On Saturday, March 9, in Loppiano, the Centro Sportivo Italiano Toscana is organizing a special day for the presentation of EduCARE Sport, the project inspired by the teachings of Don Milani and funded by the Tuscany Region.
Inclusivity, relationship with one’s own limits, participation, and integration, promotion of a healthy lifestyle: sports can play a fundamental role in the growth of young people and can help them face their vulnerabilities, giving them the opportunity for personal development beyond just athletic performance. In the EduCARE Sport project, conceived by the CSI (Centro Sportivo Italiano), which will be presented in Loppiano on Saturday, March 9th, the educational value of sports is combined with the promotion of physical and psychological well-being, with the aim of strengthening social cohesion within the communities of Tuscany.
Over 50 activities are planned, spread across the entire regional territory in a widespread manner, with particular attention to the suburbs and areas facing the greatest challenges. Initiatives are already underway, promoted through the action of the territorial committees of the Centro Sportivo Italiano Toscana, involving sports clubs and parishes.
At 9:30, Carlo Faraci, regional president of CSI Toscana, will open the conference and present the stages of the “EduCARE Sport” project, with institutional greetings from Giulia Mugnai, mayor of the Municipality of Figline and Incisa Valdarno (FI). The conference, moderated by Gianni Bianco, chief editor of Rai TG3 News, will feature contributions from: Michele Marchetti, general director of CSI; Eugenio Giani, president of the Tuscany Region; Monsignor Andrea Migliavacca, regional delegate for leisure, tourism, and sports in Tuscany for the CEI (Italian Episcopal Conference); Federica Comazzi, president of the Sportmeet for a United World association; Paolo Russo, national president of the Contrajus APS association; Sister Tosca Ferrante, coordinator of the regional service for the protection of minors and vulnerable adults for the CEI; and Franco Morabito, president of the Tuscan Sports Press Union..
Among the testimonials will be Giusy Versace, vice-president of the Senate’s Sports Commission and founder of “Disabili no limits Onlus,”along with other associations that combine sports and vulnerability, including: Quartotempo Firenze, which focuses on football for the visually impaired; Rete Europea Risorse Umane, promoting sports beyond the barriers of prison; Fiorenza Wheelchair Hockey for wheelchair users; and CSI per il mondo, a project promoting volunteer sports for integration and social redemption..
The EduCARE Sport project, launched on May 6th, 2023, with the 15th edition of the Run4unity organized by the Focolare Movement, started in the wake and footsteps of Don Milani on the centenary of his birth. It has gained momentum since last September, bringing opportunities for sports as a tool for dialogue, to foster the acquisition of skills that arise from sports commitment to be transmitted to friends, at school, in the parish, and within the family. These are the values that the initiative aims to promote, also countering the phenomenon of youth dropout from sports activities.
The motto ‘I Care’ of Don Lorenzo Milani is not a generic “I care”, but a heartfelt “I care about you”. It’s an explicit declaration of love for his small community of Barbiana and, at the same time, it’s the message he delivered to his students. It’s a “universal” teaching, as Pope Francis described it:
“[…] With wisdom and love, Don Milani finds the answer in education, through his model of school, which is to put knowledge at the service of those who are the last for others, the first for the Gospel, and for him through his model of school.”
Pope Francis
Like him, we are all called not to remain indifferent, to interpret reality, to identify the new poor and new forms of poverty. We are called to approach the excluded and take them to heart, so they do not fall further behind, to restore their dignity and respect, recognizing the sonship of God that encompasses us all.
The EduCARE Sport project benefits from significant support from the Tuscany Region’s welfare sector, as well as from the Ministry of Labor and Social Policies’ Ddr 13511/23, alongside important institutional and associative entities including: AnciToscana, ASL Toscana Nord Ovest, Municipality of San Miniato, Istituto degli Innocenti, Fondazione Artemio Franchi, CONI Toscana, Federazione Pallamano Toscana, CSI Solidarietà, Associazione CooperHabile, ANSMES Toscana, Misericordie di Toscana, Confcooperative Toscana, Forum toscano delle associazioni familiari, MCL, Toscana Oggi, Associazione Costone Ricreatorio Pio II di Siena, ASD Virtus Poggibonsi, and the involvement of associations in the regional territory.
Download the flyer HERE.
