Galbusera, Boggioni and Dell'Orto champions beyond discrimination
From national deaf volleyball team to Paralympic swimming and American women's football, the three athletes talk about their journey at the 10-year anniversary of Alley Oop
Key points
The practice of sport as an engine of inclusion. A concept not to be outlined only in words but to be told through first-hand experience. And on Tuesday 3 March, in Rome, the celebration of Alley Oop's tenth anniversary was also this: testimony from the living voices of those who, by directly experiencing discrimination because they are different, have been able to redefine and are redefining the standards of visibility of diversity in top-level sport.
During the panel moderated by Monica D'Ascenzo, entitled 'Challenging one's limits to challenge society', Paralympic swimming champion Monica Boggioni, flag football player Nausicaa Dell'Orto and the captain of the Italian national volleyball team, Ilaria Galbusera, took turns. Three particularly incisive voices of sportswomen who speak of commitment, vision, determination and results. Capable of conveying to the audience the energy, the constructive anger, the awareness of the value of every effort made in a world not yet designed to include everyone. Three models, three human paths and three different stories of achievement. Who, to the attentive audience in the Sala della Regina in Montecitorio, told the value of teamwork in sport and at work. The confidence in one's own abilities even after major defeats or in the face of those who tell you: you can't. And the satisfaction in being able to call oneself a 'professional athlete'.
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From individual talent to teamwork
If talent is individual, results are collective in team sports. How can these two dimensions be reconciled and how can a balance be found that is effective for everyone? Ilaria Galbusera - disability manager at Intesa Sanpaolo, as well as captain of the Italian national deaf volleyball team - has no doubts: 'Team sport teaches that talent alone is not enough. It can make a difference in a moment, but it does not build a winning path if it is not embedded in a system of solid relationships. In a team, even more so in a team composed of deaf female athletes, all different in age, deafness and communication choices, trust is not an abstract concept, it is an operational prerequisite. In volleyball, every action depends on the other. If I do not trust my receiving partner, I cannot attack decisively. If there is no harmony, the game breaks down. In deaf volleyball, where communication takes place through glances, gestures and visual signals, trust becomes even more essential. Indeed, it is necessary to be constantly present, attentive, connected. When a team works, each athlete feels part of something bigger and it is there that individual talent turns into collective achievement and the team becomes stronger than ever'.
Trust, shared commitment to the common goal, a lot of preparation and work also in refining mutual understanding between team members to build the mutual trust and respect needed to make another point. Lessons from essentials that can also be transferred to the world of work. If in teams one does not listen to the specific potential of one's colleagues, if one does not find a way to adapt to the challenges of difference, if one does not trust, one cannot be effective. You do not win the game. Of course we need better 'training' conditions for everyone, in sport as in other professions. While there is still a long way to go, whether we are talking about disability or gender difference, Galbusera confirms that things are evolving.
"In recent years, the world of work has taken important steps forward on the issue of inclusion and disability. There has been a shift from a predominantly normative approach to greater cultural awareness. Inclusion is not just a duty, but a strategic value. The real transformation is not yet complete. People often talk about inclusion, but lack a full understanding of the barriers, not only physical, but also cultural and communicative, that can exclude people. Today, inclusion is still the exception, whereas it should become the norm, the everyday.
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