The Salerno skate track hosted the ceremony in memory of Giovanni Ugatti, a point of reference for Salerno sport and beyond. A plaque was discovered, in the presence – among others – of the president of the Campania Region, Vincenzo De Luca.
Giovanni Ugatti arrives at the provincial Coni as vice president after a life on the parquet first as a basketball player for Fiamma Salerno and then as a referee, paired with his brother Vittorio, in 1980, the year in which the earthquake highlighted all the evils of sport Salerno.
In 1985 he was elected president and his task, certainly not easy, was to re-establish the sports movement starting from the basics. First he reorganized the offices and then proceeded with the promotion, contributions and enhancement of the sporting activities taking place throughout the province.
The main problem, of course, is the lack of sports facilities. At the time there was only one indoor facility, the Vestuti gym, whose roof Ugatti himself had donated to the Municipality years ago, a structure in which everything was done, from professional football to basketball, boxing, volleyball, gymnastics and etc.
He therefore began by urging the Municipality to install a tensile structure built with the contribution of CONI to allow young people who practiced sports outside the city to return to Salerno. Then he started the Sports Introduction Centers which under his presidency went from 25 to 220 and his sports organization model was taken as an example by many other CONI committees even beyond regional borders. He established relationships with the school, thus giving a strong boost to student sports which began to bring home important results. In about 15 years the Palatulimieri, the Palumbo gymnasium with the Army, the Palamatierno and the Arechi were built in Salerno.
As regional president he continued to support sport through the valorization of all the Federations and by supporting and encouraging all the administrations to create neighborhood fields and gyms where young people can converge, especially where situations of cultural degradation existed, and continue to exist.
