“I am quite certain that I would have been a worse version of me in all aspects of my life if I hadn’t played sports“: Luca Murta, vice president of the Biellese Young Entrepreneurs Group, wrote it in a book. It is called «Asante», the Swahili word meaning «thank you», in which he tells how the years spent in the gym playing basketball were a valuable lesson even off the pitch. He did it at high levels (a semi-final-championship in the Juniores category, an A2 Italian Cup won with Biella) and today, who has the role of the only senior in an Under 19 team that also plays in the Serie D championship, he decided to tie the knots between its two lives. The result is an agreement that binds the young people of the Industrial Union to Biella Next, the satellite company that takes care of the nursery of Pallacanestro Biella, now a historic A2 club. It will not be the most traditional of sponsorships «even if – Murta reveals – I would like every team to have the logo of a company led by a young man on their shirts next year. Basketball and team sport in general are an unparalleled training ground for young people. From human relationships to managing stress and fatigue, it is difficult to find something more formative ».
The agreement
The goal will be to put the kids in contact with the companies: one of the fundamental components of the agreement is in fact the organization of days in the partner companies for the baby-basketball players to watch closely, and with people little older than them like age, the world of work. In the panorama of sport, always hunting for resources in the most traditional way is a step with few precedents. It was signed together with Murta, who is also the CEO of the Biellese hat factory, by the president of the young industrialists Christian Zegna who deals with digital marketing via the web and social media with his Btrees, but who has followed the local basketball for a long time. The counterpart is represented by Pier Giorgio Castelli, orthopedist, partner and doctor of Pallacanestro Biella, now at the helm of the club that takes care of the nursery: «We want it not to be just a facade agreement. Bringing our athletes closer to the world of work and post-diploma training and young entrepreneurs to basketball are two objectives that we want to pursue consistently ». The first steps will be in two directions: a questionnaire to be filled out by basketball players aged sixteen and over, to know their inclinations and future projects and direct them to the companies closest to their nature, but also training for entrepreneurs managed by those in life every day he deals with sports. “We would like a conference for our associates – says Murta – so that they can listen to Andrea Zanchi, the coach of the A2 team”.