Genoa – Outside, in the city as in the hinterland. With a sea view or along snowy paths in the woods. Alone or in small groups, strictly spaced. Waiting to understand if gyms, swimming pools and facilities in general will reopen (and how), sport does not give up and rather tries to reinvent itself, through a multitude of activities outdoor which represent the new frontiers of many disciplines traditionally practiced indoors.
«In this difficult season outdoor sports have been a great resource – says Antonio Mycillus, President Cones Liguria – some have gone really well, such as sailing, tennis, paddle but also athletics. The closure of gyms and swimming pools has created many problems in recent months, considering that the boys, not being able to play sports, found themselves out and about in the streets, with the risk of creating crowds. Luckily, the outdoors was an excellent alternative ».
A need that has already become a trend. “Many people who approached the race during the lockdown then became passionate and began to practice it assiduously and registered with some companies – says Riccardo Artesi, president of the Liguria Athletics Federation – since September we had a 15-20% increase in enrollments in the various athletics training centers. At the moment we have over 5600 members in Liguria and this is a consequence of the fact that other disciplines, such as basketball, volleyball and swimming, have suffered a setback ».
Organized outdoors
«Outdoor sports have been a growing trend for some time now, even if the boom obviously took place this year – says Enrico Carmagnani, president of CSI Genova and head of Altum park in San Desiderio – in particular, new organizational methods are emerging, i.e. proposals that are a cross between the traditional registration in the gym and the outdoor activity self-managed by the single”. That is, open-air structures that provide changing rooms, parking, tools, paths where you can practice individual activities or with a personal trainer or where you can follow fitness courses. «We at Altum park – continues the owner – offer two types of Spartan Race and Ocr courses: obstacle course circuits, on tracks ranging from 700 meters to 1.5 km and even reaching 20 km connecting to trails on the surrounding hills. This year at least twenty gyms have leaned on us, in this way the various fitness classes have been able to continue to carry out their programs despite the restrictions ».
Workouts are moving
The stop to indoor training has pushed gyms and sports centers to explore new possibilities. Thus, for example in the Sciorba plants, the availability of space has allowed the activities to continue and remodel themselves according to needs. “We have transferred most of our disciplines outdoors – explains Maurizio Ghigliotti, director of the football and athletics section of Sciorba – and many external associations are also leaning on us in this period as we offer various opportunities, we have an 11-a-side football pitch and other synthetic fields, as well as a 8-lane athletics. We host 8 athletics and 2 football clubs, about 500 sportsmen in all, to which are added another 250 who come to do gymnastics. A large audience ranging from 6 to 80 years old. Many come to run, of the 8 athletics lanes some are reserved for sprinters, others are for those who prefer slow walking. But we also have taekwondo, savate and an area intended for Calisthenics (exercises to be performed with free body and with the use of a bar for tractions or parallels) ».
Even at the Palagym in via Assarotti, lessons and courses have moved to the external areas. «In the synthetic grass pitch we have set up a gym area with machines, benches, rockers – says the owner – many people come here every day, more than a hundred, but they can only access by reservation ».
A sea of initiatives
And sometimes the initiative starts from the individual rather than from the gym. And sometimes the initiative starts from the individual rather than from the gym. So it was for example in the case of Davide Poggi, fitness instructor, pioneer in the outdoor field – two years ago with l’evento “Beach different” he had brought 350 people to the gardens of Quinto in a non-stop fitness by the sea – and president of the sports association The Shire which gathered its athletes in the open fields of the Don Bosco oratory in Quarto where he continued his courses. «Not being able to reach my students in the gyms – says Poggi – I took them out and I had them train in any climate and temperature, we do a global functional training program with various tools. We are so many, registrations have tripled, people come from all over Genoa, they book through the app because places are limited, each class includes a maximum of 25 people “. Ideas and spirit of initiative have certainly not been lacking in recent months and the opportunities for sports have increased.
Bucking
«Tennis is going very well – says Marco Soggiu, president of Marcelline Genova sport – with the registrations we have reached the structural limit and we still receive requests. In our spaces we have two fields, in addition to the football one. Also in this case the activity of our students continues but in a limited form not being able to play matches. But the real revolution it was what we did for karate, a typically indoor and contact sport: we started doing outdoor training, not in pairs but individually. The children and their families were very happy ».
It also holds up well the sailing sector which was able to continue all its activities in complete safety. “Ours is definitely not a contact sport, kids up to 14 go out on single boats 3 meters long, but even adults with lasers can experience sailing individually, even if not everyone knows it and often not approach our sport due to lack of information – says Maurizio Buscemi president of Federvela Liguria – in any case we have withstood the brunt of the pandemic well, at the moment out of 64 affiliated clubs throughout the region, the new recruits, among the athletes, are about 7-800 ” .
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