TORINO – Today morning the gym in via Braccini 1, seat of the Turin University Sports Center, was named after Franco Leone, historical executive of the Cussino volleyball team who left us in March 2021.
Leone was one of the proponents of the “team of records”; a success above all that of 9 March 1980 in Ankara (Turkey) where the CUS Torino branded Klippan (which he patiently created), studded with great all-Italian champions and led from the bench by professor Silvano Prandi, won, as the first Italian team to do so, the men’s Champions Cup overtaking the Czechoslovakians of the Red Star Bratislava.
This is the squad led by coach Prandi: Franco Bertoli, Enrico Bonaspetti, Diego Borgna, Giancarlo Dametto, Gianni Lanfranco, Franco Magnetto, Manolo Pelissero, Ernesto Pilotti, Piero Rebaudengo, Antonio Scardino and Valerio Sozza.
Also present at the naming were the family of Franco Leone, his wife Ida and daughter Alessia.
These are the words of the President of the Turin University Sports Center Riccardo D’Elicio: “Franco has left an exceptional legacy to volleyball and Italian sport, thanks to his values of belonging and connection to the club I represent today. I thank all of you for being here today, for remembering this great leader together ”.
Franco Bertoli brought greetings and closeness to the family of the President of the Italian Volleyball Federation Giuseppe Manfredi, recalling how “A moment of history and memory has now become reality thanks to this title. Franco was a visionary, he had an innovative spirit. Thanks to everything his spirit and his ideas have done, they will always be among us ”.
“When Franco left us the first thing we thought was to name the gym after him – declares Giancarlo Dametto – this in fact has been our home for years. Franco has always wanted to maintain friendship and human relationships in the group and we will never forget it ”.
It was therefore the turn of Gianni Lanfranco: “Franco was the architect of our luck. I thank President D’Elicio who immediately supported our idea and for allowing us to carry out this important ceremony ”.
Finally it was the turn of the General Manager Cussino Andrea Ippolito: “Volleyball has been a tradition and pride for all of us, thanks to managers like Franco. Our athletes have the responsibility to wear this jersey and remember its importance and tradition, so they must be proud of it. Thanks to all of you for being here today, a special thanks to Ida and Alessia ”.
