After football, in full compliance with this line of action, in the wake of the great prominence given to tennis by the prestigious international results achieved by Italy and its athletes, above all Jannik Sinner, as well as by the very recent BNL d’Italia International Championships played in Rome, the right opportunity has finally arrived to highlight our home tennis too. And this is what the conference on the emblematic theme “IT’S TENNIS MANIA. THE TALENT OF THE PIONEERS IN MOLFETTA” proposes, organized by the Panathlon Club to discover, or rather rediscover, the talent of the Molfetta pioneers Antonio, Gianni and Silvano Maralfa. Surely Antonio Giancaspro, the multifaceted and highly decorated protagonist of Molfetta sport, who strongly supported the foundation of the Panathlon Club and was its first President, would have shared the awarding of the prize named after him to the Maralfa Brothers, introduced to tennis by their great father Giuseppe Maralfa, authentic sportsman, panathlete and friend of the legendary Giosuè Poli.
Exceptional speakers at the meeting to be held in Molfetta next Thursday 30 May starting at 6.30 pm in the Aula Magna of the Episcopal Seminary in Piazza Garibaldi will be Dr. Antonello Valentini, journalist and former General Director of the Italian Football Federation and Dr. Isidoro Alvisi, National Vice President of the Italian Tennis and Padel Federation. Dr. Antonello Valentini, born in Bari where he graduated in Law, has been a professional journalist since 1976. Agenzia Italia and Corriere della Sera were his first experiences before moving to Rai where he also played the role of radio for many years commentator for tennis, a sport for which he retains an irreversible passion, born on the red courts of CT Bari up to the finish line of the second category.
For 27 years he worked at the Italian Football Federation: first as head of the Press Office and External Relations, then as General Director. As manager of the national team, Dott, Valentini participated in 3 Olympics, 6 editions of the European Championships and 7 editions of the World Cup, from Italia ’90 onwards, including the triumph in Berlin 2006 with the fourth star of the Azzurri led by Marcello Lippi . He is currently CEO of LND Servizi, the company that manages the real estate assets, the marketing sector and the business area for the National Amateur League.
Dr. Isidoro Alvisi, born in Barletta, a chartered accountant, is an expert in tax litigation and subsidized finance, president of boards of auditors and supervisory bodies, as well as a member of the boards of directors of companies and foundations. In his tennis activity he was twice Absolute Puglia Regional Champion in singles in 1981 and 1983, as well as five times Italian Champion in doubles Under 16 (1977), 18 (1979), 2nd Category (1979 and 1981) and University (1985) ).
He was a member of the Serie A teams of the Circolo Tennis Bari, the Angiulli Bari and the Circolo Tennis Maglie from 1978 to 1981. Finally he was part of the National Under 14/16 and 18 Representatives from 1974 to 1979. Sports Manager since 1984 , Dr. Alvisi was Head of the Regional Technical Sector from 1984 to 1992 and held the positions of Regional Councilor from 1992 to 1998, National Councilor from 1998 and President of the CONI BAT Provincial Delegation from 2010 to 2017. Finally, since 2020 he assumed the role of National Vice President of the Italian Tennis and Padel Federation.
Once again, therefore, Panathlon has organized a sporting culture event of great importance, open to athletes and citizens, which certainly constitutes a wonderful opportunity to focus on Molfetta tennis and its talented pioneers, to revive the period of gold to “differently” young people and to make it known to the many who have not had the fortune of experiencing it firsthand. Which, inevitably, once again puts the Panathlon Club’s objective of saving what can be saved and establishing the local interdisciplinary Sports Museum in a suitable location: football, athletics, tennis, wrestling and martial arts, water sports, basketball, volleyball, table tennis, hockey, cycling etc. etc.
An objective long pursued by Panathlon and proposed to the various municipal administrations that have succeeded one another over time since the early 1990s, as well as foreseen by the Memorandum of Understanding between the Municipality and the Club signed way back in 2014.
