There are sports stories that resemble love stories. Even more so if it is not the lights of San Siro that tell the story but the spotlights of a small gym. Sports stories that often struggle, in Italy, to earn space on the front pages of newspapers. If not once every four years. A snobbery that can be summed up in one annoying, unpleasant and yet so reluctant to disappear definition: minor sports. A diminutio that sounds like an insult to the passion, sacrifices, sacrifices, victories and defeats of those who have married a segmented or oval ball rather than a football. Luckily time is a gentleman. And he has memory. Especially for those who manage to pass on their love for a discipline to generations of girls and boys. Until you reach the highest point, when your name becomes synonymous with that sport. In Benevento it happened with volleyball, it happened with Michele Ruscello. “Where does my passion come from? Don’t ask me, I don’t know. After all, love knows no reasons. Nor can it be argued. Or there isn’t. Maybe it was thanks to my brothers who played it at the fire station, maybe it was thanks to having grown up in front of the gym”.
Yet there must have been a moment when you decided that volleyball would be your sport
“At ten/eleven years old I decided to become good at volleyball. And I understood that to do this I had to strengthen myself first and foremost from an athletic point of view. I then began to train consistently at the Coni camp: Decathlon, Octathlon, Triathlon, discus throw, high jump. Many titles won. But everything was aimed at becoming a good volleyball player. My years passed like this: from October to March volleyball, from April to September athletics.”
The Benevento volleyball context of those years?
“In 1970, consolidated realities already existed. Starting, obviously, from Grippo to arrive at Libertas Luigi Sturzo who I like to remember as Virtus Mario Parente, due to the connection with the family of Mario, who died – unfortunately – very young. It was the Parente family who donated the land to the Municipality where the Sports Hall dedicated to Mario was built. To return to the Grippo sports group, it was established – by will of the then commander of the Fire Brigade, Antonio Barone – in 1959, the year of my birth. Then there were several other teams. Even the Meomartini sports group, at the time, also played volleyball. And at good levels. Grippo, however, had started to compete in important championships, between Serie B and Serie C. Not to mention the junior team, capable of reaping success after success at a regional level, until qualifying for the national stages in Trento. Results that gave impetus to the movement: in 1973 the first calls of Benevento athletes to the junior national team arrived, with Antonio Delcogliano and Paolo Basile. And later Gaetano Amato and Franco Forte. Until it was my turn, with the national under 18 team.”
Yet his first team debut had already taken place
“I wasn’t even 13 years old. Upon hearing the news of the first call, communicated to me on the street by the prof. Castracane, I started running for joy, even risking being run over. Being part of the first team at that age made me grow a lot, sharing the dressing room with people much older than me. Athletes like Franco Forte or the Pedicini brothers have taught me a lot. I only have one regret, not having had the fortune of playing with Pio Pedicini. With the youth teams, however, the satisfactions were not over: in 1973 the regional title arrived at the Youth Games and therefore participation in the national phase in Rome, where we finished in eighth place”.
Experiences outside Benevento?
“An unforgettable one in Emilia, with Modena Panini. I went there because they had a strong youth sector: with the juniors they were aiming to win the national championship. An experience I will never forget. I was welcomed very well by everyone and a champion like Pupo Dall’Olio took me under his wing: he demanded to do all the pairs training sessions with me. But after a while I decided to return to Benevento.”
Why?
“To be next to my parents. I was the last of four brothers, the first three had married and gone their own way, two had left at all. In short, I was a de facto only child. The incredible thing is that on the same day of my return I met a girl, who later became my girlfriend and later my wife. And obviously my mother became convinced that I had returned for the girl and not to be next to her and my father.”
A leap forward in time, we arrive at 1986: how was the Volleyball Academy born?
“As a form of protest”.
Stories
“To defend two players that the club – we are now talking about Benevento Volleyball – wanted out of the group, I entered into a collision course with Antonio Buratto and Antonio Feleppa. A clash that was also harsh in tone, which was resolved some time later. Buratto, unfortunately, is no longer here but I want to underline how, despite the differences, I have never lost the awareness of how important and how decisive his action was for the growth of volleyball in Benevento”.
And so he left Benevento Volleyball to found the Academy
“Basically I was told either they’re out or you’re out too. And I didn’t feel like leaving two companions alone who were also two friends. Together with Luigi De Nigris we founded the Academy with the aim of giving the girls and boys of Benevento the opportunity to play volleyball. Franco Petriello also joined us. But there is a figure I want to remember, Gino’s father: Tonino De Nigris. He always supported us, with grace and delicacy, without ever showing it. I told you what our objective was. But we also had a dream.”
That is to say?
“Serie A”.
Which will arrive in 2008: what emotions do you remember?
“I have been fortunate to win several championships, both as a player and as a coach. In Naples, with Cus, we were also promoted to Serie A. But the joy that winning the B1 championship, and therefore promotion to A2, gave me – as a manager – I can’t even describe to you. Truly a dream.”
Let’s move on to another indelible memory for the people of Benevento: the Beach Volley Cup
“A great intuition from my nephew Dante and Massimo Pedicini. They were the ones who thought of organizing a ‘4 against 4’ volleyball tournament with mixed teams, on the outdoor court of “La Fagianella”. A success and hence the idea of bringing beach volleyball to the streets of Benevento. I don’t hide a certain initial skepticism, then a study on sport and free time conducted on the children of Benevento convinced me of the rightness of the initiative: let’s do it! Dante and Massimo were joined by another madman, Renato Melillo. And I’m talking about crazy because their commitment was truly crazy. From the two weeks before and until the week following the demonstration, Dante lived – literally lived – in Piazza Risorgimento. And so Massimo, factotum of any situation. As for Renato, he went around every shop and every business in the city and not just looking for sponsors. The result? An event born for fun – the first year the lighting was provided by two spotlights tied with wire to the street lamps – in a few years it became an exceptional showcase for Benevento. The level of competition reached very high peaks, so much so that for two consecutive years Sky broadcast the matches live from Piazza Risorgimento. And then the most beautiful thing: the participation of the City. We played sports but we also socialized. All together: kids, parents and children. Wonderful days.”
A repeatable experience?
“I would certainly be happy about it. But it is also true that everything has a beginning and an end.”
We talked a lot about sport but you are also the principal of one of the schools most loved by the people of Benevento
“The busiest in the province, for the first cycle. To be clear: this year we were the only ones in Sannio to possess all the necessary requirements to maintain autonomy. What can I add? From Sant’Angelo a Sasso I received a lot. And I gave so much. When I took office the situation was very different. Today it has become an absolute reference and I am very happy for the Ata teaching body and staff. Credit goes to all those who contributed to the growth of the Institute. A few more days and I will be retired. Serene. Is tired”.
In short: retirement comes at the right time
“I am in my 43rd year of active service. In all this time I was absent for less than thirty days. Tiredness is physiological, also because running a school has become much more complicated today. Above all, such a large and popular school. However, I can say that I am happy with the support that my parents have always given me. Then yes: out of a thousand families you always find around fifty scientists…”.
And is Sant’Angelo a Sasso ready to let her go?
“These days are a succession of surprises. A few days ago the children of a first grade class gave me an envelope full of notes: they all wanted to write their personal greeting to the principal. And last week another premiere even gave me a gift! These are the true joys, the ones that give you strength.”
