Day 8 La Ghirada

Today we visited La Ghirada Sports Complex run by the four brothers (actually three brothers and one sister) of the Benetton family. It started in 1985 as a gift to the community. La Ghirada is unique because it is owned and operated privately, but it is open to the community for public use. Anyone can use the facilities any day of the year without having to pay a membership fee. Facilities include rugby fields, a swimming pool, basketball courts, volleyball courts, a gym, and a weight room. It also offers people the ability to participate in classes like dance or karate.

The Benetton family values the ability to give back to the community. This is the main reason the facilities are open for public use. La Ghirada also hosts several tournaments for children throughout the year. One example is a 3 v. 3 basketball tournament called Join the Game. This tournament is open to children all throughout Italy that are fourteen years old or younger. Each year over 35,000 children participate in this tournament.

Throughout the course of our visit, we got the chance to listen to several different presentations, which emphasized mainly on the basketball club, soccer club, and marketing in sport. Two of the presenters were from the Univeristy of Venice. The basketball component of the presentation was especially interesting to us being that our group presentation focuses on the Italian basketball clubs. We learned about the many opportunities that are given to youth basketball participants by the different camps offered. For example, La Ghirada has a youth program for children ages 6-16 that teaches and prepares them for future success in the game. This is a college type setting, in the fact that they are provided a dormatory type lifestyle while participating in the program in addition to attending school.

The Benetton group has several professional teams: a men’s basketball team, a men’s volleyball team (the most famous in the world), a men’s rugby team, and a women’s rugby team. In 2003 all four teams won the championship for their respective sport, the first to ever accomplish this feat. This placed Treviso as the sport capital of the country. It is interesting to note that they do not have a soccer team, being that soccer is the most popular sport in Italy. This was intentional because none of the Benetton brothers played soccer, and it allowed people in the community with other sports interests to become involved in the complex.

It was extremely interesting to visit the facilities. It was also a wonderful privilege to listen to the presenters and have conversations with them about some problems in sports, i.e. the lack of attendance at live games, the increasing sedentary lifestyle of Italians, and the lack of female participation in sport. We are very greatful to La Ghirada for allowing us to do this.

Tomorrow is a free day, and many members of our group are planning on visiting Venice. We plan on taking in the sites and sounds of this wonderful city!

Lisa Schramm and Jenna Traeger
B.S. in Kinesiology, Pre-Physical Therapy