Toulouse: Pierre Arrizabalaga, 80 years of loyalty to the TOAC Basque pelota club
Pierre, 97 years old from Balman, a lot of stories to tell. And in particular those of the Toulouse frontons, which this Basque pelota champion has rubbed shoulders with for many years.
Rackets, medals, photos and articles, for some, yellowed by the years that have been delivered… Each setback of the house of Pierre Arrizabalaga, in Balma, testifies to the immeasurable passion of this 97-year-old man for pelota. Basque. A sport he started playing when he was 8 years old, in a school in the Basque Country, where he is from, and which he played until he was 86, forced to leave the pediment because of his health problems. .
A (very) long sporting career, and quite a record: 3 titles of champion of the Pyrenees, and 3 titles of winner of the League of Toulouse. “I miss it a lot” laments Pierre. But today, “the age is there, it is necessary to be reasonable” he says, holding in one of his hands, his “makila”, a Basque walking stick which was offered to him for his 90th birthday.
A great loyal member of the TOAC club
With Pierre, memories are not only material. The nonagenarian has kept in his memory every crumb of his years spent on the pediments of the pink city. And when he starts telling them, it becomes hard to stop him…
We are in the 1950s. Pierre landed a job in Toulouse, and immediately joined the Basque pelota club TOAC (Toulouse Olympique Aérospatiale Club). Over the years, he forged strong ties with the other members. “We made meals, we were like a family” says Pierre. Together, TOAC players travel the roads of the Southwest to face other teams in championships.
Pierre Arrizabalaga is also one of the driving forces behind the construction of the TOAC pediment, destroyed last August to accommodate the work on the 3rd metro line. “I was part of the club committee and of those who decided on the construction of this pediment. It hurt me a lot when I learned that it was going to be demolished,” he explains, in a trembling voice. For lack of means, and members in the club, the TOAC pediment will never see the light of day again. For him, it’s a real heartbreak. “I thought they were building another one, but the president of the league said to me: Pierre, we held a general assembly, there were five of us. We who, in the past, were more than 200! he regrets. Pierre went to the site to say goodbye to the pediment, so dear to him. Between two mechanical shovels, he was even able to recover a stone from the wall. “The former president of the TOAC club dedicated it to me,” he says with a slight smile.