Sport unites. It is life. It is value.

A hugely successful youth sports festival for this sixth edition of the Trofeo CONI Kinder+Sport, held for the first time in Calabria in the provinces of Crotone and Catanzaro from 26 to 29 September 2019. Around 3,800 athletes aged between 10 and 14 competed (confirming it as Italy's biggest "under 14" sports event), representing the 21 regions and autonomous provinces. Guests of the competition were the CONI delegations from Canada and Switzerland, which every year take part in one or more disciplines with their athletes. The kick-off came on Thursday 26 September at 18.30 with the opening ceremony at the Ezio Scida stadium in Crotone, where a huge turnout of locals in the stands enthusiastically accompanied the traditional entrance of all the teams divided by region. The parade of the young athletes was introduced by CONI President Giovanni Malagò, by the President of the Calabria region Mario Oliverio and by the local authorities, enriched by various choreographies of young dancers and celebrated by Annalisa Minetti, gold medallist in the 800 metres at the 2013 Paralympic Athletics World Championships, who sang the Italian national anthem. Over the three days the young athletes competed in various sports including (to name just a few) cycling, dancesport, basketball, rugby, archery, judo, athletics, draughts, pallapugno, rafting, synchronised swimming and football, where the Swiss delegation of CONI took part in the 3-a-side tournament with Sofia Hansson (12), Fabio Iaquinta (12) and Diego Perna (13). Every day the youngsters played an average of five football matches, guided by coach Salvatore Mazzotta (a football coach in Zurich), challenging peers from all over Italy, winning numerous matches including those against Tuscany, Lazio and Sardinia, but failing to beat teams such as Lombardy, which later became tournament champion. Among the fans of our footballers were all the parents who had come from Switzerland to support their champions. Together with chaperones Cirano Tondi and Rosa, the youngsters and 900 other children stayed at the Hotel Casa Rossa Beach Sporting Club in Crotone, on the Ionian coast, which for the occasion became a true "U14" Olympic village, hosting athletes from different disciplines. Every day there was a coming and going of canoes, very young children with windsurfing equipment, synchronised swimmers with shiny, tightly pulled-back hair, athletes with bows on their shoulders and of course lots of children with footballs and studded boots. The latter were particularly lucky, as the hotel complex had three five-a-side pitches attached, easily reached on foot through an underpass. The organisation of the event was impeccable overall, both on the part of CONI, promoter and organiser of the event, and on the part of the Calabria Region, which made sure the young athletes lacked nothing. Without doubt a useful and very constructive experience for all participants. Next year Switzerland will surely take part again with a delegation, but it is not yet known in which discipline. More information about the event can be found at www.coni.it/it/trofeoconi