(All the photos: tomaso/Sport&Impianti)

From 18 to 20 November, the Tsport/Sport&Impianti team led the delegation of Dutch companies and institutions in meetings and visits organised on behalf of the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Milan, to learn about the trend and development of sports facilities in Italy as the venue for the next Winter Olympic Games.

With Consulate representatives Roeland Slagter (see photo right) and Manuela Capra, and the representative of SportsNL (the public-private platform for supporting Dutch sport), Nasrath Popal, our guests were: Rob van Rijswijk (Beewan Sports Experience); Frank Smit and Cristina Parigi (CM.com), Wadia Khabthani and Max Vargas (Game on Technologies); Andrea Buralli (GeoJunxion); Nielsen Geven and Matteo Tarenghi (Signify); Paul van der Kolk (Sportinnovator); Cathy Eijkelenkamp and Ted Bakker (State of Football); Alberto Leanza and Pamela Moscatelli (Twelve Sports & Ospitality).

The first day

The focus of the first day was the Acinque IceArena in Varese, the recently redeveloped ice rink, which will be the training venue for some national teams during the Winter Games, and which also offers spaces for swimming, fitness, and padel.

On this occasion, in addition to the institutional greetings and the presentation of the guest companies, moderated by Fabio Passoni , speakers included Bruno Grillini, Director of TSPORT and Sport&Impianti, who illustrated the ‘Sports facilities in Italy’ dossier; Corrado Bina (CEO of Acinque Innovazione); Matteo Cesarini (manager of the Acinque Arena); and architect Andrea Olivotto, one of the designers of the facility.

Together with the audience of stakeholders present, a tour of the Arena was conducted, followed by a networking lunch, an opportunity to exchange contacts and information.

The afternoon was dedicated to a visit to the Unipol Forum in Assago, another facility under construction for the Winter Olympics, with architect Giuseppe De Martino, who then guided the delegation to the Sportium headquarters.

The day ended with an aperitif at the Consulate with the participation of Consul General Mascha Baak.

The Second Day

The second day, after a meeting with the Milano-Cortina Foundation, was devoted to the topic of successful sports centres for individuals and families, implemented with project financing programmes.

The chosen venue was the Enjoy Center in Cernusco sul Naviglio (Milan). The manager Matteo Gerli spoke about it, while the mayor of Cernusco, Paola Colombo, intervened for a greeting; a representative of CONI Lombardia attended the day.

After the networking lunch, once again in the company of architect De Martino, the visit moved on to the building site where the Rugby Stadium is being renovated.

The third day

There was intense activity on the third day of the tour, which moved to Reggio Emilia, which began with a visit to the PalaBigi accompanied by architect Davide Corradi of the CAIREPRO design studio and Filippo Barozzi, sports director of Pallacanestro Reggiana.

The highlight of the day was the meeting at the Mapei Stadium, where Andrea Lorenzi, Stadium Manager, spoke with Andrea Piva of Paradello, the company that maintains the playing surface, and Alec Invernizzi (U.S. Sassuolo’s head of operations) who spoke about the role of the Mapei Football Centre in the sports club’s growth plan.

Ferruccio Davalli of Andes (National Association of Security Delegates), Pietro Benvenuti (General Manager of Formula Imola Spa – Autodromo di Imola) and Laura Casiraghi (Product Line Specialist of Mapei Sport System Technology) then spoke.

After the tour of the Mapei Stadium, the day ended with a visit to the Training Center of Reggiana Calcio, accompanied by Nicola Simonelli (the club’s general and sports secretary) and the RCF Arena.

There was great satisfaction among all participants, expressed both by the guests from the Netherlands and the Italian technicians and operators who took part in the three different events.