We have closed the circle

On September 29th, the whole neighborhood and all the athletes from our youth teams were at PalaSermig. About 300 people to watch a normal five-a-side football match, regional C1 series championship. When Kelvin scored on an assist from Presley, leading us to a 4-3 victory, it was an explosion of joy that pervaded everyone, absolutely everyone. How come?

After all, it was only the first of the championship. Yet, it was special, because it was the "closing of the circle" of a story that began almost 15 years ago. When we opened our hearts to the neighborhood kids who asked us to play five-a-side football, for years we only had the "grown-ups" team.

First tournaments. Then small championships, then we signed up for the FIGC. However, we realized that we lacked quality and that it had to be built over the years of training by investing in the younger ones. We started with teenagers, but we immediately realized that we had to start even earlier, not only to train their feet - which are good on average - but to train the ability to play as a team, to make sporting discipline and respect for others our own. So we "started again" from the chicks. Except that before getting to play in an adult championship in C1, the road for a chick is long...

Kelvin and Presley are our “chicks” from many years ago. The roar of joy that exploded from the stands was because everyone recognized themselves in a dream, which, thanks to Kelvin and Presley, was declared possible.

For all of us Sermig sports volunteers, all the hard work, the painful starting over, the defeats, the discussions of years spent for each of them dissolved in one goal. In one goal, everything became a possible dream.

The following week, Ilyass, Yasser and Junior closed another circle. Boys from our under19s who were available to lend a hand in the training of the youngsters, to give back what they received during their years at the Arsenale dello Sport. These "closed" circles are the wheels that make us "walk" and that remind us of the great responsibility that, as adults, we have when we make proposals to young people: they believe in us!

Elena Canalis

NP Novembre 2023