Also in Piacenza, the wheelchair football team is about to be born, wheelchair football played by children with motor disabilities, which is still little known in Italy. The call to share went viral on social networks for a few weeks by the five founding boys, and it read like this: “Hey, we are five boys and we are about to put together a wheelchair football team. We are looking for coaches and volunteers to help us train. Soon there will be a free training session Powerchair Soccer Training – If you’re interested or know someone who might be, write to us. Thank you.” So write Alex, Giada, Nico, Fransi and Ruby, young guys full of enthusiasm and a desire for new adventures. The news will be announced soon with the first cycle programme.
But where was the sturdy chair football born?
History at hand, this discipline originated in France in 1978, quickly developed from France to Canada and from there also took root in the USA, Japan and other European countries. So wheelchair football began to reach significant levels and in 2005 the first turning point in the world was recorded: Portugal, the USA, Canada, Japan and England signed an agreement to create international football. From there the ascent continued, in 2006 Fifa was born in Atlanta, similar to Fifa to Powerchair, and in 2007 the organization created the first wheelchair soccer World Cup in Tokyo, complete with a cup won by the United States on penalties against France.
We are clearly behind in our country: wheelchair football only began to develop in Italy in 2017, thanks to the creation of FISPES, or the Italian Federation of Paralympic and Experimental Sports. But this sport has not yet spread on the Italian scene, and it lacks official recognition as a national sport.
However, there are those who struggle to change things: Marchese Diego d’Artagnan, captain of the last Italian football team Powerchair, is doing himself, even across the web, to make this discipline as well known as possible, making football a possibility for everyone.
how to play?
Much like soccer, with some pollution in basketball. The ideal place is a gym or a small building with smooth floors. The field must have 8 players, 4 for each team. Each wheelchair must have a fender at the foot, the task of which is to assist each player in directing the ball and managing the shot, as well as protecting the lower limbs of the athletes. Thanks to Powerchair Football, football without barriers is possible and our national sport is no longer a destined dream of the few: just trust it and commit to spreading it. Diego and the boys from Piacenza remind us of this.
“Introvert. Avid gamer. Wannabe beer advocate. Subtly charming zombie junkie. Social media trailblazer. Web scholar.”
