A thoroughly successful celebration of youth sport marked this sixth edition of the Trofeo Coni Kinder+Sport, held for the first time in Calabria, in the provinces of Crotone and Catanzaro, from 26 to 29 September 2019. Around 3’800 athletes aged between 10 and 14 competed (confirming it as the largest “under 14” sporting event in Italy), representing the 21 regions and autonomous provinces. Guests of the competitive event were the CONI delegations from Canada and Switzerland, which every year take part in one or more disciplines with their own athletes.
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The kick-off took place on Thursday 26 September at 6.30 pm with the opening ceremony at the Ezio Scida stadium in Crotone, where a huge turnout of Crotone residents in the stands lively accompanied the traditional entrance onto the field of all the teams divided by region. The parade of the young athletes was introduced by CONI President Giovanni Malagò, by the President of the Calabria Region Mario Oliverio and by the local authorities, enriched by various choreographies of young dancers and celebrated by Annalisa Minetti, 2013 gold medallist over 800 metres at the World Para Athletics Championships, who sang the Italian national anthem (Inno di Mameli).
Over the three days, the young athletes competed in various sporting disciplines, including (to name just a few) cycling, dance sport, basketball, rugby, archery, judo, athletics, draughts, pallapugno, rafting, synchronised swimming and football, where the Swiss CONI delegation took part in the 3-a-side tournament with Sofia Hansson (12), Fabio Iaquinta (12) and Diego Perna (13). Each day the boys played on average five football matches, guided by coach Salvatore Mazzotta (a football trainer in Zurich), challenging their peers from all over Italy and winning numerous matches, including the one against Tuscany, Lazio and Sardinia, but not managing to beat teams such as Lombardy, which then became the tournament champion. Among the fans of our footballers were all the parents who had come from Switzerland to support their champions.
Together with the chaperones Cirano Tondi and Rosa, the boys and another 900 children stayed at the Hotel Casa Rossa Beach Sporting Club in Crotone, located on the coast of the Ionian Sea, which for the occasion became a genuine “U14” Olympic village, as it hosted the athletes of various disciplines. Every day there was a coming and going of canoes, very young boys with windsurfing gear, synchro swimmers with sleek, tightly pulled-back hair, athletes with bows on their shoulders and, of course, very many children with footballs and studded boots. The latter in particular were very lucky, since annexed to the hotel complex were the three five-a-side football pitches, easily reached on foot through an underpass.
Impeccable, on the whole, was the organisation of the event, both on the part of CONI, promoter and organiser of the event, and on the part of the Calabria Region, which let the young athletes want for nothing.
Without doubt a useful and very constructive experience for all the participants. Next year Switzerland will certainly take part again with a delegation, but it is not yet known in which discipline.
More information about the event can be found at www.coni.it/it/trofeoconi
