“From oratory” to whom? Just look at the names, from Antonio Rossi to Andrea Zorzi, passing through Dino Meneghin and Cesare Prandelli, up to the two “Beppes”, Bergomi and Baresi, to understand that if you are born “from the oratory”for reasons of education, of desire to play, of values, champions can be made in sport or in life, without there being any contradiction between the two.
This is enough to demonstrate that the expression that defines a team as “oratory” to underline its amateurism in a negative sense is at the very least unfair. In fact, if at the beginning a throw to “long live the parish priest” happened to everyone, champions can become perhaps by growing up, and in any case everyone likes to win, but it is not essential to grow and have fun. The Olympic motto first and foremost, after all – even if we still have Paris 2024 in our eyes, both Olympic and Paralympic, where we went to win with the Italian results to prove it – reminds us that most people, even at a high level, only participate: only three reach the podium, the others simply put their heart and soul into it, carrying with them an experience to tell, sometimes some regrets, other times the certainty of having given the best of themselves: receiving in return a unique experience of sharing, in the name of the values of sport, which for those who commit themselves in this direction remains a great educational agency, in which amateurism in its best sense is not a bad word at all.
It is no coincidence that the Centro Sportivo Italiano (CSI) is a sports promotion organization based on volunteering and aimed at promoting sport as a tool for education, personal growth, commitment and social inclusion. It is inspired by the Christian vision of man and history, placing itself at the service of people and the territory. Founded in 1944, it has a long history of commitment to making sport accessible to all. Among the oldest sports promotion bodies in Italy, it responds to a demand for sport that goes beyond numbers, focusing on educational, human and social quality.
And that’s always where it starts. All champions were children, none of them knew right away that they would reach the top, history teaches us that most of them started at home, some sent by their parents to vent an excess of vivacity, some intrigued by the passion of an older brother or a friend, some looking for a place of friendship and aggregation, finding there an opportunity to learn while having fun the rules of the game of life according to those of a sport.
This and much more is celebrated on Saturday 14th in Milan in Piazza del Duomo: the CSI DAY is a long party, open to the public from 9.00 to 20.00, to blow out 80 candles on the cake of the Italian Sports Center and its sports clubs.who carry out daily and throughout the territory the mission of accompanying thousands of young people, but not only, in valuable educational paths, revealing the most beautiful face of sport: The president of Csi Milano Massimo Achini explains that the party wants to be «An opportunity to shine a spotlight on the educational service of all those ‘small’ sports clubs that are based on volunteering and accompany generations of athletes to grow as men and women. They are not just sports clubs, they are educational agencies that all of Italy should be proud of. In addition, we want this initiative to reiterate that sport in the oratory is not something to look at with nostalgia, but is a living reality more than ever in the sports and educational panorama of the country”.
WHAT DO PEPPONE AND DON CAMILLO HAVE TO DO WITH IT?
«As I grew up in an oratory», says the president of CONI Lombardia, Mark Riva – I am well aware of the daily work that is carried out with such passion and which also fully reflects the principles linked to the Olympic Games: respect for the opponent, constant commitment and the ability to face challenges with team spirit. Eighty years is an important milestone, but also a starting point that pushes us to look beyond new horizonsin the belief and awareness that, contrary to the feeling of many, the world of the oratory will continue to be a point of reference destined to continue in the path traced with love and dedication by those who began this activity”.
While Pierangelo Santellipresident of the Italian Paralympic Committee of Lombardy, observes the importance of the day to demonstrate the role of the Csi in inclusion in sport. In fact, there are many initiatives that are not only Paralympic but also integrated, which allow athletes with disabilities and not to compete together. Integrated football and sitting volleyball are significant realities such as the Italian National Deaf Volleyball Team and the young people of the pediatric oncology departments of numerous European hospitals involved in the Winners Cup.
With the many guests, among them the champions mentioned above, all invited, and the institutional representatives of the Lombardy Region and the Municipality of Milan who made this great celebration possible, there will be Archbishop Monsignor Mario Delpini, who will present the first Edict dedicated to CSI sports clubs. Flag bearer of the event Antonio Rossisymbol of the blue canoe. He was supposed to be joined by Giusy Versace, a paralympic athlete, a long-time friend of the CSI who will only ideally be kept away from us due to previously made commitments. «I was the flag bearer for the Italian National Team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics», says Antonio Rossi, «I think I will be able to relive the same feeling by carrying the CSI flag on Saturday, in Piazza Duomo. ‘Oratorio’ and ‘CSI’, in fact, represent something that belongs to my life. I have felt unique emotions during my sports career; but I also felt equally extraordinary emotions in the oratory, when I was a boy».
The day will be an opportunity to attend special events, performances, meetings and also to experience many free and open to all sports activities, from team sports to bowls, artistic gymnastics, fencing, athletics and climbing. In the twenty interactive gazebos there will also be sports simulators, to experience what it feels like to drive a Formula 1 and paddleboards capable of replicating canoeing, as well as multimedia viewers to live new experiences and many other entertainments to discover and perhaps spark a new sporting passion. At the end of the day, in the shadow of the spires of the Duomo, a football match and bell tower: the representative of the Milanese Curia against the National Mayors, inspired by the no-holds-barred challenge between Peppone’s Dynamos and Don Camillo’s Gagliarda. Freely inspired, it is understoodbecause we just can’t imagine Mayor Sala and Archbishop Delpini making motivational speeches like that.
