As soon as it arrived in the editorial office, the news left us dismayed and truly sorry: Prof. Franco Del Chicca he was no longer with us. And there is no point in denying it, anyone in Parma who has even remotely dealt with issues related to volleyball has certainly “stumbled” across some anecdote linked to him or has met one of his many students who will certainly be remembering him fondly in these moments.
Del Chicca taught physical education in Parma schools for 55 years. In particular, she was an important presence for the students of the Leonardo da Vinci Technical Institute and the Salesian Institute of San Benedetto. As a volleyball player he was a setter in Serie A from 1959 to 1964 in the Parma teams, most recently in Salvarani. Then his coaching career for 45 years.
Franco Del Chicca was yes, an “adopted Parmesan”, born in Livorno and arrived in Parma as a child in 1945, but right here in Parma he left an indelible mark, dedicating his whole life to educating children in sport, to growing practitioners and future volleyball champions. Thanks to him, thousands of kids have learned to love both discipline and fans, crowding the sports hall. Parma has been one of the leading volleyball cities at an international level for years.
In 2016 he received the certificate of civic merit with this motivation: “For his dedication to sport, understood as a training ground for the life of the young generations, for his commitment and self-sacrifice in this area and for having brought many young people closer to the engaging world of volleyball”. Many champions and great coaches have also emerged from his school, including Roberto Piazza, Antonio Bonini (formerly a player for the national team), Andrea Aiello and Alessandro Farina, libero of Sisley Treviso, who won 6 national titles.
Among the friends who wanted to remember Del Chicca were obviously many former players and former managers. Between these Carlo Alberto Cova who was very shocked and recalled the professor’s enthusiasm: “His vitality and his colorful way of expressing himself struck me straight away. I met him with my father, who had a character diametrically opposed to that of the professor. From a reverential fear of the beginning to a great friendship. One in which it is always possible to joke and speak with the utmost frankness in many areas. But his life was made up of sport. If I won several national youth titles I also and above all owe it to him who had trained practically all the promising young players from Parma. Among the thousands of students, at least 45 coaches and 100 players showed themselves at the highest levels and in the higher categories. One regret remains – concludes Cova –with him a few years ago we were planning a book in which to collect the contributions of his many students (see video below ed.)difficult to reach them all and unfortunately we did not receive the answers we expected.”
“Son of a father but also a father – He says Alessandro Freschiauthor of many books dedicated to Parma volleyball – Another legend of that generation, first athletes and then technicians, who made Parma and national volleyball great, is passing away. Talking to him we always said: and in fact in Parma volleyball there was and is a lot of Del Chicca. He passed on to all those who continued their careers as coaches the passion for volleyball as a fact of life and it was not for nothing that he always went around with his father’s card with him and showed it with pride. From his explosive ideas, he was a “crazy horse” who was difficult to handle. Among the details that made us laugh when we were dating: he didn’t like pizza! And then he was able, with his jokes, to make you laugh in any situation. He always had new ideas and went around a thousand teams without ever giving up an inch. He was recently proud of a project he was doing with the disabled. With him goes an endless row of memories. He was loved and respected by all. He was an institution.”
The confirmation of this affection also comes from the words of Roberto Ghiretti which recalls Del Chicca’s great abilities and extraordinary human qualities: “He knew how to overwhelm everyone with his enthusiasm. Added to this were the undeniable technical capabilities. We spent 10-11 years with him and we remained very close. We were supposed to meet these days. He was truly an uncommon and good person by nature. He will be missed dearly.”
The councilor Marco Bosi recalled the support received from Del Chicca: “Above all, I remember Franco’s kind ways, always a word of support, from the first day I became Sports Councilor. It is no coincidence that he was loved by everyone, not only for the surname he bore, but for the way in which he dedicated his life to young people and sport. We will miss him.”
Mayor Michele Guerra underlines the importance of Del Chicca also at a national level: “A man who dedicated his life to sport and young people, to whom our city and our country owe so much, is leaving. Parma clings to the pain of his family and will know how to remember Franco as he deserves.”.
Here is the video, from Carlo Alberto Cova’s channel in which Prof. Del Chicca appealed to his former students:
Here is the video, from Carlo Alberto Cova’s channel in which Prof. Del Chicca talked about volleyball at San Benedetto:
