The Core Values of the Challenge Aramis: Youth, Diversity, Innovation, Eco-Responsibility

For nearly twenty years, the Challenge Aramis has established itself as far more than a fencing competition. It has become a true laboratory of ideas dedicated to young people — a gathering where performance, openness, and responsibility progress together.

Designed for the U15/M15 category, the project is built on a federal agreement with the French Fencing Federation and on a network of teams coming from all over France and abroad.Its goal is clear: to offer young athletes a demanding and inspiring environment, to give them the chance to face different fencing schools early on, while remaining faithful to the strong values that give meaning to every bout.

Among these values, four form the foundation of the Challenge Aramis: Youth, Diversity, Innovation, and Eco-Responsibility. They shape the competition format, the way participants are welcomed, and the long-term vision carried by the project.

Youth: Helping a New Generation Grow

The Challenge Aramis is first and foremost a place of exploration and excellence for young fencers. The choice of the M15 category is no accident: it is a pivotal stage in an athlete’s journey — the first ambitions appear, major competitions are discovered, and collective pressure is learned and managed.

Thanks to a two-day format combining a team event with an individual challenge (the Porthos Tournament), every young fencer benefits from a high volume of matches, intense encounters, and conditions similar to major national events.The tournament is fully aligned with a talent-identification approach and prepares athletes for national competitions, in collaboration with regional committees and the FFE. International teams have also shown strong enthusiasm for this type of event.

Beyond results, the real goal is to leave a lasting impression: a strong memory, a first international experience, and the kind of encounters that help shape a sporting vocation.

Diversity: A Competition Where Everyone Shares the Same Piste

Diversity is at the heart of the Challenge Aramis identity. At an age where competitions are often divided by gender, Aramis makes a deliberate choice to promote encounters and variety.

Teams may come from clubs, inter-club groups, regional selections, or foreign delegations — multiplying profiles, styles, and levels of experience.

The Porthos Tournament takes this logic even further: it is a mixed, one-touch elimination event where girls and boys compete equally, with a single winner, regardless of gender.This sends a strong message to young athletes: talent, composure, and courage have no gender.

This diversity is also reflected in the organizing team, the circle of high-level patrons and ambassadors, and the project’s partners, who are committed to supporting an inclusive and open event.

Innovation: Reinventing the Way Sporting Events Are Run

Aramis aims to be an “Agitator of Talents,” but also an agitator of ideas. The event seeks to reinvent competition standards and offer a more modern, immersive experience.

This ambition is expressed through several innovations:

· Innovative competition formats: Italian-style team relays, a large one-touch individual bracket, dense match sequences, and real-time result tracking.

· Digital tools: live scoring, active communication via social media, highlights of key moments (finals, memorable actions, interviews).

· New experiences around fencing: virtual-reality fencing stations, lightsaber demonstrations, artistic fencing performances, and other creative and playful activities.

Innovation also appears in the organizational model: co-construction with the Rhône Fencing Committee, detailed planning, testing of arbitration-training formats in line with regional policies, and close partnerships with companies sensitive to creativity and digital approaches (MPDATA being a long-standing supporter).

Eco-Responsibility: An Event That Cares for Its Environment

Eco-responsibility is not an afterthought but a principle increasingly embedded in the event’s design.

Several concrete initiatives are already implemented or under development:

· Waste reduction practices such as reusable and refundable ecocups used from one edition to the next.

· Thoughtful meal planning with sports-oriented menus, pre-ordered to avoid waste and adapted to the expected number of teams.

· Long-term partnerships with engaged companies through multi-year agreements to promote quality over disposable consumption.

· Optimized material resources (pistes, lighting, logistics) to reduce unnecessary transport and mutualize equipment.

The objective is clear: to grow an appealing event without leaving a disproportionate footprint.

A Shared Guiding Principle: Performance, Sharing, Responsibility

By bringing together these four values — Youth, Diversity, Innovation, and Eco-Responsibility — the Challenge Aramis promotes a coherent vision of tomorrow’s fencing: competitive and demanding, yet open, creative, and aware of modern challenges.

Each edition is an opportunity to refine this model, test new ideas, and strengthen relationships with clubs, committees, federations, and partners.Together, they help make the Challenge Aramis not only a milestone in a sporting career but a human experience that stays with young athletes for years to come.