Toulouse: After the destruction of the Toac pediment comes nostalgia
The Toac Basque pelota court is destroyed. For former players, it’s a whole story of this atypical sport that is disappearing.
Before, there was the pediment. Today it is just a pile of stones. Robert Bonnafous takes a last look at the remains of the wall. “It’s 60 years of Basque pelota flying away”, regrets the 99-year-old former player who knows this ground well. Pala, xare, chistera… He played and attended hundreds of points and innings on the Toac fronton. “It was created in 1962. In Basque pelota circles, it was called La Cathédrale. We can say goodbye to the pediment”, regrets Robert who is the honorary president of the Midi-Pyrenees Basque pelota league.
Destroyed this week, after work on the third metro line, the wall will not be rebuilt. Other fields, including football, will also be removed, but these will be replaced at the end of the work. “In terms of members, the CSE of Airbus told us that our discipline did not weigh much (32 licensees and fifty recreational players). We still submitted a few proposals, but we were told that the reconstruction costs would be too high…”, said in our columns Marc Cambet, the president of the pilotazales (Basque pelota enthusiasts) of the TOAC.
A land that was nevertheless historic
With this demolition, it is also a whole part of the history of the Toulouse Basque pelota that disappears. “Nothing replaces this pediment. There is another in Argoulets, but it is not up to standard for hosting official competitions”, Robert bitterly regrets. However, he experienced the golden age of the discipline. “At one point, there were hundreds of licensees. We have a lot of great players, even an athlete who made the world championships, ”he continues.
Robert is not the only one to regret the destruction of the pediment. Jean-Marc Tema in a past also afternoons facing the pediment. His passion for him is not Basque pelota, but rollerblading. “The field was right next to it. It has enabled several educators to train young people in the practice. Today, he left at the same time as the pediment”, also deplores this regular on the Toac track.