5 questions to Sergio Scariolo (by Massimo Oriani) |
 1 What is the secret of the success of the Spanish teams in several disciplines?"There's more than one. Above all I would say the work that has been done for years in schools, that is the fundamental key to their success. And then the way they used sport as a medium to be accepted by the world after exiting Franco’s dictatorship. Also, there have been major investments in the years of the economic boom, with the arrival of foreign coaches and players who have accelerated the growth process." 2 It 's a cycle that will last over time? "Spain is a country with 40 million inhabitants, it is clear that the successes of recent years are also the result of a coincidence. It's impossible to think that it will last forever. " 3 What should Italy do to try to catch up with the Spanish? "First, working on sport in schools. The educational value of sport besides the actual practice in Italy is ridiculous compared to Spain. Here in Spain it is not considered a necessary evil as it is in Italy. In Italy sport is too tied to the clubs and their financial ups and downs that often accelerate the production process of young talents, which should be long-term instead, simply for survival purposes. Here school has another goal." 4 Does school also generate the extremely competitive spirit? "Initially it didn’t happen, but over time ambition has increased. A group of young people that started to win because of the coincidence of talent in the same generation has been contagious towards all disciplines. They understood that you can also go beyond mere entertainment." 5 Is there in Spain the same gap between football and other sports as it happens in Italy? "The feeling is that the gap is narrower, especially for basketball. There is more interest in other sports and more space in the media, which is not necessarily space taken away from football. There's just more interest overall." |
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