Monday Motivation: MOVE Week in Italy mobilised 55,000 participants!

26/06/2017 by Triin Ilves

The NowWeMOVE network is getting stronger each year – local success stories are motivating both the existing partners as well as newcomers. This year, ISCA highlights one of our active members, Uisp, who together with 100 MOVE Agents, local committees and health services, municipalities, and local associations organised more than 200 MOVE Week events.

2017 marked an important milestone for Italy: the Ministry of Health and ANCI (National Association of Italian Municipalities) supported MOVE Week and offered their patronage to Uisp.

Almost all main sporting activities were represented, from traditional soccer, volleyball and basketball tournaments to online skating, capoeira, hip hop, Latin shake, swimming, bowling, and Qi Gong. Local agents organised games between grandparents and children including hide-and-seek championship, an even an equestrian vault.

Beyond MOVEs

But the distinctive trait of the Italian MOVE Week, inspired by the founding values of its coordinator Uisp, is the focus on social issues and disability. The events characterised by this approach were the Run for Parkinson’s in Cremona, the Achilles International’s run for blind people in Rome, many sports for the disabled (tennis, swimming, bowling) in Novate Milanese, and the MOVE Week Supersportsmen in Bari with the Regional Uisp.

The latter initiative took place at the Capocasale sports centre, where 300 athletes with mental illness took part in seven different competitions: soccer, archery, basket, mini baseball, table tennis, table football, low-impact exercise, and ballet. Special attention to the inclusion was made in Avola and Cinisello Balsamo, where wheelchair basketball tournaments were organised.

Helping Italians to find their MOVE

Again this year, Uisp and ANCI were behind the local “One Stair per Day” initiative, inviting people to use the stairs instead of the elevators in public buildings. Many Italian Municipalities have now joined the initiative. In Turin, mayor Chiara Appendino promoted the event by climbing the stairs to her office and wearing the orange MOVE Week T-shirt.

All over the country, the most popular way to get people moving was also one of the simplest ways – walking. Various provinces all over the country (Cremona, Martina Franca, Reggio Emilia, Gorizia, Lamezia Terme, Castelsaraceno) organised walks in the neighborhood. Secondly, fitwalking events took place in Roccella Ionica, Lecco, Mantua and Dueville.

In addition, together with the CISOM national sports group, Uisp organised activation walks in 14 cities. Four different walks were organised just for refugees and migrants in Rome only.

Many running races also took place in Rome, Lamezia Terme and Cremona, Ferrara, Corato and Cesena.

In 2017, some of the events with the biggest number of attendees were the three-day basketball championships in Championships in Cesenatico, the athletics championships in Rieti, the National Uisp Gymnastics Championships in Jesi, the Sport Festival in Ferentino, and the day of mobilisation in Avola that hosted over 2000 participants.