The project “I SPORT – Inclusive Sport Project Opposed to Radicalization Tenets”, born from the idea of some collaborators of CEIPES, others of CUS Palermo, together with the CdS interclasses Education Sciences of the University of Palermo and the precious collaboration of the Director of the Juvenile Penitentiary Institute “Malaspina”, Dr. Michelangelo Capitano.
The aim of this project is to promote social inclusion through sports practice, combating the phenomenon of radicalization.
The project, started after the opening conference which took place in February 2018, has involved participants that take part three times per week to non formal education activities, managed by member of CEIPES staff, and training of the three project sports: Athletics, Futsal and Volleyball.
Besides some difficulties, every week, some refugees from the host communities of Palermo (SPRAR), the boys held at the IPM Malaspina of Palermo and some university students, have met to get to know each other, make a team, have fun and improve their vision of the world in respect of the other, with a strong sense of union that has grown and is still growing thanks to the only fact of spending hours together.
The athletic activities are held every Wednesday at CUS Palermo, partner of the project, while those of Futsal and Volleyball are hosted every Monday and Friday in the IPM Malaspina of Palermo, partner of I SPORT too.
Fundamental is the role of the three highly trained coaches Salvatore La Bianca (for futsal), Cesare Di Cesare (for athletics) and Pietro Scaduto (for volleyball), who are making a huge contribution to the success of each single meeting and to the project in general, using their experience and management skills of the activities.
In this historic Italian moment, I SPORT boasts, more than ever, an important meaning.
<< SPORTS allowed me to get to know myself thanks to the activities we do and allowed me to understand that the barriers of prejudice are not needed, which are broken down when we play together and become a team; I understood that the detained boys have a great sensibility that they show at every meeting and have awareness of the mistakes that led them to live inside the institute, depriving them of freedom; that Sport is a language, it is a code of behavior. Sport is union, because its rules are the same for every man and because Sport speaks a single universal language. >>
These are the words of Yaccub Said, the cultural mediator who follows all the activities of the project and has succeeded, with his contribution, to make SPORTS even more beautiful, putting himself at stake not only as a mediator but actively participating, playing with all the boys.
The project will end in November 2018, with the final tournaments for each sport, which will involve the participants in teaming and rejoicing together for the victories and defeats, because it won’t matter to win or lose for themselves or for the team but the real victory will be the success of I SPORT, “THE SPORT THAT UNITES”.
