‘Building Kindness in Sport’ turns one year old
‘Building Kindness in Sport’ turns one year old
An Award that values gestures of the heart and kindness through sports is celebrating its first year. The “Let’s Build Kindness in Sport Award” is the brainchild of the Ussi Toscana (Group of Sports Journalists) led by Franco Morabito and Luca Nardi’s Cor et Amor Association, which groups together nearly 2,000 ambassadors of kindness.
The award, which consists of a jersey inspired by children’s drawings with many colors and with Mandela’s phrase “Sport has the power to change the world, ” is given to athletes, managers and clubs that have distinguished themselves for acts of kindness in sports. The shirt is a kind of “investiture” of ambassadors to kindness in sports.
The initiative was born and inspired by the heartfelt gesture of Guglielmo Vicario, Empoli goalkeeper, who in March 2022 took in and hosted a family that had fled the atrocities of war.
“We thought of a gesture to enhance the beautiful actions that are born from the heart and spread through sports,” said Franco Morabito, president of Ussi Toscana, “to bring out positive examples.
Over the 12 months of the Award’s life, the jersey has been given to Guglielmo Vicario, Federica Capelletti, wife of Paolo Rossi for sports and inclusion projects, to Anna Astori, in memory of her son Davide and his commitment to social work, to Stefano Pioli, coach of AC Milan, to Tennis Giotto of Arezzo for sports and inclusion projects and for the red bench, a symbol of no to all forms of violence against women in front of the courts; to Manuel Pasqual, a former soccer player for, among other teams, Fiorentina and Empoli, for his commitment to social work; and to little Nina, a basketball athlete from Bolzano, who organized a fundraiser among family and friends to buy back the balls that had been stolen.
The “Let’s Build Kindness in Sport” Award was also joined by the “Kindness Alphabet” project, conceived by Gaia Simonetti, Ussi Tuscany secretary and Florentine journalist, which consists of filling in the alphabet with beautiful words that make the writer and the recipient feel good in all the languages of the world. The alphabet becomes a gesture of commitment with words that translate into concrete projects of kindness on and off the field. In sports, Silvia Salis, Deputy Vice President of Coni, Feralpisalò, Perugia Calcio and the list of clubs, which are joining, is growing every day, have compiled the alphabet of kindness.
