Pisa Sporting Club: the footballing faith of a city
It seems like only yesterday, yet 26 years have passed since the cover of a famous weekly magazine read: “Italy is a Republic founded on football”. Accustomed to far different provocations and by then to more dramatic news, it is difficult to explain the impact it had on readers at the time, arousing more than a little outrage.
The truth, at the risk of lapsing into blasphemy, is that football, in Italy, is no less than a faith, capable of inflaming spirits, moving people to tears, triggering conflicts or consolidating alliances. It is a merry-go-round of emotions, a wonderful sport that offers 90 minutes of oblivion from everything else.
“Footballers are seen as superheroes but behind them are simple, ordinary human beings, with all their limitations, fears and uncertainties. Therefore, having a good mental and physical balance, both on and off the pitch, is essential for them to give their best performance on the pitch.”
“Football is a metaphor for life”, a way of learning how to work as a team and be altruistic, loyal and humble. After all, a match is not just about the final score: winning or losing determines the points in the championship but also, and above all, provides the opportunity to test oneself, the effectiveness of training and consolidate the team’s alchemy.
“You need brains and talent to move forward. In football, commitment, hard work and sacrifice are needed to achieve your goal.”
The history of the Pisa Sporting Club is an emblem of commitment, hard work and sacrifice: it was the beginning of the 20th century when a group of boys began playing with a ball made of rags, with goal posts marked by coats, the same young students who on 9 April 1909 founded the team to which many citizens still swear eternal loyalty today.
115 years have passed, the profession of the footballer has definitely changed, just as the intensity of training and the dynamics on and off the playing field have also changed, but the value of the team has remained intact.
“The team is key, as it is important to create balance and respect between individual team members to promote healthy competition and develop a sense of belonging. Because victory does not belong to the individual, when we win, we all win together.”
A team that grows, trains and aims for a single objective: the best possible performance. Whether in training or playing in matches, athletes must keep up with an increasingly strict regime, training technical and physical skills to also reduce the risk of injury.
“Performance embodies the principles of a real sporting discipline: technique, physical training, team spirit, mental preparation. Top players have to work on all four areas to overcome their limits, which must not be seen as a negative concept but as a goal to be reached and overcome”.
Working on one’s limits is the basis of any professional athlete’s work: analysing, understanding and overcoming them are steps in a daily process where essential components, such as technique and athletic preparation, come into play. Mental training is just as important as it allows the individual player to reach his potential, learning to manage the emotional impact of professional football with all the burden of issues that could negatively affect their growth path, especially at a young age.
“The psychological aspect and mental training are very undervalued in football. Kids today have so many expectations, illusions, pressures from themselves, from the family, the press, the fans, social media. Knowing how to control them with the right balance is crucial. They are bombarded by thousands of pieces of information and inputs, whether positive or negative, and knowing how to manage them is the most complex and important part.”
Cetilar® recently celebrated its first five years as the main sponsor on the Pisa club’s jerseys, sealing a partnership that shares a love for the region and sport and all that it represents: determination and entertainment, as well as education and respect.
The Pisa Sporting Club players are among the first athletes to have tested the products in the Cetilar® Nutrition range, designed and formulated to support sports performance and promote the intake of essential nutrients, providing athletes with a reliable source of energy during physical activity.
“Nutrition, as well as physical recovery and mental rest, are part of that invisible training, which nobody sees, but which is just as important as physical training. Without a proper nutrition programme, you run the risk of thwarting everything. We are therefore talking about daily nutrition, but above all about dietary supplementation, which is fundamental for the best possible performance of an athlete.”
The Pisa Calcio team has come a long way from that ball of rags rolling around in Piazza San Paolo in Ripa d’Arno, driven by a force that unites the footballing faith in every corner of the planet: passion.
