PERUGIA – Not only the European Football Championships in Germany are about to start. In the coming weekend, in nearby Poland, a sort of other European championship will also be staged, albeit a 5-a-side football championship, between very particular teams representing nine countries of the old continent: those made up of young people who have to deal with Type 1 diabetes.
Among these, there will also be the kids from AGD Umbria, the regional association for helping children and young people with type 1 diabetes in Umbria, who will represent Italy on Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th June in Warsaw (at its first participation since the event was created in 2019) in the “IOB CUP” 2024, the International Football Tournament entitled “Insulin Cup on Board” promoted by the “Foundation for Children with Diabetes” based in the Polish capital.
The invitation to participate among the over 20 teams present (over 500 participants including 250 players), constitutes a great recognition for AGD Umbria, which for 10 years has been organizing the national event “Un Calcio al diabetes” scheduled for this next year on 7 September in Perugia at the federal field of the Umbria Regional Committee of the FIGC – National Amateur League of Prepo and the annexed Auditorium, for what represents a real flagship of sporting and socio-health activity in Umbria relatively to this pathology.
Returning to the expedition to Poland, the initiative which promotes physical activity and encourages the sharing and exchange of experiences among young people with diabetes, combining competition with teachings to fight against the disease and overcome obstacles, will see Gabriele as protagonists Nicoletti, Sami Kalbruss, Cristian Venier, Neri Cortigiani, Samuele Rampino, Roberto Lucarelli, Pietro Avi Roncador, Giuliano Mellai and doctor Andrea Natalizi, in the dual role of athlete and young doctor, as well as some minors who will be accompanied by the vice president of AGD Umbria, Enrico Piano, and the interpreter Bahar Zad Behtooi.
It is worth remembering that AGD Umbria has always fought to ensure that children and young people affected by Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus, the most widespread chronic pathology in the pediatric field with onset at an increasingly earlier age, approach sport, overcoming that sense of inadequacy with which they have to deal with looking at physical activity as an unattainable goal and thus also encouraging the overcoming of barriers, sharing and integration between peers. Physical activity itself represents one of the pillars of the medical treatment of diabetes, allowing optimal management of the pathology which today involves more than 20,000 children and young people in Italy, of which around 400 in Umbria, guaranteeing precious help in the daily management of metabolic control and a better quality of life.
