Volleyball, Super League, women in charge: “Sensitivity, extra value”

At the beginning of the story you could find a secretary who perhaps with knowledge of languages ​​broadened her horizons within a volleyball club. The advent of marketing in clubs has then extended the range of female presences, such as roles related to communication or social media management. Today, in third millennium volleyball, a third of Superlega presidents are women. In many other companies (for example Taranto, where Elisabetta Zelatore is vice president) women not only have “women’s quotas”, but also cover first-level figures with responsibilities. Perhaps even in specific technical roles (for example in the health field), despite – and this would be a phenomenon that deserves further study – even in the women’s field, at the very highest level, there are still few female coaches, although at the youth sector level they represent a constant presence for several decades.

Machismo

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“I think this remains a macho world – breaks in Alessandra Marzari, number one of the Vero Volley Consortium for a good decade, as well as the only president to lead a men’s and a women’s club at the same time -. There is great respect for the figure of the manager or entrepreneur. If someone comes from this working world, he enjoys a much higher consideration than someone who comes from other fields. From my experience, I say that in volleyball there is even more male chauvinism than in surgery which is my other area of ​​expertise. And perhaps the thing that is seen the most is that of the ideational part: sometimes the proposals struggle to make inroads depending on who proposes them. And this, when we talk about a League, causes us to waste time and then waste opportunities. Instead, within my company, things are very different. With the players there is a penalty issue, but it’s a question of making yourself feel authoritative with the team. We have often used the theme of engagement. Because the athletes themselves understood what the overall project in which the team and the club are inserted “.

Family

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For Giulia Gabana, volleyball is above all a family matter since she had entered with dad Marcello at the time of Montichiari (later moved to Monza). “It’s something to do with the passion that has remained inside me – she says – and that this summer made me decide to take the place of Catia Pedrini in Modena. Before I was vice president but it was completely different. Obviously now it’s very more complicated, There is no one who is wrong for you. You are the one who has to make all the decisions. Machismo? I think there was this problem a few years ago. Today the question is also changing from a cultural point of view, even if the path is long”. What more can a woman bring? Marzari and Gabana, even if they use different terms, are on the same wavelength. “Feminine sensitivity – adds Gabana -, which is simply different from the male one and in my opinion can be important especially in times of difficulty”. “The emotional capacity that women have to enter situations”, specifies Alessandra Marzari. “And that can be a plus in certain moments, even the most difficult ones. This thing is generally appreciated by man and can represent an advantage in the management of a company”.

Gender equality

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“At Modena Volley there are several female figures, but none of them is chosen as a woman, but only on the basis of her abilities and qualities. Women are also covering important roles. I am very happy with my partners, there is a nice report and I think they are doing a great job.” Marzari agrees. “I always evaluate people and I think I judge them in choosing a collaboration. I don’t put a person as a woman, I choose who I consider more valid in a society like ours. One thing I did, yes, was to look for to facilitate the role of women, perhaps in teleworking when they have special family needs, not to stress them about their presence in the office, when they have, for example, problems with their children.Moreover, this attitude is the same also with male collaborators… “.