De Sanctis: “Paralympic Boccia, we want to be there in Paris 2024”

President Giunio De Sanctis, Paris is approaching: a unique opportunity for our Paralympic Bowl…

“The Bisfed regulation is very selective and rigid; therefore, we cannot participate in more than three of the preparatory events for the Paris 2024 Paralympics. The first of these events will be held in Zagreb, from 25 March to 2 April. Zendron, Garavaglia, Marchisio, Zanella, Gilli and Targa have been called up. In addition to these three events, we will also have a chance at the next European Championships, which will be held in Rotterdam from 6 to 14 August, a continental event for which the three athletes Mirco Garavaglia, Giulia Marchisio and Riccardo Zanella have been selected. And, of course, we will also have the test event that we will organize in 2024, which we will have to win to go to Paris for sure. It’s very complicated, but we’ll do our best to get at least one pass.”

Now the movement is gaining strength: are there still areas of the country where it must and can grow?

“The bowls movement is growing with Petanque, but not as it should. Beach bowls is heading towards a new season that is certainly more intense than the previous one. We will soon sign an agreement with the Italian Volleyball Federation, through which beach bowls will be present in all the most important beach volleyball events. Last but not least, there is the Paralympic movement which continues to grow. Speaking in general of Italy, there are areas and zones where the growth of the bowling movement, unfortunately, has not yet lived up to the potential of the Fib, such as for example in Sicily, which is the largest Italian region. Even Puglia can do more, especially in provinces other than Lecce. On the other hand, Molise, Basilicata, Calabria and Sardinia are growing from the point of view of members, affiliates, competitive and organizational. Certainly the development in the Centre-South is much lower than in the Centre-North, but only for some specialities. Raffa should be contained due to its high costs, while Volo should be developed in several regions”.

Another topic close to your heart: the contributions for the Rome-Eur federal technical center have finally arrived: how will the facility change?

“The Federal Technical Center of Torrino, finally, thanks to a total contribution of 2.2 million, will be able to carry out a project conceived since 2017, i.e. since my election. For Fib it is a source of pride, above all due to the difficulties there are in carrying out projects on sports facilities in a large and important city like Rome. Prospecting the redevelopment of one of the most important bowls centers in the world, envisaging the central and territorial offices (Lazio/Rome) within it, implementing the guesthouse and elevating the area to a multi-purpose sports facility will mean truly uniting our movement in a house of all bowlers, to the benefit of the image of the Fib and the Roman community”. To go into more detail, explains the president, “the two-storey federal headquarters will be built for the national Fib, for the Lazio Regional Committee and for the Capitoline Delegation. The entire plant and the main bowling alley will be made more efficient, in particular, by installing a cold/hot ventilation system which currently does not have one (there is only the cold one). This last innovation will also be foreseen for the two gyms. The changing rooms will be overhauled in line with current regulations, other rooms will be built in the guesthouse, a small swimming pool will be installed and a multi-purpose field (soccer/tennis/padel) will be built”.

About Rome. In July there will be the European Youth Championships…

“The junior Europeans will be preparatory for qualifying for the World Championships. The two world events, World Boccia Intercontinental Challenger and World Juniors Championship, held in Rome last year had considerable media and organizational success and give us hope that everything will go well also from 17 to 23 July, the date of the continental event. In this case, fewer countries will be present, although the format will remain unchanged. There is great expectation and interest in this competition of the young European talents of the Raffa, who represent the fulcrum of every sport and of our Federation”.