MØNARC® Partner Club: The Club President's Guide

September is like no other month for a Nordic walking club president. The associations' fair is approaching, the membership forms are being printed, the coaches' slots are being set, and every enrolment conversation ends with the same arithmetic: how many will we be this season? It is precisely for that moment that we conceived the MØNARC® Partner Club label, and this article tells you in five minutes what it can bring to your club, and what it will never ask of you.

The starting point, you probably know it already. The arcs de marche are arriving in the clubs, carried by members who equip themselves, and with them the questions at warm-up time: what does the curve change, how is the size chosen, is the movement the same. The clubs that know how to answer offer their members a richer practice, and the label exists to recognise that competence, in France as abroad.

Two criteria, and one alone suffices

Either one of your instructors is a MØNARC® approved coach, having followed a training course with Nathalie Gilbert or Jean-Pierre Guilloteau. Or about ten pairs of arcs already circulate among your members, which attests that a transmission exists in your club, from walker to walker. Many clubs meet this second criterion without even knowing it: a tour of the car park before the Saturday outing will give you the answer.

What the label brings

It can be counted and it can be told. It counts: a €30 reduction per pair of arcs, for the club as for each of your members, present or future, and group prices for collective equipment. It tells: at the associations' fair, when a visitor hesitates between three activities, your club is the one offering a concrete advantage from enrolment, and a team capable of supporting all equipment, straight poles as well as arcs de marche. A member joins a club for its outings; they stay for what they learn there.

The advantage extends to training, and more broadly than you might imagine. Nathalie Gilbert and Jean-Pierre Guilloteau grant preferential conditions to Partner Clubs on all their courses: MØNARC® approval training, technical courses, mountain stays. A labelled club can thus train a second instructor, but also offer its members a technical weekend or a multi-day journey on lighter terms. Enough to enrich your season's programme without weighing on the budget.

What it will never ask of you

No exclusivity, no purchase obligation, no signed commitment. Every walker in your club chooses their own equipment, and that is exactly as it should be. The label recognises an ability to explain, it imposes nothing on anyone.

Where to start

If your club does not yet meet either of the two criteria, the shortest path goes through training: the next session takes place on 10 and 11 October 2026 in Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer, in the Var, and clubs can reserve their coaches' places there. All the information is on our dedicated courses page.

To apply, an email is enough, to enjoy@monarc-nordic.com, with your club's name, your town, and the criterion that concerns you. The answer comes quickly and without formality. Your season is starting; it might as well start with one more argument.

The whole programme is detailed on the MØNARC® Partner Club page.