After almost 40 years, a small football pitch at Sperone in the municipal facility named after Valentino Renda. The inauguration took place today in the spaces of the facility in via XXVII Maggio, 26. Also present at the ribbon-cutting ceremony were the sports councilor Alessandro Anello and the Palermo footballer, Francesco Di Mariano. A special day that was organized by BKT, sponsor of Serie B.
The operation is part of the Fattore Campo project which aims to donate new playing spaces in the cities involved in Serie B. During each football season, fans have the opportunity to play in a championship parallel to the one played by your favorite team. BKTpremia is in fact the official competition of the BKT Series which allows you to win numerous prizes, including official shirts and balls. The more you play, the more points you accumulate for the special Fattore Campo ranking, which will decide the winning teams at the end of the year. “Now in its fourth edition this year – we read in a note – Fattore Campo is becoming increasingly relevant in the Italian football scene, thanks to BKT’s concrete commitment towards the winning projects”.
The brand new five-a-side football pitch inaugurated at Sperone in Palermo, the winning city of the 2022-2023 season, is located inside the Valentino Renda sports facility (former volleyball coach, a monument of Sicilian volleyball), often at the center of initiatives aimed to young people from local schools and the most difficult neighborhoods. The recently concluded project led to the creation of a modern synthetic grass flooring, the tracing of demarcation lines and the placement of new football goals.
These are the statements of Roberto Lagalla and Alessandro Anello: “For the Municipality of Palermo it was a strategic and fascinating opportunity to be able to collaborate with BKT, Title Sponsor of the BKT Series, on the ‘Fattore Campo’ project. We are convinced that what has been completed today is not only the conclusion of an infrastructural work, but also an operation that combines two fundamental elements such as sport and social issues. Two issues that the municipal administration is particularly keen on. We are satisfied that this initiative has also involved in a concrete way a great reality for the city such as Palermo and we express our heartfelt thanks to the Rosanero club and to BKT for the sensitivity and availability demonstrated”.
A sign of continuity that confirms the synergy between BKT and the Lega Nazionale Professionisti Serie B, as well as the commitment of the municipal administration of Palermo, who together took steps to place a new fence and restore the entire lighting system. Palermo’s support is also fundamental. “In addition to having financed the redevelopment project – we read in the note – BKT wanted to give concrete support and enter the social fabric of the communities of the BKT Series, giving participants a day of celebration, inclusion and aggregation. This is how it organized an afternoon of fun and sportsmanship inviting, in addition to all the citizens, also the young footballers of the Palermo football school, the children of the Rete SAI project of Palermo and of the nearby Sperone comprehensive school, led by the principal Antonella Di Bartolo, present at the event”.
The ribbon cutting was followed by a moment dedicated to playing: the kids took to the pitch with mini-matches and skill games organized by the five-a-side football team of the Rete Sai project, which reached the finals of the “Rete! Refugee Teams 2024”, and a quadrangular meeting between young people from the Rosanero club and the students of the Institute. To complete everything, a snack station was also set up, with a gift of BKT gadgets, to share the festive spirit of the initiative.
Among the most exciting moments of the day, also the one which saw the Palermo players, Francesco Di Mariano, striker and nephew of Totò Schillaci, together with the Palermo goalkeeper Manfredi Nespola, attend the event to deliver and sign the BKT balls and be at availability of all those present for photos and autographs.
Thus Lucia Salmaso, managing director of BKT Europe: “The inauguration of this new project signed ‘Fattore Campo’ is a confirmation of the concrete commitment that BKT places towards local realities, especially the less advantaged ones, and of the desire to make the sport accessible and inclusive to anyone. The new field inaugurated in Palermo pursues precisely this objective: to give everyone the opportunity to enjoy a new space dedicated to play, free time and conviviality”.
Mauro Balata, president of the Lega di B: “The renewed partnership with BKT, which I would like to thank, has led to another important piece of inclusion and social sensitivity. The creation of a new sports area in Palermo represents the active and concrete commitment to teamwork through the municipal administration, the rosanero club, BKT and Lega B. A union of intentions and values that has made it possible to achieve a prestigious result for the Sicilian city, offering many local and non-local young people sports and recreational spaces”.
