Il progetto “WAY- Welfare Activity for Young”, fruit of the collaboration between the municipal administration and Messina Social City, an innovative model of inclusion and education, is coming to an end. Guest of the third and final meeting with the champions, Jade R0ssiwhose story is an example of how sport can be a model of social inclusion. She was accompanied by Alessandro Arciglicoach from Messina and coach of the Paralympic national table tennis team.
Ambassador of Paralympic sport since 2017, Giada Rossi explained to the numerous young people present that “After a few months I struggle to process what was done in Paris. Every time I wear this gold medal I realize that it is really heavy, not only for the metal but for everything it represents. Behind this goal there is a lot of work, commitment and sacrifice and above all defeats, the ones that then help you grow and mature. In sport you can’t win without defeats, it’s also a way to learn life.”
For Alessandro Arcigli a dive into the past. He recalled the many years spent inside the gym not far from the multipurpose center of Villa Dante, where he both played and trained. “Giada Rossi – recalls Arcigli – was a bet, discovered during the Italian table tennis championship held in 2011 in Lignano Sabbiadoro. From there the beginning of a journey that culminated in Rio 2016 with a bronze in singles. Bronze also in Tokyo 2020 as a team and this year it reaches its peak with the gold in Paris”.
Friulian born in Zoppola in 1994, a life always spent in sport. Until the age of 14 she played volleyball, then the accident in the swimming pool and she was forced into a wheelchair, Giada Rossi is today the European, world and Olympic champion of the specialty. He spoke about the value of effort to achieve goals, wishing them to find passion and go beyond their limits in what they like, in his case sport.
What if the cycle is over? Arcigli promises: “If he wants to continue I’ll be there. Giada doesn’t know it just as I don’t know it as a coach.”
