Rome. The Corviale neighborhood: a ten-story public housing complex stretching a kilometer long, home to some four thousand residents—hundreds of units occupied illegally, thousands of tenants never registered with ATER, the agency that manages the building.
In this place of extreme social tension, a group of friends accepted a challenge: to bring witness to hospitality, beauty, spirituality, and sport. Lots of sport.
«For years we'd been asking the regional government for a sports facility where we could practice our new model of football, "Calciosociale,"» explains Massimo Vallati, founder of SSD Calciosociale. «When the proposal came from the then-President Marrazzo, we were stunned. They offered us the sports center at Corviale—a degraded structure, completely abandoned, a hangout for drug dealers, needing total reconstruction. Our group split. Those who stayed made a real choice about how to live.»
Calciosociale began in Monte Verde, a neighborhood not far from Corviale yet worlds apart in quality of life. It started in the parish of Nostra Signora di Coromoto where, like many parishes, boys played football. But what Massimo saw and heard didn't sit right with him. «We were next to a church, yet there were curses and insults, no respect for the rules, and if you weren't good enough you sat on the bench. That wasn't sport. It testified to nothing.»
So was born the idea of an inclusive model of football, first tested at Coromoto, grounded in sport's most genuine values and governed by surprising rules: mixed teams of men and women, disabled and nondisabled players, young and old, people recovering from addiction and established professionals—all contributing together to win.
And it works. Every year the Calciosociale tournament takes place at Corviale. Players compete on the field and follow a path of civic education and community engagement. Each year's themes change. Teams take names from important figures or concepts and values: in a year dedicated to fighting organized crime, teams were named for victims of mafia attacks; during a year focused on the Italian Constitution, teams bore the numbers of the first ten articles.
But Calciosociale is far more than a tournament. «First, we have to offer young people in this neighborhood an alternative gathering place—a safe and legal one. Street crime is always looking for young couriers, and we take them away from that.» The reaction was swift. On the night of November 13, 2015, two firebombs destroyed the Spirituality House, dedicated to interfaith dialogue. «How did we respond? We could have built a fortress to defend ourselves. Instead we chose a civic response. We opened an all-night center for legality—Radio Impegno, broadcasting on FM from midnight to 8:30 a.m., every night. Local associations, nonprofits, and citizens run the programs. Everyone who supports our mission takes the microphone.» Nearly two years have passed. Every evening brings jazz concerts, debates, interviews, live sessions, experimental programming, and news roundups. Many broadcasts come from volunteer groups throughout Italy.
Calciosociale's home is Campo dei Miracoli sports center—nothing like the abandoned structure it replaced. Today it is fully accessible, cutting-edge, rebuilt according to strict bio-architecture standards, and now part of Open House Roma's annual roster of architecturally and artistically significant buildings in the capital. It has two football fields, two street-soccer installations (the first in Italy), a gymnasium, a multimedia room, and a professional kitchen. «We serve the community. Our players come from all over the city. Social services and the courts sometimes refer people to us. We train athletes from the Italian amputee football national team and players from the Santa Lucia Basket wheelchair squad. We run a football academy with highly qualified coaches and offer summer camps, gymnastics classes, roller-skating and ballroom-dance instruction at affordable prices based on a mutual-aid principle: those who can afford more pay more so those who cannot can still participate. People with financial strain often face the greatest social risk and we do everything we can to help as many as possible.» The organization relies on many volunteers. The center supports itself partly through sports fees, partly through donations from individuals and companies. «But it's never enough. A center like ours has endless needs and we will never stop pursuing our dream of a just and inclusive society. For everyone.»
The Calciosociale Model: Turning Football Fields Into Life Training Grounds
Calciosociale is a new form of football: open to all, based on reinterpreted rules, working outside conventional logic, and producing remarkable social and therapeutic impact. The goal is to build a fairer, more cohesive society by transforming football fields into spaces where integration happens when disadvantaged people meet those without disabilities as equals.
The Rules
- Anyone between 10 and 90 can play.
- There are no stronger teams. Each has the same technical coefficient; all have equal odds of winning.
- Each team has two educators who act as mother and father figures.
- Every player learns responsibility. (Note: there are no referees; captains resolve disputes.)
- No player can score more than three goals; everyone must help others score.
- Penalty kicks are taken by the weakest player.
- Nobody sits on the bench. Everyone plays. We are all starters.
- Before and after the match, everyone holds hands to share their feelings.
- Matches aren't only on the field. Teams compete in community activities, and scores go into the standings.
For those who practice it, Calciosociale is more than a game—it becomes a way of life rooted in welcome, justice, and love for oneself and others, who are seen as a gift.
Today other sports centers across Italy are affiliated with Calciosociale, including sites in Scampia, Quartu Sant'Elena near Cagliari, Empoli, Carsoli, and Turin. Through the European CROSS project, funded by the Erasmus+ Sport program and overseen by the University of Rome Tor Vergata, Calciosociale has spread to France, England, Bulgaria, and Hungary, engaging over six hundred youth and adults.
Marta Tersigni, 2018
