The Pellicani Family Ready to Fight for the C Gold
THE BOCCONI BASKETBALL TEAM, TRAINED BY CARLO FAVERO, WILL PLAY THE FIRST PLAYOFFS GAME ON MAY 6 WITH ONE GOAL: ENTERING THE C GOLD DIVISION THANKS TO ITS STRONG TEAM SPIRIT"We are a group of good friends outside the basketball court and we always turn into a team of fighters inside it". That is how the “Pellicani” describe themselves. The Basketball team of Bocconi University will soon begin its race to achieve promotion to the C Gold Division. The first game of the playoffs is scheduled for May 6, date on which the team will face Mia BK Groane at 9.30pm at the sports center Forza e Coraggio, in via Gallura 8.
"No matter how things will go. The founding fathers of the team, Alessandro Ciarlo, Graziano Pravettoni, Stefano Zorzoli and coach Massimo Verrani, who had the perseverance to train the Pellicani in their first seasons, have something to be proud of", says Carlo Favero, director of the Department of Finance, former player and current coach of the team. The Pellicani have in fact already distinguished themselves with their promotion in C Silver last year, the culmination of a journey started in 2003 when the Pellicani Basketball Association was officially founded, then progressively bringing together the various sporting activities and becoming Bocconi Sport Team.
The team's strength also lies in its diversity, in the unique story of each player, as well as in the team spirit that unites them. "Freshmen, students and graduates, many of whom have stood out during the youth leagues of their respective regions, a promising high school student, a PhD student and a professional player, Mustafa Abi, who has played in the main teams of the Turkish basketball league and who arrived at Bocconi because his wife, Gulen Sarial Abi obtained a position as assistant professor", continues Favero. "A series of events that led to the formation of a team that is changing the history of basketball in our university".
"The pelican was the alumni’s symbol in 1906. We decided to re-adopt it as the symbol of Bocconi Sport Team and in particular of the basketball team", says Graziano Pravettoni, head of the basketball section of Bocconi Sport Team, who also works for the teaching division. "This figure is linked to the idea of family and sacrifice. It is said that the pelican loves its children more than its own life and that it sacrifices itself just to feed them. That's why it represents us: we are a family with a common dream". And you can really feel this spirit by spending some time chatting with players, coaches and managers: everyone, with no exception, talks about a relationship that goes beyond basketball and that represents their strength. "Any excuse is good to spend some time together: after a victory to celebrate, after a defeat to bring us out of that negative funk and after a training session to relax", says Nicolò Scrima, 22 years old, guard and Marketing Management student. "In basketball fellowship is everything and every minute of every game shows how the individual player never wins", adds Giovanni Anolli, born 1993, power forward and center, as well as a student of Economics and Social Sciences.
According to coach Favero there are two ingredients for success: the first one is dedication in training and the second, no less important, to be a united team, "because being a team means much more than having many single good players" he points out. "The month of May will tell us if we can make a quantum leap and get closer to the national professional basketball. Beyond the results, one thing is certain: we have a team that represents an international world with different histories, a team that embodies an extraordinary spirit, that of the mother Pelican”.
by Benedetta Ciotto
