Sport helps you | Pavoletti meets with inmates
The desire to spread a smile and hope, to convey a message based on one’s own experience on and off the pitch, but also to receive a powerful moral lesson from those who have experienced a difficult life path. These are the salient features of the intense morning spent by Cagliari Calcio at the “Ettore Scalas” prison in Uta, with the club’s captain, Leonardo Pavoletti, who met with inmates, prison officers, officials, and facility managers.
It was the inaugural meeting of the new season of “Lo sport ti aiUta”, social and sporting project which from 2022 – in partnership with Carlo Enrico Giulini Foundation, Sardinia Foundation, and Mediterranean Five-a-side Football e coordinato dalla dottoressa Elisa Mascia and the entire educational area of the institution – allows inmates to participate in sports activities under the guidance of Cagliari coaches, who coordinate weekly training sessions by organizing the internal tournament within the penitentiary, preparatory to the final stage in which the winning teams can face other teams formed by external entities linked to the Club, such as those composed of employees and registered members of the Rossoblù, among others.
The day also focused on the desire—on the part of Cagliari Calcio and the project coordinators—to raise awareness among the relevant authorities to begin work as soon as possible to secure and modernize the five-a-side football pitch, which until now has been the site of inmates’ sports activities, and specifically the “Sport Helps You” project.
Along with Pavoletti, welcomed by Director Pietro Borruto and Deputy Director Giulia Donatucci, were Cagliari Football Academy Director Mattia Belfiori and Football Social Responsibility Officer Elisabetta Scorcu. They were joined by Communications Director Fabio Frongia—who moderated the meeting by engaging with Pavoletti and openly answering questions from the inmates—and Rossoblu chef William Pitzalis, who, like Belfiori, illustrated the many projects developed and ongoing within the prison. Representing the “Carlo Enrico Giulini” Foundation, the Sardinia Foundation, and the Mediterranea Futsal Club were Giovanni Pasculli (Board Member), Marianna Orrù (Board Member), and Corrado Melis (President), respectively.
PAVOLETTI’S WORDS
Pavoletti retraced his footballing career, focusing specifically on his life in Cagliari, which began with his arrival at the Rossoblu in 2017. “I never imagined I’d become a Cagliari native by adoption,” he said with emotion. “I’ve encountered a city and its wonderful people; my children were born here. We’ve had magical moments, and other very difficult ones—on the pitch with relegation and protests at certain stages of the various seasons, off the pitch with my two injuries, but there’s never been a lack of affection and respect. Cagliari means so many things to me, and today I’m experiencing this day in a special way, a first for me; we’ve been thinking about it and organizing it for a while. I like to support those who are going through a very difficult period in their lives. Connecting with the kids forced in here, hugging each other, sharing a smile with an autograph and a few words about the world here and what’s happening outside is a great opportunity for mutual enrichment. Projects like this are very important for giving vent and A halo of freedom, to use a definition the inmates used. I sincerely hope that the soccer field in this facility can soon be made available, so that activities and the tournament can resume as in previous years. I hope that my presence here, along with the entire Club, can be of help.”
