PADUA – The sports seasons have just ended but it’s already time for the Padua clubs to think about next year. It’s not enough to have the athletes, coaches and managers: for many associations, the priority now is to ensure the right facility. It seems trivial but it is not at all in a municipality like Padua where the sports world continues to grow and everyone recognizes a major problem of lack of facilities. The Municipality is accelerating the construction of new structures in various districts of the city, but while waiting for these to be inaugurated, it is necessary to find a balance with the current spaces. We are in the crucial moment. At the beginning of June, the administration published online the public notice for the allocation of spaces in municipal sports facilities for the 2023-2024 season: clubs, associations and other sports bodies can apply until Friday 30 June. There is one certainty: priority is given to those with registered offices in the municipality of Padua.
THE NUMBERS
In Padua there are about 600 sports associations including the numerous private gyms. There are 170 who use municipal facilities and we are talking about 50 disciplines overall. Football, volleyball and basketball, of course, but also badminton, walking football, American football and Vietnamese kung fu. Everything and more, as it should be for the “European City of Sport 2023”.
There are 91 sports facilities in the entire municipal area. There are 12 directly managed structures (those located in the Brentelle park, at the Vai Vermigli plant and at the Petron in via San Massimo), 23 school gyms and 58 affiliated structures. The four largest stadiums belong to the latter category: Euganeo stadium, Plebiscito stadium, Padovanuoto and Kione Arena.
Last year, applications came from 155 sports associations: a very complicated tetris allowed everyone to find a place. 33 temporary authorizations were also registered for individual events: an enormous number because it means that between autumn and spring Padua hosts on average at least one event a week in addition to the normal training and competition activity.
THE USE
In the same gym it can happen that you have volleyball at 6pm, gymnastics at 7pm and futsal at 8pm, just to give you an idea. The data say that the average use of the plants is 20 weeks a year. The most used gym (well with 1290 hours) was the Petron, a little gem with the new changing rooms in via San Massimo. Followed by Pacinotti with 640 hours, Tartini with 620, Briosco with 600 and Copernico with 550.
PRICES
Rates vary according to the type of system and according to the number of hours of use. They were approved with a special council resolution and are all public on the website of the Municipality of Padua. Some examples: for the youth sectors who train in the municipal gyms, it ranges from 12 euros upwards for the first hour to 3.40 euros upwards for the following hours. For the sports halls it varies from 18 to 41 euros also based on the category (the higher it is, the more you pay). An hour in a municipal soccer field costs 37 euros and the second hour costs 28, but the cost rises if you have to turn on the spotlights. If you intend to use a building for a single event, you go from 126 to 503 euros based on the type of event and the number of hours. For the under 18 categories the rates are more favorable than for adults.
THE PROVISIONS
The Municipality reminds you that eight euros of custody and cleaning costs are already included in the first hour rates. It is possible to book the dates of use even for a long term (for example from September to May) and failure to use the system without three days notice will in any case involve the payment of the tariff. Prices are doubled if the association has its registered office outside Padua. There are those who have already filed the application and those who are still doing the math and studying the right solution. Few days left.