School, sport now opens a new course: ‘Understanding students’ desires’

“Piazza De Cupis” comprehensive institute, Salvo d’Acquisto complex, eastern outskirts of Rome, Tor Sapienza. A physical education teacher talks to us about sports and physical activities at school. We have already identified some handball goals. Then here’s athletics, “here in the spaces around, the nearest track is far away”. So, the kin-ball of the megaballoons, the dodgeball which is a modern prison ball and the spikeball dear to Andrea Lucchetta. We’re a bit caught off guard. The fact is that there is a new world of disciplines that organized sport is not always able to valorise. And school is one of the stages of this coming and going of new things.

Desires

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Diego Nepi Molineris, CEO of Sport and Health, talks about it: “There are billions of disciplines that are growing and that represent the needs of today’s kids. We have banned the word “alibi”. For example, when we talk about sport school, for years we have been hiding behind the alibi “the school doesn’t want sport”. Minister Abodi has been insisting on this point for some time and we are taking up this stimulus: we want to ask ourselves what sport does and should do for schools”. On the other hand, there is an alarming fact: “At the age of 12, 70 percent of children stop playing sports and this is something to reflect on. The product of sport is wonderful and exists, but we need to intercept the desires of people, build solid foundations, we need kids who see this world with their own eyes.”

Kids and juniors

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A paradigm shift. Moving from frustration and complaining to listening and making a proposal. In this spirit, Sport and Health has relaunched its two historic campaigns together with the Ministry of Education and Merit in collaboration with the Minister for Sport and Youth through the Sport Department of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers: on the one hand Active “kids” school dedicated to primary schools, on the other the “junior” version for lower secondary schools. Here too, however, a different scenario. The projects for the younger ones, concentrated on the second and third grades, team up with the activities of the fourth and fifth grades where the specialist teacher has finally arrived. In short, a transition phase which will hopefully lead to crossing the finish line of total coverage of all classes. At middle school, however, it is the federal coaches who help in the “tasting” or “discovery” phase of some sports. Here too, however, without invasions of the field and aware of the central role of the teacher.

Priority

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In short, says Nepi Molineris, yesterday in Genoa for the signing of the anti-sedentary lifestyle protocol with the Liguria Region, “the product of sport is wonderful, we need to study what interests a young and less young audience, we need to take into account the demographics”. Widen the audience. The director of athletics, Antonio La Torre, also recently spoke about it with a shocking proposal: reserving the student championships only for non-members. An extreme choice with a shareable motivation, trying to address those who are out of this world: come with us, you will have fun.