Early summer of 1984. A group of young boys from Mezzocorona find themselves in the kitchen of one of them. On the table is the idea, the desire, to found a new sports association in the town and dedicate oneself to volleyball. After much discussion about the name, enlightenment comes from the mother of one of those boys: “But call her like the dragon.” Or The Basilisk.
According to the ancient legend of our home, the Basilisk was the dragon that, in the Middle Ages, occupied the cave that houses the castle of San Gottardo in Mezzocorona.
At that moment Il Basilisco was born, which later became Basilisco Volley over the years, the Piana Rotaliana club which this year celebrates its first 40 years of existence. An anniversary celebrated on Saturday afternoon in the Mezzocorona sports hall in the presence of many guests and several faces who have worked, in these four decades, for the club chaired by Massimo Endrizzi, fresh from winning two championships this season such as the women’s C series and the women’s first division.
“In these 40 years of history – said the president of the Rotalian association – we have become a reality well rooted in the territory but also capable of expanding to the Lower Val di Non and Bassa Atesina. A company that gives many girls the opportunity to play sports with over 150 competitions and 1500 hours of training per year for ten months of the year. We remain one of the few clubs in Trentino and for this I thank the Valle Community and the Province for their support in replacing the minibuses and providing young athletes with an accompanying service in the gym. One of the few companies that with two managers travel across the entire Piana for 5 days a week from 2pm to 6pm to take the girls to the gym and bring them back home. A service much appreciated by families. Our work is focused above all on youth teams, the base of the pyramid, winning several regional and provincial titles. In 2016 we then received the Family brand in Trentino and we are proud to have been one of the first clubs to have this brand. Furthermore, together with Volley Mezzolombardo, we have been doing a project for years now throughout the Rotaliana, Rotal Volley, a sports project in the area in which we work together on the little ones, leaving them in their own communities, then in Under 12 we begin to create male and female groups”.
A party in which various authorities took part, from the vice president of the Province Francesca Gerosa to the mayor of Mezzocorona (and also former Basilisco athlete) Mattia Hauser, to the president of the valley community Gianluca Tait up to the founding members of the association. From the first president, Corrado Endrizzi, to the various coaches who have succeeded over the years, from Giovanni Gardelli to Michele Mariotto up to Alessio Fellin and Cesare Agostini. Then also remembering all the technicians who have worked in the Basilisk in recent years and all the growth.
It started with an informal group of friends in 1979, arriving at the official foundation of the company in 1984 and then climbing the entire ladder. From the first girls championship in September 1984, to the first victory in March 1986, from the second division men’s team to the rise of the women’s team. It started from the Third Division in 1996 and arrived, one step at a time, at Serie D and C. After the 2009 relegation to Serie D it started again with Massimo Endrizzi as president and then the return, buying the sports title of Storo, to Serie C where in 2016 Maurizio Napolitano arrived as coach.
And the rest is recent history.
