The Milanese association presented its pilot project at the Ciro Menotti Theatre, created to promote, through football and the adoption of new technologies, the social inclusion of children with disabilities
MILAN – An afternoon dedicated to sports, music and solidarity: great public success, with the participation of over 500 people, for the presentation of the project “Azzurrini di YouSport”, which took place on Saturday 11 March at the Teatro Ciro Menotti in Milan. The initiative that will start soon in the capital city of Milan, aims to promote the social inclusion of children with cognitive disabilities and on the autism spectrum through football and the adoption of new technologies.
Opening the event were YouSport president Claudio Ceriani and Samuele Robbioni, sports and clinical psychopedagogist and member of the YouSport Scientific Committee, who introduced the Milanese amateur sports association, whose mission is to create a model of sports center based on the inclusion of categories today considered different or fragile. A community of champions of change that excludes no one.
Then, world champions Gianluca Zambrotta and Giuseppe Bergomi took to the stage. In dialogue with journalist Anna Billò they illustrated to the public the birth, the characteristics of the “Azzurrini” project. There were also moments of leisure and fun with the telling of unpublished anecdotes about their career.
To conclude the afternoon, the “Allegro Moderato” orchestra performed a concert of symphonic classical music, with a selection of pieces including Peer Gynt by E. Grieg, La Gazza ladra by Rossini and the Ode to Joy by Beethoven. The orchestra, composed of musicians with mental and physical disabilities and professional musicians, brought an emotional and evocative performance to the Menotti Theater, acting as a “soundtrack” to this event, capable of uniting music, sport and solidarity.
“Telling YouSport in front of an audience of 500 people was simply a blow to the heart – explains Claudio Ceriani – Before the event, the tension was sky-high like at every match before the kick-off, but once we “got on the field” it transformed into emotion and enthusiasm, and made us understand how special and appreciated what we do is. This encourages us to do our best every day to break down every barrier. A special thanks goes to Anna Billò, Gianluca Zambrotta and Beppe Bergomi who accompanied us in the presentation of this project, as true champions as they are! A special round of applause also goes to the Allegro Moderato orchestra, which gave us a unique and engaging moment”
THE YOUSPORT AZZURRINI PROJECT
The “Azzurrini di YouSport” project was born from the meeting of two entities: the Milanese association YouSport, whose mission is to create a model of sports center based on the inclusion of categories today considered different or fragile, and the Azzurrini Academy of Como, created to promote sports activity among children with cognitive disabilities thanks to the help of new technologies. Such as mind robots, used to develop and strengthen the computational sphere; 3D videos and drone shots, to simplify the schemes proposed by the coach; augmented reality to teach how to recognize and manage emotions before they take over. This cutting-edge method, thanks to the “Azzurrini” project, will now also be exported to the city of Milan, where the YouSport association operates, combining the strategy and territorial experience of the Milanese association, with the innovative model of the Academy.
The benefit that physical activity can bring to people with disabilities was also confirmed by research conducted by ISTAT in 2019: physical activity and sport contribute to the development of social relationships with a positive rehabilitative effect on health. Yet only 9.1% of people with disabilities in Italy practice sports, compared to 36.6% of the rest of the population. Although the importance of sport is now widely recognized, much still needs to be done to increase the share of people with limitations who dedicate themselves to this activity. This is precisely the direction of the new YouSport project: taking to the field to overcome the idea of diversity as a barrier. This is where the idea of an inclusive football practice was born, which aims to contribute to the improvement of the psycho-physical conditions of children, strengthening their awareness, self-esteem, health conditions and promoting the construction of a group identity.
