TURIN. Excelling in the snow and in school is possible, according to Daniela Ceccarelli. With the support of her alpine skiing team (the Golden Team Ceccarelli) and in synergy with the Frejus Institute, the super-G Olympic champion at the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City developed a project that led to the creation of the Ski College Golden Team Ceccarelli in Bardonecchia, an hour’s drive from Turin.
“It’s an innovative school idea, modeled on American colleges. We are responsible for managing the technical and logistical part and the Institute will be focused on excellence – explains the 45-year-old former skier from Frascati who lives in Fenils (a hamlet of Cesana Torinese) and who has a fifteen-year-old daughter (Lara Colturi; ed), great promise of snow for the future -. You study on tablets, so athletes can listen to the lessons again even during the thousands of car trips necessary for training and competitions. Thanks to the online platform, new from last winter, each lesson will be recorded, so that each student can listen to it at the end of training, according to their sporting needs. In short, it will be a way to take away the students’ anxiety and stress. In the past, the Italian system has always forced athletes to choose between school and sport, while this college manages to combine the two ».
Competitive excellence and school education, therefore, will travel hand in hand, to foster the combination of sport & study, which is always struggling to develop in our country. In the winter period, the frequency of lessons will be concentrated from Monday to Thursday, to allow student-athletes to participate in ski competitions and training, but the “lost” hours will be made up in autumn and spring with the inclusion of Saturdays and in season compensated by the assistance of teachers 7 days a week. This actually allows a decrease in the school load in the period of greatest sporting commitment combined with constant support from the teachers: for athletes there are scheduled checks and interrogations that will give them the opportunity to organize themselves in the best possible way.
The Ski College Golden Team Ceccarelli, which will have an area of study in Administration, Finance and Marketing, from this winter will focus part of its competitive activities in the Bardonecchia area. Athletic preparation and training will then be carried out in close collaboration between local authorities and the Colomion Spa lifts company.The athletes-students will then attend the Frejus Institute for school preparation and will live in the ski college constantly followed by their coaches for to be able to carry on all their dreams. On and off the snow.