“La Scuola allo Stadio”: Edition 24 unveiled!

The 24th edition of “La Scuola allo Stadio” was presented this morning, Wednesday 23 September, in the conference room of the New Balance Arena. Promoted and organised by Atalanta, the socio-educational project is primarily aimed at primary and lower secondary school students.

Created by educational psychologist Lucia Castelli together with Stefano Bonaccorso, Technical Manager of the Youth Academy’s Pre-Competitive Activities, the project has been running for over twenty years, with its educational value recognised by the National Observatory on Sporting Events of the Italian Ministry of the Interior.

The figures speak for themselves: across the 23 editions held so far, “La Scuola allo Stadio” has involved a total of 34,590 students, from schools in Bergamo and beyond, 2,790 teachers and over 200 university students.

During the morning, the schools that won the 2025/26 edition’s competitions were also presented with their awards, while the content and programme of the 24th edition of “La Scuola allo Stadio” were unveiled. Seven events will take place over the course of the season: four in 2026 — on 25 September, 2 October, and 12 and 13 November — and three in 2027 — on 15 March, and 1 and 2 April.

The 24th edition was officially kicked off, in order of appearance, by Institutional General Manager Umberto Marino, Head of Youth Development Roberto Samaden and Atalanta U23 player Davide Ghislandi, the symbolic torchbearer of the new edition of “La Scuola allo Stadio”.

The Atalanta General Manager opened the speeches by thanking the guests, the attending authorities and the schools before turning to the initiative itself: “I bring you greetings from Antonio and Luca Percassi and co-chairman Stephen Pagliuca. They care deeply about initiatives like this, which for us represent a journey we undertake hand in hand with schools. It is about loyalty, fairness, commitment and, above all, fair play both on and off the pitch. That is the essence of this socio-educational project, which we have been carrying forward for many years. We are now at the 24th edition, which is a truly significant milestone.”

Head of Youth Academy Roberto Samaden then took the floor, highlighting how relevant a project first launched 24 years ago remains today: “It is incredible just how relevant and forward-thinking this project still is today. To think that it has become a benchmark — we even presented it before a parliamentary committee — and that it all began 24 years ago from an idea by Lucia Castelli and Stefano Bonaccorso is truly remarkable.”

Samaden then focused on the role of “La Scuola allo Stadio” within Atalanta’s wider work with young people and the local community: “This project is part of something much broader which, as Director Marino said, is part of Atalanta’s DNA. Our job is to get youngsters playing football, try to win trophies and develop players for the First Team, but Atalanta has always cared deeply about its local community, and today we run many different initiatives through the Dea Program. ‘La Scuola allo Stadio’ is part of that. I believe this is a model and, perhaps, as we are regarded as having one of the best Youth Academies in Italy, this is what makes our Academy unique.”

The Head of Youth Development then drew a parallel between the project and the Premio Brembo, underlining the importance of both initiatives to the Club: “Every year, through this project, we lift a trophy, and I like to associate it with the Premio Brembo as well. It is as though twice a year we get to lift trophies without playing matches: important trophies at youth level, perhaps even more important than those won on the pitch.”

Finally, Samaden thanked everyone involved in the work of the Youth Academy: “We owe all this to an extraordinary team put together by Antonio and Luca Percassi. We have so many excellent coaches, Michele Sbravati, the Youth Academy Technical Director, is here with us, and there are many people working behind the scenes. The truth is that without a strong team behind you, it is very difficult to keep all this going. A heartfelt thank you to everyone, and have a great season!”

Rounding off the speeches was Atalanta U23 player Davide Ghislandi, who was invited to symbolically kick off the 24th edition: “I’ve been at Atalanta for 17 years. When I think about how this project has developed, during my first few years at the Club I would come here and they would ask to see my school report. That shows just how important it is, from an early age, to combine your sporting development with your education. The two go hand in hand. Atalanta has been a second family to me for 17 years and I’ve always combined my time here with continuing my education.”

Drawing on his own experience, Ghislandi then offered some advice to the youngsters in attendance: “It’s right to have your mind focused on football, but you also need to build a plan B and a plan C, because you never know what life may bring. Now that I’m playing football, I want to keep going for as long as possible and continue to improve, but once my playing career is over I absolutely need to have a plan B or C, because life goes on and you can’t simply live off what you’ve already achieved.”

Finally, Ghislandi broadened his message beyond football, encouraging youngsters to pursue a passion alongside their studies: “My advice to the youngsters here is to combine their education with a sporting or artistic activity, whether that’s theatre, music or anything else that allows them to devote their time to something they are passionate about. My own journey through football and school has helped enormously in shaping the person I am: anyone who puts real passion into both paths develops skills and qualities that others may not have. So my advice is to keep going and keep trying, whatever your passion may be.”

Also in attendance, alongside Academy Technical Area & Player Development Director Michele Sbravati and Atalanta’s Director of Corporate, Sports & Institutional Communications Jacopo Gismondi, were numerous guests and representatives from local institutions: Chief of Staff Dr Giacomo Pintus, representing the Prefecture of Bergamo; Commissioner Alessia Miani, representing the Bergamo Police Headquarters; Major Luca D’Ambrosio, Commander of the Bergamo Carabinieri Company; Councillor for Sport Claudio Bolandrini, representing the Province of Bergamo; Councillor Alessandro De Bernardis, representing the Municipality of Bergamo; Dr Andrea Giuliacci of MeteoExpert; Giulia Parisi, psychologist executive at ATS Bergamo; Dr Ilenia Fontana, representing the Bergamo Territorial Education Office; Dr Marco Riva, President of the CONI Lombardy Regional Committee, and Dr Michele Cadei, CONI representative for Bergamo; Vittorio Bosio, National President of the Centro Sportivo Italiano, and Manuel Garattini, Provincial Vice-President of the Centro Sportivo Italiano.

Thanks also went to the sponsors whose support helps make the initiative possible: New Balance, ItalianOptic, Lactis and Wuber (Fratelli Beretta Group).

The morning also provided an opportunity to recognise the best projects produced by students during the previous edition, with awards presented to the following classes: 1A and 1B of the Bilingual British School lower secondary school; 1C, 1D and 1E of the Cene lower secondary school, part of the Istituto Comprensivo di Gazzaniga; 2F of the Nullo lower secondary school, part of the Istituto Comprensivo “I Mille” Bergamo; 5A and 5B of the Villa d’Adda primary school, part of the Istituto Comprensivo Carvico; 5A of the Curnasco primary school, part of the Istituto Comprensivo Cesare Zonca Treviolo; and 2A of the lower secondary school of the Istituto Comprensivo Mapello.