The numbers 1 of football are busy in a training session promoted by Ecopneus and Atalanta BC and organised by the blog ilNumero1.it.
Among the trainers: the coaches of the Lazio, Chievo Verona, and Atalanta football clubs.
A state-of-the-art synthetic turf football pitch made with rubber recycled from End-of-Life tyres is the ideal surface to host about fifty young goalkeepers coming from all over Italy. They are meeting at the “Bortolotti” Sports Centre in Zingonia (Province of Bergamo) on Friday 7th June. They will be hosted by Atalanta BC.
The technology behind these synthetic turf surfaces that unite sports and environment complies with the highest standards of UEFA, FIFA and of the National Amateur League (the body that oversees the building of all Italian football pitches). This technology allows technical performances that are identical to the one of the best natural turf pitches. The ELT granules used as infill favour shock absorption and have high qualitative standards for the rolling and the bouncing of the ball. Rubber from ELT is also used for the layer below the play surfaces as it offers elasticity and favours the return of energy to the athlete.
This technology offers also important management and financial advantages. Indeed, a synthetic turf football pitch reduces the maintenance of the surface, there is no use of agrochemicals, and there is no water consumption. Moreover, it guarantees that the playing surface is homogenous and can be used in every weather condition (heavy rain, snow, ice).
Its high performances have convinced some of the best trainers of the Italian goalkeepers to choose Zingonia’s recycled rubber synthetic turf football pitch to host the training meeting “the Goalkeeper’s training: from basic activities to the top team”. Among them: Marco Garofalo, coach of Lazio FC’s young goalkeepers; Lorenzo Squizzi, coach of Chievo Verona FC’s goalkeepers; Giorgio Frezzolini, coach of Atalanta BC’s youth sector.
The course is promoted by Ecopneus, the non-profit company that manages the collection and recycling of ELTs in Italy, and by Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio. It has been organised by ilNumero1.it, a blog about the world of football focused on goalkeepers and their coaches. Sport can – and must have – also an educative role, becoming a vehicle of positive messages such as sustainability and the attention to recycling issues: the social function of Italians’ favourite game finds fertile ground in this field.
Giorgio Frezzolini said: “the course unites the innovation of goalkeepers’ training methodologies with the technological innovation of a state-of-the-art synthetic turf football pitch with recycled rubber infill”. “We inaugurated this pitch 5 years ago: being able to use it in every weather condition allows us to better train our champions”.
Blocks, relaunches, catches, coming outs are the goalkeeper’s technical gestures. However, modern football has led to an evolution of the goalkeeper’s technique and role; indeed, for example, the goalkeeper is now expected to more and more participate in the team’s offensive phase. Precisely for this reason, constant training is necessary starting from young age: it is not only a matter of technical training, but also a preparation that can stimulate the real dynamics of the game as much as possible.
Being able to do all this on a state-of-the-art pitch with recycled rubber is added value for the boys, the world of sport, and the environment.
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