PORTRAIT. The super-volunteer Jean-Jacques Nginn lives Paris 2024: “I decided to give everything”
By Writing Ile de France
Published on
“Every day is a gift! », exclaims from the start Jean Jacques Nginn. Retired for five years from a large American group for which he managed most of the computer equipment in France, the latter lives peaceful days in his apartment ofIssy-les-Moulineaux (Hauts de Seine), which he shares with his wife.
Because he loves sport as much as moments of conviviality, ” JJ Magic » increase volunteering missions at sporting events. UN super-volunteer who is eyeing the Paris 2024 Olympic Gamestwo years from the big date.
First voluntary mission in Laos for “Magic JJ”
Dressed in navy blue shorts and a white “I Love Magic JJ” t-shirt, the 60-year-old has the profile of a relaxed sportsman. His good looks, his lively gaze and his energetic silhouette completed the picture of the man who claims his “joie de vivre”. It’s not the two pacemakers under his chest that will attach to his good mood.
Born in Laos in the mid-1950s, Jean-Jacques moved to France with his parents and eleven siblings when he was six years old. Of these first years spent “in the country”, he only has vague memories. His family settled in Grenoble.
Ten years later, Jean-Jacques volunteers to the first great mission of his life : “My agricultural engineer father proposed retirement, he wanted to return to Laos. He was looking for one or two volunteers among his children to go find him his future home there. A family quest that Jean-Jacques, from the height of his 16 years, wishes to accomplish soon. It is therefore in Laos that he spent his high school years and his baccalaureate.
From the army to football, “the love of the collective”
The return to France took place in 1975, when the young man, then aged 21, was called up to Verdun. Jean-Jacques performs his military service in mechanized infantry. In the army, he learns camaraderie and develops “the love of the collective”.
He was already growing his passion for sports. He loves a challenge, loves to exert himself and experience “beautiful moments” as a team. This goes first and almost logically through football. For 31 years, he is assiduous, not “brilliant”, but passionate. His small career as an amateur footballer ended in the mid-90s when he blessed his adductors. The famous “crusaders”, which all athletes fear.
For three years, he then tried ball tennis, a fairly technical mix between football and tennis. Throughout this ball adventure, Jean-Jacques volunteers at many events and sporting events. From organizing to accompanying matches, he likes to “be part of it” and is more involved in his free time.
“For him to be happy, the others must be too”
Is the badminton he gives the most. His energy, his time and his passion. He joined the Issy-les-Moulineaux club in the 90s, first to be closer to his son, Paul-Olivier, who is himself a member. “Spending time with your children is priceless! “, he professes. If he is first of all a player like the others, he quickly decides to pass his coaching diploma, with this biting desire to transmit, to share. And finally, in 2008 and 2009, he took over the presidency of the club.
With always this need to be there for others. “When you are at the heart of a club, you either give or you take. For my part, I decided to give it my all, that’s how I work”, he explains wisely. At each tournament, he responds present.
“He’s the kind of person who can arrive at the club tournament two hours before everyone else and who waits for you quietly with breakfast, even maki from 8 a.m.”, confides Léo, who trained for a long time at the Issy badminton club. “For him to be happy, the others must be too. It’s a bit of his mantra, abounds Paul-Olivier, his son. As long as there is love, passion and desire, he goes for it”.
Races, European Championship, World Cup: “Magic JJ” is everywhere
Over the years, Jean-Jacques, alias “Magic JJ”, multiplies the volunteer missions. In badminton of course, but very quickly in almost all sports where people are looking for. He participated in the European Women’s Football Championship in 2017, in the Men’s and Women’s Handball World Cup and in the Ice Hockey World Cup the same year and recently, it was in the Lumières and Heroes races that he took part. It is invested, in Paris.
“It gets me out, social contact is fundamental. It’s only happiness, only a bonus, ”he confides with a broad smile. “Jean-Jacques has the gift of contact. You entrust him with about twenty volunteers, they are content for a week, assures Frédéric Gandard, the former sports director and coach of the badminton club, also a volunteer on occasion. We are happy to be his friend. He’s a very loyal person with a unique cheekiness. »
The retiree hopes to be able to use it for Paris 2024 Olympic Games, whom he does not want to miss for anything in the world and for whom he has already been approached as a volunteer. “I have already been called to participate in a campaign clip, and I have good hopes of being part of the adventure when the time comes”, explains the sixty-year-old, who however prefers not to go too far. Before, he will be on deck to rugby world cup 2023.
What fueled the little anecdotes he likes to tell about “totally impromptu moments”. Like his chance meeting with the football stars Michael Platini and Jean-Michel Larque. Or like when he found himself at the coffee machine of an event facing the silver medalist by the teams at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Pauline Ranvier, whom he took for a ” simple” volunteer. All volunteers!
Nicolas Daguin.
This article was written in partnership with the Center for training and advanced training for journalists (CFPJ).
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