Junior TIM Cup | Keep Racism Out X Atalanta: dropping by in Bergamo
Hosting the youngsters from the St. Anthony of Padua oratory of Cassinone in Zingonia
On Wednesday, March 6 Atalanta hosted the third stage of the Junior TIM Cup | Keep Racism Out trophy, the seven-a-side football tournament promoted by da Lega Serie A, TIM and Centro Sportivo Italiano and now entering its 11th edition, by welcoming the youngsters from the St. Anthony of Padua oratory of Cassinone to the Centro Sportivo Bortolotti in Zingonia
Taking part in the “Keep Racism Out”-branded meeting, launched as part of the campaign targeted at raising awareness about racism and any other form of discrimination among people from all walks of life with a special focus on youngsters, Atalanta U23s wingback Davide Ghislandi and Atalanta Primavera goalkeeper Lorenzo Sala shared their groundings (both personal and footballing) with our esteemed guests, emphasizing the importance of respect and teamwork in life and sports alike.
At the end of the workshop, the young athletes attending the event gifted Ghislandi and Sala the "1 di Noi"(One of Us) shirt, the main token of the Junior TIM Cup | Keep Racism Out tournament. To further underscore the targeted synergy between grounding sports practices and professionalization a delegation of Academy footballers from both the Male and Female sides attended the event on behalf of Atalanta's Youth System altogether.
With togetherness, teamwork and inclusion as its underlying values, the Junior TIM Cup | Keep Racism Out project is aimed at guiding future generations through an acting path that always places a priority on the core beliefs of acceptance and fair play.
"These kinds of initiatives are like a saving grace to the Italian football environment and we're honoured and humbled to represent Atalanta BC before so many youngsters -Ghislandi and Sala eagerly declared-. Having been brought up in the black-and-blue Academy, we soaked up all its core values, with respect and anti-discrimination at its forefront, and are now a steady presence in our day-to-day sporting activities. Like in Football as in life, there can be no place for violence, hatred and intolerance. The 31 Atalanta players (namely 25 boys and 6 girls) coming from countless different nationalities are a great treasure for the Club: we learn together, we grow up together, we help each other out and we have fun together. That's all that matters to us".
In addition to the Atalanta players, the list of lecturers who held the floor on topics such as racism and discrimination in the various workshops carried out during the meeting with our guests from the St. Anthony of Padua oratory of Cassinone comprise the likes of: Head of Grassroots Football Stefano Bonaccorso; Atalanta Youth System's Organization Manager Ivan Pelizzoli, Lucia Castelli, Anna Ferrari and Alessia Ferraboli, respectively pedagogues and psychologists at Atalanta, Lega Serie A CSR specialist Giulia Panebianco and Gaetano Paternò, President at CSI Bergamo.
In its more than ten years of activities ever since its foundation in 2013, the Junior TIM Cup involved over 90,000 youngsters, and 6,650 oratories and arranged roughly 35,000 games. On the grounds of the partnership formed two years ago with the Lega Serie A's “Keep Racism Out” campaign, the project will once again call the national network of CSI youth clubs to action for the upcoming think tanks and educational projects which will see footballers, educators and executives from the main Serie A TIM Clubs interact with the participants of the U14 tournament.
With activities related to the U14s tournament reserved for parish youth clubs located in cities home to 2023/24 Serie A TIM teams proceeding in the upcoming weeks, participants will take part in awareness-raising meetings with football champions, in addition to being guests of the Serie A Clubs on the occasion of both exclusive walkabouts of the stadia and for the JTC | KRO fixtures -to take place on the Matchday Eves of the Senior Serie A TIM fixtures.