Sports Festival, Caldara, Gagliardini and Pessina between commitment, dreams and goals

Life is made up of goals.. I dare to find only one person who has never set himself any goal, dream or desire. The process of achieving a goal is almost never easy, along the way you will often face challenges to overcome, obstacles to overcome, difficulties in the face of which it will be easy to break down, but nothing compared to the satisfaction of being able to say, once the path is over, “I made it”. This is the life of the footballer, who, driven by passion, is preparing to overcome the opponent, through dribbling, schemes, teamwork, and runs and struggles to achieve what is the real goal of football: to score.
What in the first place can not be understood is that in the “simplicity” of form and structure of a soccer ball, you can enclose all the human essence, that essence made of passion, reasoning, intelligence, balance, mathematical and physical calculations, which allow a man to move at the right speed his lower limb to hit with the exact power a sphere intended for a companion.
This is probably what Sartre means when he says that “football is a metaphor for life”. Because, after all, a successful passage, a perfect throw intended for the feet or head of a companion, are nothing more than part of those little pieces through which each of us must necessarily pass in order to join with that goal that drives us to fight, so that the dream comes true. And when this dream is also part of an academic career that the alchemy becomes perfect, as in the case of Mattia Caldara, Matteo Pessina and Roberto Gagliardini, footballers and this year students- athletes at LUISS, thanks to the LUISS Sport Program.

As players we know everything, but to know them better as students we talked a little ‘with them on the eve of their first Sports Festival.

“I chose LUISS for my academic career because I think it is the university most in line with my interests and allows me to combine sport with study, I’m lucky to do a job that gives me the opportunity to have part of the day off that I take advantage of studying subjects that I like. In addition, when I am in seclusion studying helps me in the concentration of the game,” says Mattia Caldara, who adds: “I feel very lucky because I have the opportunity to do a job that I love. Sports training in my life is a top priority but if I think about the future I feel the need to complete myself to have the opportunity to explore other areas. Do you think that LUISS guarantees the right support to the athletes as students? “Yes, the tutor with whom I work follows me a lot and sets me short-term objectives that stimulate me to commit myself”. What does the Sports Festival mean to you as a student athlete? “For me, this event is a way of letting others know about my experience and exchanging opinions”.
We also asked Roberto Gagliardini, as a new student athlete, what he expects from this event: “The Festa dello Sport represents the possibility of making people understand how sport embodies many values that are then reflected in everyday life such as sacrifice, determination, suffering and the desire to improve every day. But that’s not all, it also teaches us respect for others and teamwork. Sport must be seen as a means that helps to grow by encouraging the development of young people, both morally and educationally, and not just as a time for recreation or relaxation. What value do you give to sports training when it is combined with study and therefore to achieving a more global professionalism? “I think that sports training is even more important today, where we live in an increasingly social and virtual way. I was lucky enough to have a sports training, in fact my parents are both teachers of physical education and if I became a professional footballer the credit is also them who have passed on to me the values of respect, humility and sacrifice since childhood.
Why did you choose LUISS for your academic career? “LUISS is one of the most important universities in the world and I am happy to start my studies at this university specializing in social sciences. In fact, I decided to take the economics course. Thanks to the LUISS Sport Program I have the possibility to be supported by a professor/tutor who allows me to ask for any doubt or misunderstanding of a specific chapter, I can do exercises and then analyze the mistakes made. Now I’m preparing to take my first exams in January and I’m very confident about their success. How do you combine sporting commitments with a demanding type of study? “I am convinced that you always find time if you want to do it. Based on my training I can organize my study day, then often when we go to the retreat I have plenty of time to rest and devote to study.

“I chose LUISS, says Matteo Pessina, because it offers a program of study and support to us athletes that no other university offers. It is also one of the most important universities in Italy, and also known throughout the world. For this reason it was an honor to have been chosen by LUISS as a student and as an athlete. I admit that it’s not easy to carve out time to study with my sporting commitments, especially when it comes to such a challenging university course. I understood that the most effective method is to be able to study every day, even for a short time, to keep my head always connected to what I’m studying”. What value do you give to sports training when it is combined with study and therefore to achieving a more global professionalism? “I have always thought that study would play an important role if not necessary in my life. In addition to the fact that it keeps my mind trained, it allows an athlete, who has an intense and short career, to have the opportunity to work in other fields even if not strictly related to sports once my career is over. I think that LUISS offers the right support to us athletes-students, we are in constant contact with a trained tutor who answers all our questions and concerns. They also provide us with all the material we need to prepare ourselves on all topics: textbooks, professor slides, multimedia content. What do you expect from an event like the Sports Festival? “This event is a special day for us student athletes and for the university itself. We can compare ourselves having sporting and non-sporting affinities, and we can also understand how LUISS is focusing on us as student athletes”.

Still considered the best interpreter of the game of football to date, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, more commonly known as Pelé, said that “football is music, dance and harmony, and there is nothing more cheerful than the bouncing sphere”. And here’s how an almost trivial concept like “football” can take on dozens and dozens of different meanings, getting closer to the world of science and mathematics, art and poetry, so much so that great interpreters of these arts have always dedicated entire works to the world of football and sports in general, this certainly leads to the realization of great dreams, thanks to commitment and determination. But life is also and above all made up of pleasant moments and entertainment … and this is exactly what we expect from the Sport Festival 2018, thanks to Mattia, Roberto and Matteo, who for their first edition promise surprises!