Four “champions and friends” for a thousand young people in Varese.

On Wednesday 13, the Estensi Gardens are hosting the event organised by Panatta, Graziani, Lucchetta and Chechi. The aim is to have fun and increase the interest in practising sport.

Anyone who enters the Palazzo Estense on the morning of Wednesday, 13 April, might think they have gone through the wrong door, that they have walked into the stadium in Masnago, or even the “Franco Ossola” Stadium. For the entire morning (from 9 am to 1 pm), the favourite gardens of the people of Varese are going to be transformed into a large sports facility, in which no fewer than four tennis courts, a gymnastics area, a football pitch and a volleyball court are going to be set up. Naturally, these disciplines have not been chosen at random, because, for each of them, there is going to be a top instructor; the names were revealed this afternoon (Tuesday), during a press conference, although, to be frank, the presentations were unnecessary. Their names are engraved in the minds and hearts of Italian sports men and women; they are Adriano Panatta, Yuri Chechi, Francesco Graziani and Andrea Lucchetta, four former sportsmen who competed for Italy, who, for a number of years, have promoted the project “A champion as a friend”, which is sponsored by Banca Generali and which organises a number of visits every year to Italian cities. This visit to Varese will be the second of 2011 (after Reggio Calabria) and it promises to bring more than a thousand young students in primary and secondary city schools, onto the playing fields; individually, the four champions will play for a few minutes, with each of these students, spending unforgettable moments with the sports men and women of the future.

The initiative has been organised in collaboration with Banca Generali (represented by Alessandro Mauri) and with Varese town council, who were involved in a number of areas; it is no accident that in addition to the Mayor, Attilio Fontana, there were the town councillors Giorgio De Wolf, Sarah Nidoli and Patrizia Tommasini, who emphasised how Palazzo Estense was being used for school physical education. And there is a real need to do something, as Panatta and Chechi explained. “Half of the children we played with are unable to do a forward somersault, or even catch a tennis ball; if we consider their motor coordination, only 10% of the children have fully developed skills; that’s really not enough.”

Not to mention problems of obesity or, at least, excess weight, which are increasingly serious among the youngest generation. “For this reason, we always suggest that they practise more sport, that they find a discipline that they enjoy the most, and spend fewer hours in front of the TV or playing video games,” Ciccio Graziani repeated.

Varese’s answer has been excellent; as mentioned above, over a thousand young people will come to the Estensi Gardens, accompanied by their teachers and their parents. This is an excellent result, if we consider that 1500 students have enrolled for the next visit, to Milan, also because we are seeing a lot of signs from the schools, who respond very favourably to this initiative.

“First of all, it’ll be a fun day,” Panatta continues. “We want there to be lots of cheer, good music, folklore, and little attention to the “technical side”. Our aim is for the day to be exciting, to arouse the curiosity of the young people, and maybe even to get them to take up a sports activity. In our long experience with “Banca Generali – A champion as a friend”, we have involved about 250,000 children, and the four of us have played for at least a few minutes, with each of them.”

Redazione VareseNews
redazione@varesenews.it

Noi della redazione di VareseNews crediamo che una buona informazione contribuisca a migliorare la vita di tutti. Ogni giorno lavoriamo cercando di stimolare curiosità e spirito critico.

Pubblicato il 14 Aprile 2011
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