No only football, business and tv it” “” “

“Move your body, move your mind” is the slogan that has, since 1st January 2004, accompanied hundreds of events planned as part of the European Year of Education through Sport, proclaimed by the Council of the EU and the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The initiative means twelve months dedicated to health and entertainment, considered essential elements for the more complete psychological and physical well-being of 450 million Europeans. The European Year of Education through Sport is especially being propelled, and promoted among the public at large, by three major sporting events, now fast approaching: the European Soccer Championships, to be held in Portugal in June; the Olympic Games, to be held in Athens in August; and the Paralympics (sport for the disabled), scheduled for September, again in the Greek capital. “MaRRIAGE” BETWEEN EDUCATION AND SPORT. The European Commissioner for education and culture, Viviane Reding, explains the meaning of this special year dedicated to sport as follows: “Collaboration between sport and education in Europe may boast of a long and lively history. Already in the cradle of our civilization, in ancient Greece, philosophers such as Socrates and Aristotle were conscious of the inestimable importance that sport represents for the development of the person. Today one European out of three regularly practises sport – continues Reding -. But the role that sport represents in the growth and life of each individual person must be further reinforced. Sporting activities can make a positive contribution to a person’s general development and social skills; they may also reinforce personal pride and enterprise”. The EU has invested resources to sponsor conferences, sports meetings and over 185 projects throughout the continent to realise the objectives set for this year: the main partners are schools, universities, and also the associations in which amateur sport is practised. The aim here is also to revive the idea that sport is not just football, money, TV and television stars. A REAL SPORTSwoMAN PACKING HER BAGS FOR ATHENS. This sport, practised with passion that poses as its principal objective growing up in a healthy way and enjoying life to the full by mixing with many other people, is the kind of sport that Laura Zanazza has in mind. Laura is an athlete of the Italian national team of synchronized swimming, bronze medallist in the team event and silver medallist for the “combined” event at the European championships held in Madrid from 5 to 9 May. Laura, together with another 9 Italian female swimmers in her team, qualified for the Olympics in Athens: “It’s the best possible coronation of many years of hard work in the swimming pool and of dedication to this sport. The qualification itself is the finest result we could have wished for; but now we are preparing to compete with the eight best teams in the world”. Laura is 22 year old; born at Angera, in the province of Varese, she now lives with her mother and father and one sister at San Vittore Olona, not far from Milan. She wears the colours of her club, Busto Nuoto, and trains the “freshers” of the Rari Nantes club in Legnano. “I began swimming at the age of 6 – she recounts, giving voice to the millions of real sportsmen and sportswomen who train and compete without ever reaching the limelight -. I’ve always combined sport with study; after finishing school, I’m now enrolled in the Faculty of Motory Sciences in Milan. For me, this too means becoming an adult: practising the sport I love, enjoying myself in the company of other people, and performing my duties with responsibility. My first fans are my family and my boyfriend. Then there are the girl swimmers, the sincronette, whom I train and who have a great affection for me”. “PRACTISING SPORT TO GROW: De Coubertin’S SPIRIT”. The Italian national team of “sincro” (synchronised swimming) is composed of girls from all over Italy. They train in Rome, up to nine hours per day: “Of course, we try to give our best. We want to cut a good figure at the Olympics and crown many years of effort”. For these youngsters there are no golden contracts, rich sponsorships, television services. Indeed, the mass media tend to ignore these disciplines and concentrate on those that have greater advertising potential and revenue. “It would be enough for us – continues Laura Zanazza – to be able to train in optimal conditions: to have an Olympic pool to practise in, a properly equipped gym. We ask for no more…”. But do you believe in De Coubertin’s spirit? And is the European Year of Education through Sport, in your view, an initiative of any value? “All those who practise sport to enjoy themselves and to feel healthy fully embody, I think, the Olympic spirit – adds Laura with conviction -. We have our body at heart, but we don’t renounce competing against others. We grow both by losing and winning. Indeed, from our failures we learn more; we are urged to test our own limits, and to do better the next time round. Even when I am in the role of trainer, I try to teach this to our girls, on the basis of simple love for sport”.