasons before being interrupted by the war and eventually faded away in favor of the creation of the Charles Simon Cup in 1917. Only a federal championship persisted after that.