THE MEETING BETWEEN FIP AND VATICAN ATHLETICA, CARRARO: “PERFECT HARMONY: THE RACKET IS A MEANS OF INCLUSION AND SOCIAL BROTHERHOOD”

When one finds oneself around a table, the one in the meeting room of the FIP headquarters in Rome, having the clear impression of being on the playing court with full of enthusiasm, it means that the feeling, the passion for padel and the desire to spread it by promoting its principles of socialization and healthy lifestyle, create as a whole that is reflected in the daily commitment of the men and women of sports.

On that ‘court’, the president of Fip Luigi Carraro, the president of Athletica Vaticana – the Vatican official multi-sport association – Giampaolo Mattei and the director of Athletica Vaticana-Vatican Padel, Alessandra Turco, met.

They shared intentions, reaffirmed principles and the role of Athletica Vaticana membership in the International Federation, as well as shared future projects to work on for a sport such as padel, that the Vatican considers valuable in the educational architecture of the individual: “For all of us at Athletica Vaticana – Alessandra Turco stated – padel is an inclusive sporting experience and fully responds to the teachings of Pope Francis because it concretely fosters ‘the development of persons and social brotherhood’ and is a valid tool for the integral growth of the human being. Therefore, in line with the style of the International Federation, Athletica Vaticana proposes an ‘open’ padel experience, not closed within the Vatican walls“.

To turn on enthusiasm and sociality, to share, to broaden the base of sports practice by working in perfect harmony with the federations of the FIP world, in order to spread the practice of the sport is one of the most delicate and important missions of the Federation: “Every day – it is the thought of Luigi Carraro – the national federations that are part of the FIP family, through the enthusiastic commitment of the men ‘on the court’, work to bring men and women, boys and girls, even the youngest, closer to padel, thus creating a virtuous and sporting process that fully coincides with the teachings of Pope Francis. For all of us, the closest sense of achieving a goal is in those people who hold the paddle for the first time and decide to join the large community of padel fans. With Athletica Vaticana we are in perfect harmony and are planning new initiatives to promote common principles through the love of the sport“.

And Athletica Vaticana-Vatican Padel also takes the field, on the courts of the Foro Italico Park for the second edition of the “Genesis Cup,” scheduled for Saturday, March 25, from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. It is a mixed padel competition, with players “with” and “without” disabilities in the same pair.

The event is organized by the associations “Sport insieme” and “Ecopadel” – affiliated with the Roman Acli Sports Union – with the sponsorship of Sport e Salute. By his words, Athletica Vaticana President, Giampaolo Mattei, reaffirmed the importance of sports in the Vatican’s mission and principles: “The inclusive and supportive style is Pope Francis’ mandate to his team, in the various disciplines, to help build together a sports community where we can be really “brothers all – just as Francis is asking – in the streets, in the courts, in the tracks, in the gyms. The target is living the sport as an opportunity for meetings, for sociality, for dialogue with all, for friendship that becomes fraternity. A particularly important, even decisive service, in a society hit by wars, tensions, divisions, fears. Sport, if it is lived in its soul and by preserving its gratuitousness and noble ‘amateur’ spirit, could not only give hope but even prevent conflicts, big and small, between states and between people“, Mattei concluded.