ETTU | 16 Dec 2022
COLANTONI visited the Paralympic stage for Under 23 athletes
The Paralympic stage for Under 23 athletes, which began on Monday and will end tomorrow at the Bella Italia Village in Lignano Sabbiado, received a welcome visit, representing the Board of the European Table Tennis Union, from cI, head of the Athletes Commission of the ETTU.
The gathering is involving 26 athletes in wheelchairs and standing, coming from Great Britain, Latvia, Finland, Austria, Portugal, Spain, Netherlands and Italy, and is directed by Alessandro ARCIGLI, president of the Paralympic Committee of the ETTU, assisted by the Croatian technicians Nikita Vukelja, Spanish José MACHADO, Korean HWANG Eunbit and the other Italians Nicola FALAPPA and Massimo PISCHIUTTI, with the contribution of the Ukrainian sparring Sofia SHEREDEHA and Croatian Zvonimir KRAMARIC.
“The assignment received from the Board,”explains COLANTONI” made me very happy and I was very happy to have participated in this initiative, which the entire ETTU considers very important, for the growth of the Paralympic movement of our Continent. I must congratulate Alessandro ARCIGLI and all those who contributed to the success, because everything was organised to perfection. It is essential to encourage young people, who have entered the world of table tennis, to do their utmost to improve and solutions must be found to ensure that the number of those who choose our sport increases, to give an impulse that guarantees us an increase of the business in the future. The environment is wonderful and I was truly impressed by the commitment made by the boys. I found them all very motivated and happy to be able to train, followed by top-level coaches.”
COLANTONI was able to confront the athletes present in Lignano:
“Actually I also played with them and I enjoyed myself. I was in the gym for six hours and had the opportunity to speak with them and with the technicians, to get feedback that would allow ETTU to plan the next projects for the development of Paralympic table tennis. It emerged that, since there are currently few young athletes, most train with able-bodied people, while they would need to be with peers who have the same disability as them. Internships like the one in Lignano therefore offer them precious moments of togetherness and sharing and it would be important that during the course of the year these appointments increase in number and perhaps also be accompanied by opportunities for competitive confrontation. I will bring these instances to the attention of the ETTU Executive Board and they will be discussed at a future meeting."
