Ugugliati, Fidal and a record season “The whole Veneto is growing, Treviso is the guide”

In 2021 the sport counted 24,300 members throughout the Veneto, almost 4,000 more than the previous year

Diego Zilio / PADOVA

It was a complicated year for everyone, but a golden year for athletics. And not just for those extraordinary 13 minutes in which Jacobs and Tamberi rewrote the history of the queen of sports by coloring it blue. This is confirmed with good reason by Francesco Uguagliati, president of the Venetian Fidal (as well as of the Cus Padova) and former Dt of the national team between 2009 and 2012.

It does so by rattling off the numbers of a boom, albeit with some critical issues related to its province. “Between 2019 and 2021, the total number of companies active in the region remained essentially unchanged,” explains Uguagliati. «The leap forward was instead in the number of members: as of December 31st two years ago we had 23,325, down to 20,500 at the end of 2020, and then go back to the current 24,300. In fact, not only have we recovered almost 4 thousand compared to 12 months ago, with an increase of 18.5%, but we count a thousand more than in the period preceding the pandemic ».

Is it all thanks to the Olympic medals, which pushed the boys on the track with the desire to emulate the champions?

Of course there has been a comeback, but it is not the only factor to consider. Compared to team sports, athletics has enjoyed an advantage, being able to practice outdoors even in the most difficult phase of the pandemic. So the balance of 2021 is totally positive?

I believe that more should be done in Padua. The numbers photograph a decidedly more comforting picture in other provinces: Treviso leads the regional movement with 5,526 members, ahead of 4,748 from Venice, 4,746 from Verona, 4,087 from Vicenza and 3,062 from Padua, which has only Belluno behind it and Rovigo. They are few compared to what one might expect. And it is a fact on which we need to reflect, net of the fact that limiting ourselves to just the figures is not enough, but we should break them down to understand how many members are young and how many amateurs.

How do you explain this delay compared to the other provinces?

The Paduan territory is not fully covered by the companies. In the city, presence is important, thanks to realities such as Fiamme Oro, Assindustria Sport and Cus. In Alta, however, there is not much besides Libertas in Camposampierese, Virtus Este in Bassa and Vis Abano in Aponense. There are others, but very small. And entire areas, such as Piovese, are totally uncovered. This worries me, also because Padua has always been a very active province. There is no magic wand to recover, but the question must be addressed.

On the organizational level, Venetian athletics will restart in 2022 with 35 appointments and precisely with the city of the Saint in a central role, also thanks to the presence of the Palaindoor.

Despite the difficulties linked to contingencies, in 2021 we regularly competed and for this I thank the clubs. In 2022 we would like to return to a situation as similar as possible to the pre-Covid one. From 8 January we will have Palaindoor always busy until the Italian championships of multiple tests on 12 March, plus we have 4 crosses. As for the activity in the room, we will take into account the pandemic situation. And already in drawing up the calendars, to avoid crowds, we divided the events in two, separating the races in the morning from those in the afternoon. –

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