A day of sport, friendship and emotion animated the Lido of 2000, where the Balilla football tournament dedicated to the memory of Pino Procopi, owner of a well -known gym of the Marinaro district of Catanzaro, was held, a figure beloved by the local community, regional delegate of the Licb (Italian Balilla football League) and Italian champion 2023.
The initiative was an unprecedented success: over 30 couples challenged each other in what was the most participated tournament ever organized in Catanzaro Lido. A way to remember Pino through one of his biggest passions. His teammates called him “a great player, a great person and a tireless promoter of our sport in Calabria”.
The Licb Calabrian delegation took part in the event with Nico Triveri, Vincenzo Librandi and Giuseppe Mastria, the latter teammate of Procopi and winner, together with him, of the national double veterans title in Pieve Fissiraga 2023. Particularly touching moment was that of the delivery by Mastria of the victory jersey to the son of Pino, Gianmarco Procopi: a heir that holds the champion father.
The tournament was not the only sporting appointment: in the following days, adults and children also participated in beach volleyball races, chess and bowls. For the latter discipline they attended two prominent names: the world multiple-champion Elisa Luccarini and the European champion Gianfranco Bianco.
The love for the sport that has distinguished Procopi continues to generate initiatives: the Sportivo Shuai Jiao Italy CKA sports group, led by the masters Alfredo Trapasso, Fabio Essa and by the instructor Stefano Pilò, under the patronage of the Italy Cka of Maestro Mattia Lorenzi, announced the birth of a memorial in his honor. The competition, dedicated to Chinese martial arts, will recall athletes from all over Italy. “It will always remain for us the masterthe one who opened the doors of his gym to the Shuai Jiao in Calabria and who will continue to be a guide and inspiration, “said the organizers.
The figure of Pino Procopi thus relives through sport, lived as passion, sharing and friendship: values that made him, for the community of Catanzaro Lido and beyond, an authentic “great master”.