Trento, 15 October 2023

Here come the Italian Champions! Itas Trentino on the runway at the Festival

The last day of Trento's Festival of Sports 2023 was even more tricolored thanks to Trentino Volleyball. In the early afternoon, Trento's Auditorium S. Chiara - packed to capacity - hosted one of the most awaited events of the festival’s schedule: the Italian Champions, for the first time this season, gathered together and introduced themselves to the fans and to the many enthusiasts who were in Trento these days.
All thanks to the talk-show "Trento Tricolore": 45 minutes conducted by Gian Luca Pasini (long-time journalist of the ‘Gazzetta dello Sport’, specialized in volleyball) to tell about this sport’s phenomenon in Trentino. Before the fourteen players of the new male roster (which will debut next week in Cisterna di Latina) took the stage, it was explained how Trento has become the capital of volleyball, thanks to its contributions to the recent successes of the Italian national team, also through the words of Emanuele Birarelli and Italian coach Ferdinando De Giorgi.
The first part of the talk-show featured the three Italian champions. "Winning the Scudetto back in May was a boost in self-awareness and self-confidence – explained Daniele Lavia - after an up and down season with some avoidable defeats, we switched gear thanks to the success in Game 5 of the Play Off semifinals. Our group has bonded very well; we spend so much time together and now being the team to beat is very inspiring."
Alessandro Michieletto agreed with Daniele: "The match that took us to the next level was game 5 with Piacenza; after losing the first set, something snapped inside us that allowed us to overturn the result and qualify for the Final. Then, playing at home, we were unstoppable. The Champions League must always be the goal, because it is a wonderful, yet tough competition to win. I think this club won many and came close to winning even more. We know we have a score to settle and I promise that one day we will settle it."
"Being able to play the next championship on the tricolour court will be wonderful and will remind us of what we accomplished the previous season, - said Riccardo Sbertoli - Now our opponents will see it in Trento and will be motivated, and so will we. In the Scudetto Play Offs back in May our will to win was greater than our fear to lose. But we aren’t done yet, we are still hungry."
For the occasion the captain's armband was officially handed over to Marko Podrascanin: "I am really proud to play this role in one of the most important clubs in Europe and the World; to follow Kaziyski’s footsteps is a great honour - he admitted - I ask the fans for some patience, at least for the first couple of weeks, because until now we have never trained together and it will take some time to get to play at a high level. We will do our best to relieve – and make our fans relieve – the emotions of the previous season." Podrascanin brought to the stage the new game jersey, as always branded ‘Erreà Sport’ (Gialloblù's technical sponsor since 2006).
At the end, the most anticipated moment: the whole team on stage. Itas Trentino’s male team is finally at full strength: now the ball goes to the court.

Trentino Volley Srl
Press Office