«Never before has the social sector needed a boost and we are well aware that this is patient but long-lasting work». The Prefect Michele of Baricalls together all the healthy forces of the city to get Naples out of the spiral of youth violence that is affecting it.
Three murders of very young people in two weeks; injuries, settling of scores, clashes between baby gangs. To stem all this, sport also wants to do its part, aware of being one of the first social policies. At the table in Piazza del Plebiscito they sit with the Prefect, champions like Franco PorzioSandro Cuomo, masters of sport like Antonio Piccolo, Peppe Marmo, Aldo Castaldo, Rosario D’Angelo representing all the areas of the city: from the city center to Chiaiano, passing through Scampia, Fuorigrotta, Vomero, Cercola.
The antidote
Sport as a social antidote that responds presently. Six realities compared for over three thousand children but which are a small part of the hunger for sport they represent. «In forty years we have taken on everything and more, our work as technicians and that of the institutions. We are still ready but let’s find a common path” the appeal of Franco Porzio which with its Acquachiara in Chiaiano welcomes over a thousand people from three months to 25 years and older. Peppe Marmo is the judo master around whom it takes place on a daily basis the Kodokan miracle in Piazza Carlo III, one of the very few sports facilities structured in the historic center of Naples. Aldo Castaldo’s gymnasts not only win laurels around Italy, but are a reference for 500 childrenthose who train at Canzanella. Antonio Piccolo was named commendatore for his work with Arci Scampia. Rosario D’Angelo brings the values of karate in Cercola. «Bureaucracy, contracts, regulations, constraints» are the words of Sandro Cuomo who has made activities for disabled people a must in his gym at the Domenico Martuscelli Institute in Vomero. «We often come across situations that, instead of streamlining our work, make it heavier». The Prefect promises: «Tell me about your territories from this point of view.
Some flashes on how you could work better. We will start with a table and I will be your interlocutor wherever necessary.” Sport as the first social policy. In recent years something has been changing, but it is not enough. The Region’s allocation has gone from 4 to 35 million euros in three years to allow 90 thousand children to play sports for free through vouchers that cover the cost of an entire year (400 euros per child). The Municipality has closed an agreement with the Federnuoto regarding the management of the abandoned post-earthquake vandalized swimming pools and has given new life to the Scandone which has become the Federal Center of the Fin; approved an act of direction for free sport in favor of people with disabilities and those belonging to groups of economic and social fragility. Furthermore, a multipurpose facility will be built in Piscinola and the swimming pool in via Prota Giurleo will be renovated. But it’s not enough.
I problems
«There are problems relating to rental contracts, bureaucracy, the possibility of being able to decide investment plans with respect to situations that are constantly changing» the bitterness of Aldo Castaldo, president of the Feather ginnastica Campania and has always been at the forefront of social sport. Soon in cinemas Criature, a film by Cecile Allegra with Marco D’Amore and Marianna Fontana, about Antonio Bosso, a boy from Barra who was saved thanks to the gymnastics federation and Parkour. To this we must also add a new frontier which is that of children with intellectual disabilities. A reality that is getting ever closer to sport where it was previously marginalized by parents themselves, but which needs a growing number of qualified instructors. «Sport has always had without ever asking» is the summary of Franco Porzio, ready to open his own gyms to double the number of practitioners. It is one of the responses to the deaths of Arcangelo Correra, Santo Romano and Emanuele Tufano.
