MESSINA – An afternoon on Saturday to raise awareness of inclusive sport, a sporting activity accessible to all and practiced together by children with and without disabilities. The regenerated Arena of Villa Dante hosted the quadrangular Baskin4All, a sports tournament promoted within the Regenerated Community project, conceived as the final moment of a path desired by the Milan Foundation and the ‘Ebbene’ Foundation which, thanks to the presence in the area of Mcl Messina, has developed several initiatives throughout the year.
The basketball sporting event saw 4 teams of 10 players each compete. Ssr Baskin Castanea, Sport 360, plus the La Farina-Basile and Bisazza schools walked on the playing field demonstrating how sport and inclusion go hand in hand, but above all how one can “reconnect with the city by taking advantage of the regenerated spaces, building relationships between the city and those who live it every day” explains Fortuna Romano, president of Mcl Messina. “We supported this project above all with the participation of young people from the Mcl because we strongly believe in regeneration implemented with the active participation of citizens”.
The project, concluded thanks to the contribution of the Ministry of Labor and the Sicilian Region, enhanced the ability of young people to take care of their city and to accompany their peers on a path of inclusion within Regenerated Communities. The initiative was sponsored by the Municipality of Messina and the Sport4Inclusion network, a network of Italian foundations for inclusive sport and received the support of Messina Social City which provided the infrastructure and spaces free of charge. “Seeing such an event in the newly redeveloped Villa Dante arena is a satisfaction. And it is even more so to see how these spaces that we have regenerated and returned to the city are used transversally for initiatives like today’s which put social issues at the centre” underlines the mayor of Messina Federico Basile, present together with the councilor Massimo Finocchiaro and the president of Messina Social City Valeria Asquini.
“Events like this are important for the promotion of Paralympic sport because they represent a clear example of how people with disabilities can engage with sporting disciplines – states Francesco Giorgio, provincial delegate of the Italian Paralympic Committee – and they do so today even with able-bodied people. This helps us clear the way of thinking that disabled people cannot play sports and that they have no ability. In Paralympic sport we talk about residual skills that highlight potential. We must make normal what is extraordinary today and we can do this by working together and networking.”
“The presence of so many young people who popped into the arena even just to look around and who then stayed with us – explains Elisa Furnari, national president of the Bene Foundation – is proof that urban regeneration is possible thanks to them. Regenerated Community teaches us that the change of a territory, that its beauty, depends on the commitment of the children. The young people of MCL interpreted these activities in an extraordinary way, taking care of people and places, enhancing the culture of the area and finally giving us a wonderful moment of sport in a magical place like Villa Dante. As president of the Bene Foundation I would like to thank Messina and our institutions for having welcomed with warmth and availability not only this afternoon, but the entire project”.
“We are proud – declares Rocco Giorgianni, General Secretary of the Milan Foundation – of the results of the project and of having contributed to the creation of an inclusive sport action that illustrates all the power of sport as a vehicle for equality.”
“Regenerated Communities involved our entire organization – concludes Fortuna Romano, president of Mcl Messina – but above all our local team and young people, a group which, coordinated by the tireless lawyer Francesco De Leo, has once again demonstrated the ability of the associations , of intermediate bodies, to work to make our city more alive, more beautiful and more inclusive.”
