In the beating heart of Genoa, from 22 to 24 March 2024, an event took place that certainly marked a turning point in the world of ProClub 11 vs 11 virtual football and academic training: the FIGC-National Amateur League eSport Regions Tournament.
This competition, already renowned for its ability to catalyze talent and innovation, this year saw a unique and extraordinarily educational collaboration: the one with the students of the degree course in Sports Politics, Governance and Information at the University of Genoa.
The degree course, coordinated by professor Salvatore Bruno Barba, has the ambitious objective of preparing highly qualified professional figures for a sector, the sports one, in continuous expansion and transformation. Through a multidisciplinary approach, which ranges from management to communication, through audiovisual technique and journalistic writing, the course aims to provide students with the skills necessary to face and lead changes in the world of sport.
Thanks to the initiative of Danilo SanguinetieSports representative of CR Liguria and student of the course, in close collaboration with Professor Barba and with the support of the number one in Ligurian amateur football Giulio Ivaldi, the students had the unique opportunity to actively participate in the organization of the LND virtual football event at the Centro Esplace del Porto Antico in Genoa. This experience allowed them to “learn by doing” and obtain training credits, putting into practice the knowledge acquired in the classroom in a real and dynamic context.
The collaboration highlighted the students’ abilities to work in teams, organize and communicate effectively, paving the way for future professional opportunities and new collaborations. The event was fertile ground for the expression of their potential, enriching not only their training path but also the Regions Tournament itself, dedicated to virtual football.
“It was a very positive experience,” says Danilo Sanguineti, “not only were the students able to apply what was also covered in the classroom, but they also understood the importance of flexibility and innovation in such dynamic events.” For his part, Professor Barba underlines the importance of these initiatives: “Offering students the opportunity to have field experiences is fundamental. This is how the leaders of tomorrow are formed.”
The event not only represented a moment of significant professional growth for the students involved, but also demonstrated how virtual football promoted by the LND can be an innovative vehicle for learning and professional development. Initiatives like these are crucial to training future leadership in the sports industry, ready to navigate and lead changes in such a vibrant and ever-evolving sector.
The eSports Regions Tournament and the collaboration with the degree course in Sport Policies, Governance and Information at the University of Genoa mark an important step towards a future in which education and innovation go hand in hand, opening new horizons for students and for the world of sport itself.
Direct testimonies from students
Federico Chessa: “Thanks to the seminar proposed by my degree course in Sports Politics and Governance, I was able to participate as a member of the staff in the Esport Regions Tournament, which took place in the ancient port of Genoa at the Esplace centre, organized by the LND. During these three days I was able to witness the organization and execution of a national level event from the inside. The main task assigned to me was to follow and transcribe the scoreboard of the matches of the group and direct elimination phases of the proclub Regions Tournament. During this event I had the opportunity to meet several people, including important figures from the Italian Esports scene and beyond. It was undoubtedly an important and very interesting experience, special thanks to our classmate and member of the LND Danilo Sanguineti for making our participation in the event possible”.
Carlo Cesar Loza Villanueva: “I had the opportunity to observe and delve into the world behind the organization of events of this kind. An experience that for those like me who want to enter the sporting world, both real and virtual, is an absolute must. Personally, I carried out various tasks including checking the match reports of real football and those relating to the final phase of the Pro Club tournament where, in addition to ensuring that the matches were carried out correctly, I also had to take into account the results of each match. Seeing how everything works in the ‘backstage’ of this world pushed me to continue my studies with even more desire and reach the levels that I had the opportunity to see during these seminar days.
Fabrizio Rivara: “I am very satisfied with the experience I had which allowed me to enter the world of sports organisation. This opportunity also gave me the chance to experience a major event like the Tournament of Regions for the first time and experience first-hand all the preparation work that precedes it and all the tasks that accompany it during construction”.
Lorenzo Curotto: “During the three days at the Esplace center in Genoa, we followed the representatives of the various regions in the preparation and execution of the matches, from the group stage on Friday to the final on Sunday, collecting the most important data relating to the matches and to the participants of the challenges. A truly interesting experience which gave us first of all the opportunity to closely follow the behind the scenes of an important event such as the Tournament of Regions, but also the opportunity to approach a world which in recent years has been gaining more and more ground as esports competitions, in a truly modern center with top quality equipment.”
Jacopo Capraro: “I participated, through the University of Genoa, in the Tournament of Regions Esports organized in Genoa by the National Amateur League. I am very happy to have experienced this great sporting event because I was curious to know how such an event was organized. Specifically, I dealt with the bureaucratic management of the event by collecting the slips compiled by the captains of the regional representatives and recording the final scores of the matches that were played”.
Matteo Despini: “I am really happy to have been able to take part in this initiative. It was a wonderful experience both for the whole event that was organised, and because it is a field that I would like to explore further once I leave university studies. In this event I mainly dealt with the part of the match scoreboard of the esports tournament and more specifically in marking who scored goals, the minutes of the goals and the final results to be communicated later to those in charge, as well as having also helped in a small way in the preparation of some aspects of the initial organization of the event such as the arrangement of the gadgets to be delivered to the players of the esports tournament. An infinite thank you to everyone who allowed me to participate in this great event, but above all a special thank you to Danilo Sanguineti who was the one who thought up and organized this experience for us students.
Federico Provvidenti: “I participated in the Esports regions tournament as a seminary student at the University of Genoa. It was my first real practical experience in the world of sports organization and I had the opportunity to meet people and experience new situations which certainly gave me a lot. I have collaborated in many areas: reception in the structure, in some phases I helped manage the simulators and in particular I tried my hand at photography of events and awards ceremonies. Seeing my work gain recognition in the publication of the same photos in newspapers, as well as the possibility of meeting presidents and players, gratified me greatly, making me feel an integral part of the project. I want to thank all the staff, the NLD, my colleagues and those who made this possible. I particularly appreciated this event because, having always experienced this world in an “isolated” way within the walls of my room, I was able to see the power of aggregation that these events and these structures, such as ESplace, can exercise. Therefore, seeing a realization of what I have always experienced since I was a high school kid makes me believe in a future for this sport and its values here in Italy too. I sincerely hope to be able to try new experiences like this, as it has helped me to actively enter the sports sector.”
Giacomo Gambardella: “I participated in the regional tournament project thanks to my university which, through Danilo Sanguineti’s proposal, allowed us to carry out management and administration roles of the event which was held at the Esplace space, a really interesting, fun and futuristic place. In fact, we had the opportunity to enter for the first time in the new space dedicated to virtual sports, E-sports, a place that aims to rediscover that dimension of meeting that we had in the old arcades but with an evolution from a technological point of view through the various PlayStation systems, F1 simulators and virtual reality viewers. In particular, during the event, I took care of the photos and partly also managed the players. It was a real privilege for me to be able to participate in this project whose values and objectives I firmly share, especially the search for a meeting place for students and young people who, after the pandemic, tend to prefer a single player game rather than a game at home with friends. I really hope for a job opportunity at this facility.”
Monica Melo; “By choosing to take the opportunity to participate in the Esports regions tournament, I was able to experience first-hand an experience that made me understand what could be behind a sporting event. Personally, during the group competition, live on Twitch, I was in charge of managing the players, such as their entry and exit from the scene. I also had the opportunity to partially compile the press release for the Real Football Tournament. This was an experience that if I could go back I would choose to have again.”
