The fourth edition of the Play Sport Camp was authentic successas well as the full realization of the objectives that the Solidale Camp promoted by FC International Milan and the Italian Sports Center aims, who came to life in Messina thanks to the collaboration of the CSI territorial committee and the precious support of social associations and realities of the area.
For a week, the Giovanni XXIII educational sports center has transformed into a true laboratory of inclusion, education and sport, offering over 250 children and teenagers a free and great value of Humanor. Among them, minors in situations of social fragility, young people welcomed in community, children with disabilities and foreign minors, involved thanks to the capillary network promoted by the CSI Committee of Messina, including entities, cooperatives and city services.
The goal of the Camp was clear: to make the sport accessible to everyone and make a concrete opportunity for growth, training and aggregation. Through training led by the technicians of the Inter youth sector, recreational-sports activities, educational meetings and moments of exchange between peers, the participants were able to experiment with the values of sport: respect, cooperation, fair play, inclusion.
Each day was an opportunity to learn and share: it was played, but it also reflected on rules, relationships and trust. Next to the boys, over 20 educators, technicians and volunteers accompanied the path, helping to create a climate of welcome and participation.
The Play Sport Camp was also a training space for adults: a technical clinic conducted by the Nerazzurri trainers involved 24 instructors, coaches and local operators, offering methodological tools and refresher opportunities. An important stop to strengthen the educational skills of the territory, with a careful look at the future and the role of sport as a social lever.
The involvement of families, especially in the final moments of the week, gave further strength to the initiative, transforming the field into an open and vital relationship. The project has seen a large and diversified network activated which they were part: eleven sports clubs in the area; Guys with disabilities of the inclusive workshops “Dreams in Blue” of the Social Cooperative Audacity and the Ninni Lab of the Ninni Lab Onlus Association; minors followed by the home educational service of the Special Company Messina Social City, an institution that manages the city’s social services; foreign minors of different nationalities welcomed by the Liberty social cooperative; boys from the accommodation communities “The Linus blanket” (social action) and “Arzilla” (Arzilla Social Cooperative); Guys included in the “Arianna. Out of the labyrinth” project, aimed at young people on the path of testing in the field of juvenile justice.
The Play Sport Camp, also this year, has shown that, through sport, significant relationships can be built, activating effective educational paths and generating communities. A virtuous example of how collaboration between professional sport, third sector and institutions can produce real impact, giving space and voice to those who often remain on the margins.
The CSI, together with Inter and to all the realities involved, already look forward: replicate, expand, consolidate. Because every boy can find in sport not only a passion, but also a house, a road, an opportunity for redemption.