LA HAVANA – Ten years have passed since Inter Campus began its work in Cuba aimed at supporting the development of football and helping to improve the country’s international relations.

As soon as Inter Campus touched down in Havana on this occasion, you could immediately notice that change was in the air. This comes soon after the Pope’s visit to Cuba in September, which was followed by John Kerry’s arrival three months after – the first US Secretary of State to set foot on the island since 1945.

The marvellous historic buildings in the centre of Havana are coming back into the spotlight after years of beauty in decline. From a revolutionary’s dream all over the world, the island is transforming itself into a hub of mass tourism.

Still today in the streets of Havana, you’ll come across youngsters playing the national sport of baseball with improvised bats and balls made out of newspaper or adhesive tape. Recently, however, more and more kids are turning to football as our wonderful sport begins to compete with the number of baseball aficionados.

The first of Inter Campus’s two annual visits to the country took place in this atmosphere of change. The Nerazzurri programme is carried out under the patronage of the National Institute of Sport, Physical Education and Recreation (INDER) in cooperation with the Football Association of Cuba.

The Inter Campus delegation – led by project manager Christian Valerio and head of institutional relations Eligio Gandossi – attended a series of high-profile meetings in Havana, with visits to the Italian and American embassies in Cuba, as well as the offices of the Delegation of the European Union and the United Nations Development Programme.

In the city of Holguin, coaches Alberto Giacomini and Silvio Guareschi held a technical training course for Cuban trainers appointed to Inter Campus projects in the provinces of Las Tunas, La Habana, Granma and Holguin. A theoretical session took up the morning’s work at the university, while the afternoon was spent out on the pitches among enthusiastic children decked out in black and blue.

09.12.2015

SOURCE: http://intercampus.inter.it